How badly do you want to own a 1963 split-window Corvette Sting Ray? Does $40,001 seem like a reasonable amount? It certainly is, since a Concours example is $167,000, says Hagerty. Of course, this example in White Plains, Maryland here on eBay is far from pristine—it’s a rough shell with a Mako nose. But the split-window setup is intact.
The Corvette is optimistically described as “an original with updates to the exterior and drivetrain”. It says “no motor 4-speed transmission ROLLING CHASSIS!” Does that mean it has a four-speed attached, or that it originally had one? The photos do not reveal all.
There was not a “Mako Edition” of the 1963 Corvette. Instead, the Mako Shark, a/k/a XP-755, was a concept car developed for the 1962 New York Auto Show. There were elements of the production ’63 Corvette and a shark-like nose. It may be that the base donor was the 1958 XP-700.
Fiberglass replicas of the Mako Shark nose are still available on eBay, for $6,949, albeit intended for later cars. Background on the kits is available here.
My guess is that anyone who buys this shell is going to want to build up a stock ’63 split-window Corvette. They’re quite collectible and only built that one year. After 1963, they figured out how to curve such a big piece of glass.
The car has been heavily modified. In addition to that Mako nose, the wheel wells have been cut up for big tires. There’s no engine, and I’m sure a lot more is missing in the drivetrain. I think I see seats in there, but the interior is not likely to be pristine. The body is rough and the rear customized too, but at least it’s fiberglass. Still, parts for the Corvette are readily available.
The two 1963 Corvettes are above. A critical point is whether this shell retains its data plate and VIN. This could be a labor of love for someone either very dedicated or in possession of a large horde of ’63 Corvette parts. Please weigh-in, all you folks who know way more about Corvettes than I do.
That split rear window is not original. Compare the dividing strip to others.
As Arte Johnson would say….verrrry interesting, but stupid!
I noticed that too.
May not be a 63? It’s got a 65/66 BB good…
I believe that could be a real split window . I seen a documentary on the first split widows and it looks just like this one and then they changed it.
I watched a documentary on this early 63 . They made a handful with this type of split window.
with it so screwed up the next buyer should use the rear windows for the windshield and put the windshield to the back…. makes just enough sense to do it that way. this way there are no blind spots in the back of the (should i call it a car) so much sanding has been done i would be surprised there is any good glass panels left on the car. 40,000 for a living room anchor.
Yes. Something strange going on there. What a mess !!!
Of course it’s not. It was widened . I know I originally built that Corvette. I did all the body work
So far gone. It will go Resto Mod.
Leave it where it is and cover it up.
Paint it & use 4 yard art u sayin? put a ‘4 sale’ sign on it 4 another sucker. Would look good in my lower front 40ty in view of highway. Fish On!
buy it cheap & use as a Drag car, perfect
This is a train wreck. The modifications to the rear are even more extensive than those made at the front. In addition to the ducktail spoiler and modified rear panel, it looks like the entire body has been widened to fit larger wheels and tires. Certainly, the contours of the boat-tail section have been altered drastically.
It was my understanding that the split window was used because Bill Mitchell wanted the central “spine” to continue unbroken from windshield to tail. Zora Arkus-Duntov hated the split glass because it interfered with rear vision on the track. When customers started to complain as well, Mr. Mitchell lost the battle and the glass became one piece.
I would finish it out just the way it is with a wild paint job (I understand that Darryl Starbird is still doing customs. Wouldn’t one of his period-correct paint jobs just set this stunner off?) Flare the wheelwells with ZR-1-style flares, change the brakes to Baer, the hubs to knockoff, and the wheels to BRM magnesium. Drop in an LS-X, Richmond 5-speed, Recaro seats, Roll Bar, Antique Air, and you couldn’t chisel the smile off my face.
To all you would-be museum curators who sniff if the oil filter has the wrong color lettering on the label… Bite me!
