Located in a south suburb of Houston, Texas called Pasadena, are these two 1963 Corvette roadsters. They’re advertised here on craigslist as a package deal for $30,000. One red, one silver.
Why the deep-discount pricing? Because they’re both total disasters, of course!
We have a silver convertible, which looks to have been wrecked on the driver’s front corner.
And did someone order a bright red convertible in ‘Extra-Crispy’? It appears to have been involved in a garage fire.
The interior and top frame were fully involved as well as the body.
The interior of the silver car looks salvageable. The owner says both are small block cars with manual transmissions. He says neither are in running condition, and I believe him.
If these were “normal” cars, conventional wisdom would have it that one would be used as a parts car for the other. But these are mid-year Corvettes, and conventional wisdom is not all that conventional here.
Some would insist on seeing them as two separate project cars and make big plans to fix both. One thing all of us would agree on, is that either car would require an incredible outlay of cash. Spend like you mean it. Teach your bank account and credit cards a lesson they’ll never forget!
When finished, someone would have two cars worth north of at least $60,000. But, how much would it cost to get there? A hundred thousand? More? So, what do you think? Is this one project car or two? Or zero? Let us know what you think.
Someone will fix both of them for sure. Even if both cars are parted out there worth well more then 30K. I wish I could buy them.
Incredible find.. Hard to believe what’s lurking in barns and garages around the country.. I’m not a Vette fan, but this is awesome.. both are fixable and could be enjoyed for a long time..
Nice find.
Ever fix a burn car that got as far as the dash?
The crushed one got clear into the hood area. Hard hit.
Equals one car.
These could both be restored, OR could be combined to create 1 complete car then sell off the remaining parts.
The 1st option would yield the most potential profit, but would also require the greatest cash outlay.
I am guessing that the current owner was planning on doing the 2nd option, but never found the time or money to put the plan into motion.
As with most valuable collectible cars these days, the most valuable part is the VIN plate!!
Given the insurance auction #s on the cars I would suspect that these both have salvage titles, which isn’t the kiss of death, but once restored it will always be a drag on the overall value. Salvage re-built cars always bring 25-30% less then their non-salvage peers when sold. Like I said, not a kiss of death, but another hurdle in a very hurdle filled couple of cars.
Yes, the Craigslist listing information on the right states SALVAGE title, so BOTH will have SALVAGE titles. Some people won’t buy salvage titled cars, PERIOD!
And you can’t get any kind of a loan on a car with salvage history, and yes, lots of people finance their collector cars. Not a deal killer, but if you’re going to sink thousands into a car, it’s good to know everything you’re getting into.
When I saw the insurance salvage info on the trunk indicating USAA chose to total the car in 2011, that tells me there is extreme damage that we can’t see in the photos. Considering the entire instrument cluster has been shifted to the side several inches, I would expect that whatever collided with this car went in far enough to affect the frame. That would also explain why the top cover panel doesn’t line up with the body!
Many states [mine included] have a program run by the DMV OR MVA, or the State Police whereby a salvage vehicle can be inspected by a special investigative team to see if the vehicle has been repaired correctly. If it has, they can authorize a new title that allows the vehicle to be licensed & driven, as well as sold. However the salvage info will always be coded into the title. And don’t forget, Federal law requires disclosures of known defects, including prior damages.
I’m very familiar with salvage vehicles. I bought a 1985 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Centennial [1 of 25 built to commemorate the 100 years of the automobile]. It had been in a flood when the Potomac River overflowed it’s banks in 1995. As an independent Rolls-Royce technician, I had serviced the car in the past.The owner called me and authorized me to get the car & start the work needed to preserve & repair it. I immediately removed the car from the water, and taking a couple of fertilizer pump sprayers filled with water & a bleach solution, we sprayed the solution all over & inside the car, as it was being loaded onto the rollback truck. The car and I were on the local DC TV news that night, because seeing a beautiful Rolls-Royce being hauled out of the water made for good news!
We put the car in the paint booth and cranked up the heat as we pulled the entire interior out, pressure washed everything once out of the car, and put the interior parts in a temperature & humidity controlled location. [my home!]
A few weeks later the insurance company did exactly as I thought they would; They totaled it. When I presented a bill for almost $10k, they offered to let me keep it for what I had in the car!
I took everything apart, and found I was lucky; the engine was so well built & sealed, it never got any water inside the crankcase or cylinders! I flushed out the trans, rear diff, & fuel tank. All hardware used on these cars is heavily plated or is stainless steel, and electrical connectors are dipped in solder after crimping, so there was only a little corrosion of these pieces. We worked hide food into the leather surfaces and made the interior nice & soft again. The only interior parts that required replacement were the wood dash panels & door cappings, as the water did get under the lacquer surfaces & swell the wood, cracking the thick lacquer. Also had to flush the entire brake & suspension hydraulics.
