The ’63 Split Window may be the most collectible of the C2 (’63-’67) Corvettes but any year and model from the era is now highly desirable. The Corvette was an interesting experiment with its fiberglass body and wide range of engine choices. Some considered it a sports car and others a muscle car but in reality, it was its own thing. The Corvette has been around since 1953 and as long as there are people wanting to restore projects like this, it’ll continue to live on in all its iterations.
That person had better know what they are getting into with this particular Vette. The seller mentions that there is rust in the frame and birdcage so that means it’s going to need a lot more than a paintjob and interior. The birdcage is the metal structure that supports the fiberglass body and adds strength to areas like the door jams. It’s vital and replacing all the rusty metal will be no small feat.
Luckily, these cars are well supported with multiple sources for parts and information. If I’m reading the numbers correctly, that should be a 300 horsepower 327 that’s attached to a 4-speed and has AC. Not a bad place to start in the power department. There were more potent options available in ’65 but I think I’d try to keep things original if it were mine.
The real question here though is do you keep the tow package? A hitch ball is a strange thing to see on an old Corvette but I suppose it had enough oomph to pull a trailer around. It’d be interesting to know more about this car’s past. If you’re interested in giving it a better future, you can find it here on eBay where it’s listed with no reserve. It’s going to take a lot of work but hopefully someone will get it back on the road sometime soon!
Desiable car in a desirable color, with desirable options, in less than a desirable condition. This is not a project for the faint of heart or thin of wallet. GLWTA!! :-)
I suppose being fiberglass the owner at the time wasn’t too worried about rust so was driving the car all year and they really didn’t have any great value used then. Here we are today and they did appreciate and they do rust. Quite a project for someone. Probably pulled a small boat or utility trailer.
Years ago people drove Corvettes in rain and snow because they were cars, not because they weren’t worried about, or think they could rust. Now almost nobody uses a Corvette as a daily driver, even owners of new ones, but 30, 40, 50 years ago, they were cars, good cars but still just cars. I had a job that provided me with a car, so my Corvette was a toy, but when I got engaged in 79, I bought my wife a Corvette and she drove Corvettes every day until we started having kids in 85.
Rust in the drip gutters, a-pillars and lower hinge pillars, like this cars has doesn’t come from road salt. That kind of rust develops from being stored outside in the weather. As bad as the rust shown is, and it is bad, I’m more concerned about why someone started cutting the rear deck open. In the pic showing the hitch, you can see where a cut has been made across the rear deck. I don’t know why someone would do this, there’s nothing structural in that area, and it’s sure not how I would approach repairing the birdcage.
This car can be restored, but even as a factory air, 4 speed car, is it worth it?
GB, similarly we bought a ’64 vette in 1966 and it was my wife’s daily driver until 1970. Bought for $3000, sold for $1900. Just a Chevy.
As for this car I agree with what you said. The rear license plate picture was a pure WTH moment. It almost looks too neat to be a cut. It looks more like a hatch/trunk lid popped open. I would love to see more pictures of the area.
A true bumper hitch! In Wisconsin with 70’s plates from Illinois. A real salty dog.
Bring your Wallet and then it’s Tool Time.
Put credit card on skillet and turn to HIGH.
Probably pulled a snowmobile trailer. The buyer will be a fool and better have $100,000 set aside to fix this heap. Sad, but with skill and money it can be saved.
Did the quality of license plates vary from state to state? I have seen plates in my area outside since 1981 & still look nice without a spec of rust – while the rear plate(but not this vette) looks like it was under water for decades!
Is that rust i see or just mud or dirt on the floor pans & their side structures? – not sure if they are metal or fiberglass in ’65.
All Corvettes built prior to 76 have fiberglass floors, but that is rust you see in the metal substructure where the hinge pillar/kick panel area meet the sills.
I don’t know about other states, but here in NJ tags have been made out of aluminum since the 70’s or 80’s. They were metal before that.
In the trailer hitch picture…what’s up with that ugly horizontal cut above the tail lamps? No mention in pics or the ad…
Touche’ gbvette62 well put my man.
I bought my first Vette in 1980 a 1974 without an engine. I jammed a bottom end 350 Chevy create engine in there and drove that car for 40 years – EVERYWHERE. In Philadelphia in the snow, across country twice – to and fro El Toro Marine Air Station when I was in the Marines. I discharged just before it closed. It was my car and it took me everywhere.Then, we did not have the luxurery to keep it as a Sunday driver. That was my car and I loved it. I continually worked around the fact it was a two seater with no trunk. I made it work for 40 years. It wasn’t until 2020 that I completed a complete resto job to include a 454 HO GM Performance engine up grade. I am pushing 60 now, I settled in Los Angeles and I still drive that Vette every chance I get. My grandkids friggin love it.
Regarding this 65, I looked at the photos on eBay. Hmmm the rusty areas seem to be in some tricky areas. For a keeper car, does anybody have an assessment, whether this would be a doable project or one that would sink ya .
God Bless All
sold, says 36 large. PT barnum was right. Sorry to see this splitty in this condition
Cheers
GPC
I’ve wanted a C2 since I was 14 years old. This car makes me wanna cry. Can’t understand how someone can let a car go this bad.