Yikes. Keep the doors and throw the rest of the body in the trash. The crooked split windows are terrible and make an even bigger blind spot than before
Kuddos to you
You are the man for voicing what has to be said
To all you would-be museum curators who sniff if the oil filter has the wrong color lettering on the label… Bite me!
You are clearly a man of keen perception and taste.
I don’t think you’ll find too many “museum curator” types on this site. We seem to prefer cars that were used and loved over meticulously restored cars. I do think you’ll find a lot of folks who appreciate the timeless beauty of a stock 1963 Sting Ray. We look at this car and think, “If I were lucky enough to get my hands on a split-window 1963 Sting Ray, I sure as h*** wouldn’t do this to it!”
Bit of an ugly duckling but for some reason it speaks to me. I don’t have the $$$ to get but if I had the funds to burn I would. I agree this will be a restomod/custom but with a few corrections, like the rear windows I can see this finished out and then painted 70s style.
Mind there was a rank rotten film called The Hot One?
I don’t like the window spine as it is.
I was wondering about the rear windows looking off. I’m thinking that the fabricator, just to be different, swapped windows. The left window is on the right side and vice versa.
Nope. The rear glass curves down toward the rear of the car, so the sides of the curved rear glass are taller at the front, than the rear. Reversing them would have the glass too short at the front to fit the roof line, and too tall at the rear.
I don’t know that it’s a “Mako Body Kit Edition”, but it does look like a fairly common custom nose, that was available in the 60’s and 70’s from companies like Acme Fiberglass and Ecklers. Besides the nose, rear window, and spoiler, the B pillar fake louvers have been removed, the 2 front fender louvers have been modified to create one large louver, and all 4 fenders have been flared.
At the (current) bid of $40K+, it’s too expensive and too far gone to make it worth while to restore. But, it’s a cheap starting point for someone wanting to build a high end split window restomod.
Take the 40k and run! I’d dump it for 10k and run….
lots of suspect bidding, no mill and crappy few pics. Approach with caution. Good luck and happy motoring.
Cheers
GPC
Fury road to Valhalla
The weird window spine looks to be because they split the car down both sides of the center line all the way from the top of the glass to the very rear, and spread the two pieces apart, and then filled in the two gaps. The raised area on the factory “decklid” section of the body comes down to a sharp point at the rear center. This one has the two sides of that point spread way apart back there. Hell of a lot of work to ruin a car …
Ad ended…SOLD for $41,100.00
There’s one born every minute.
You could buy a 63 for the Money and Time it would cost to restore this one.
They probably cut the split out, then put it back in, im excited, the Mako shark combined with a split window, Build the fun drivetrain, a Lt1 makes this a beast and so does a 427, 4 speed naturally. And whatever you do make sure the body doesn’t come put perfect, that way all the perfecionists, bean counters and finger pointers have something to do, Truth is its gonna build excitement in the high speed lane goin by you, whether the numbers match or not. But for 40 grand uuuuuh im out.
you could pay 45K for a real one that is in better condition than this one. And someone bothered to buy it for 41K!
Gentlemen I’m 74 years old and I’m pretty sure I used to own that Corvette it’s at Corvette at the time it was British racing green pearl white along the bottom had aircraft landing lights for headlights the then Bob schuler from American custom shop here in Toledo put the front end on it for me it was a sweet car I miss it
Stu, What year was that?
Not the same car sir
There was a lot of modifying done to cars in the late 60’s and 70’s that is one of them it can be saved with a lot of grinding
I owned that Corvette and married in 67 so it was in 68 at 1 time it was a salmon Color with lacing along the sides the bobby shoulder from American custom put on it for the car show I think it also had 65 Riviera tail lights if I can remember correctly
Hey, Stu
Any pix of it when it was a show car? We’d sure like to see…
I’ve gone ahead and let the seller know about this Barn Finds comment section and Stu Cohen’s comments, and suggested he let the new owner know about these comments, so he can try to contact Stu directly.