We basically took the entire car apart except for the drive train components, cleaned everything and replaced minor items like gaskets & seals, and reassembled the car. The most expensive parts we had to replace were the Bosch fuel injection & engine control modules, as they only fit Rolls-Royce & Bentley cars. But like many of the parts I replaced, I got them from a big Rolls-Royce salvage yard owner in California – Tony Handler.
The only reason I was able to save this vehicle was because I had the opportunity to begin treatment against corrosion, rot & mildew, the moment we pulled the car out of the water.
About a year later I brought the car to the State Police for inspection, and the inspector kept asking me if I was sure this car had been in a flood, because there was no visible trace of damage. Since I had taken plenty of pictures of the work in progress, I showed him exactly what was done, and I got my new title!
Sold it back in 2001, and as far as I know the car is still on the road. And yes, the new owner was presented with the photo book documenting the work done.
Well done Bill, sounds like you saved a very rare rig. Not sure if you cats call a RR a rig, regardless, thanks for saving. Take care, Mike.
Leiniedude/Mike —
I’ve seen plenty of Jury-rigged Rolls-Royces over the years, especially those run in livery service, Ford & Chevy engines & transmissions, an especially difficult job to do correctly as the braking systems rely on special mechanical booster systems that are on the gearbox before 1966, and use hydraulic pumps on the engine camshaft on the Silver Shadow cars.
I sold a 1969 Silver Shadow with a bad engine to a guy from California. He showed up at my shop driving a newly purchased Silver Cloud with a Chevy 6 cylinder and no power brakes. He planned on towing the 3 ton Shadow behind the Cloud, and I wonder if he ever made it over the Rockies!
Great write up Bill. I did this for 20 years. We were always honest about repairs and honest with buyers. It was a very profitable business until insurance companies decided to put a hault to it. They increase the license fees, insurance fees and more things making it unable to do anymore. Alabama is one of those states that do exactly like you say. And if the car is totalled, you have the choice to keep it yourself, repair it and have it inspected. They come ot your house $90 and it has a rebuilt title. Some people don’t care for that but others don’t mind.
I could have sworn these are C2 Corvettes.
Rancho, you’re right, I made the change.
Do the work yourself and you’d have a nice silver car. Part out the red one to finance the project.
Can someone tell me what the chrome piece is to the left of the right side tail lights on the silver car? Thanks, Mike.
Mike, Car from Texas, looks like a Texas A&M car emblem.
http://www.chromeemblems.com/product/texas_atm_car_emblem
Thanks Joe, great eye, it was driving me nuts! Take care, Mike.
My favorite would be a 65 sting ray
Any thing is possible with enough money but I am pretty sure the frame is so bent on the silver one that the right door wont close and the little trunk lid is warped out place .
As much as it would be nice to have 2 I think there is only enough parts to make one car, and not much would be left to salvage.
Buy two, clean them up, sell one.
My only problem with 63 is drum brakes. The conversion wouldn’t effect the value unless it’s show quality
You just need to want it, DIY would keep the cost within the value.
I have a 1963 Corvette I have been working on since I bought it in 2004. My opinion these cars are rebuild able and without a doubt someone will want to rebuild them. These cars are getting harder and harder to find as project cars. If they were split window coupes they be worth 40 to 50k each. If done to driver quality worth about each 50k restonods are popular these are also good candidates IMHO don’t think they will be parted out
Pete, love your car . The 63 will be # 1 on my list.
Where is Richard Rawlings when u need him
Aren’t those knock-off’s on the silver car worth a lot $$$ ? I thought GM only made a few sets(8-9 hundred?), and are vehicle specific? Might only be 3 left after the hit on the left front.
Only about ten sets on the first year. Leaked bad,
Agree with the mass’s buy both use the burnt roadster to fix the Silver roadster nose frame etc.. all good on the burnt one. Sell what isn’t used to recoup some of your $$$
If I weren’t still doing my project 65, I would certainly be buying these two 63’s, YES it will take many thousands to bring them back, but it can be done.
Idiots had a Pantera and passed it on
The best car to pass trough the show
In Connecticut and many other states these would no longer be titled, thus the Salvage title stigma wouldn’t exist.
At this price for a local buyer with access to Corvette parts and fiberglass molds,
there is a lot of profit potential and some nice rides here.
Wish they were in Conn.
Looking at the few blurry photos, I agree both cars will probably end up getting repaired. Very expensive, but do-able. They are too valuable to part out, and one is not a parts car for the other.
Although the shopping list would be very long, here’s one part at the top of that list that would do a lot for the red car, which is a rear clip for $1099.00:
http://www.parts123.com/corvettecentral/dyndetail.pta?catalog=0000050b&ukey=365
both cars are showing k o wheels in the photos….and k o are worth a small fortune…just my nickles worth..