I certainly was elated when I found the original owner of one of my 1948 Packard sedans, and he actually came out to see the car after selling it many years earlier. First thing he wanted to see was the trunk floor, seems he had bought a used 100 pound anvil, and while it was being loaded, it was dropped, and the nose put a dent in the trunk floor. Sure enough there was a dent exactly where he said it would be!
He traded the car in on a new 1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe sedan. Somewhere I have a photo of his photo, showing him with his new 1948 Deluxe 8 sedan. I have a matching photo of him standing next to the car, in the same position, around 2001!
A couple of years later I got a call from the grandson who had driven his grandfather out to my farm to visit the car, and upon finding I still had the car, he asked me if I would sell it to him, so I was delighted to sell the car back to the family.
Hi Russel & Stu would you please call me about this car please. Thank you Doug
(860)-428-1404
I am replying to John he asked what year I owned it it was in 67
I owned the 63 Corvette’in 67th and have pictures of it if anyone wants to see them.
I would like to see the pictures please send them. Thank you
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/07/1958-corvette-xp-700-concept/
This is a link to the original Mako Shark, built from the original 1958 XP-700 Corvette Concept. Pretty cool, IMHO
convert a not split into one?
(really lower the value I guess)
No factory show car donated it’s nose to this car. This one has a Mako kit front and rear from the looks of it. If it is Stu’s old car get photos and restore it to back in the day, maybe a different color as customs were always evolving. This would be a badass car when finished. All you sniffers out there, there are a ton of stock Vettes out there but very few customs. I love Vettes but I am sick of stock ones and all of your boo hooing about modified ones. Who gives a rats ass if some were modified, it makes your holy grail turds worth more in the long run.
“holy grail turds” Once again, the car gets me to click, but the comments keep me here. Who needs coffee on a Saturday morning with zingers like this!! LOL
We are in possession of this car now and it has a pedigree in the isca back in the day we will be taking it to 2022 top of the line standards
Congrats on your purchase
This will keep you busy for a while …
Hi Russel would you call me about this car please. Thank you Doug
(860)-428-1404
I would love to see pictures of the car in its present condition. I can show you pictures of it in a car show in toledo ohio back in sixty seven
If you look up burning river restomods on facebook in ohio you will be able to follow and see the pics of the build
I’d love to see the pictures of you car from back in the day. Email them to me. Thanks Gary
I’m paying attention Russ
Gary
that’s a very famous car and has been featured on the cover of a magazine, there are people looking for this car
hey Ron please contact me about this car thank you. Doug
I’m going to start with Stu Cohen NEVER OWNED THIS CAR.
I bought a stock used 63 Corvette in 65.. . Specializing in Fiberglass, I reshaped the entire car; the roof was cut off & then replaced to eliminate the factory point at the back of the roof. This was the late in the late sixties. (I was 23)
The nose was extended & reshaped to create a split grill effect. The original tail lights were removed & I handmade, a one of a kind, one piece, taillight which was created under a handmade rear spoiler. Wheel well flairs were added to accommodate the huge rear slicks.
I’m not going to get into the radical ORANGE interior or the 427 cu in chrome Injected & Supercharged engine that I installed .
“MY” Corvette was a ISCA (International Show Car Association) winner in the early 70s . . . It also made the Cover of 4 National Magazines & one of them is still featured in the GM National Corvette Museum
You can read the full story with PICTURES on my Facebook page PHOTOS > ALBUMS> Internet Magazine, BangShift ( article) “Help Find Gary’s Lost Corvette” . . CHECK IT OUT ;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10228192881675054&type=3
Any questions, I’ll be happy to answer via, my email or text me on Messenger
Love seeing the history of this car Gary hopefully youll be able to see car in its new stature soon or at barrett jackson in january. We would love for you to stop by the shop and see it as we talked about .