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Possible Salt Flat Racer: 1954 Corvette

1954-Corvette-race-car

The seller of this 1954 Corvette is assisting with the sale of a huge stash of cars and parts that have been sitting in a barn since the 70s. This appears to be the first car to come out of hiding and boy, is it a good one! Sure, it has holes cut in the body and most of the parts are missing, but there is some evidence here that this may have been a race car that could have even run at Bonneville. The car is located in Irvington, Alabama and bidding starts at $1,000 here on eBay. Take a look and let us know if you think it’s authentic.

fender-holes

The most obvious clues of this car’s past are all those holes cut in the hood and fenders. The ones in the fenders aided with airflow and the seller thinks that one in the firewall may have been there in order to mount the engine further back in the chassis. These modifications alone don’t mean that the car saw any track time, but it is hard to believe that someone would have cut this car up in the seventies just for fun. They obviously had plans to make it go fast and now the next owner’s task will be to find out if that ever happened.

parachute-hole

Out back there is a square hole cut in the trunk lid. That may seem odd, but if you know anything about high speed record attempts, then you will know that many cars use parachutes to slow down after their runs. The seller mentions that some of the holes appears to have been press cut or done with some sort of machine. It’s reassuring that they weren’t done with a hacksaw, but I’m not sure if that means that the car could have been a factory backed endeavor as the seller suggests. Something spectacular like that would be fairly easy to verify.

corvette-interior

Without the proof of its past, this is just a hacked up Corvette. Well, a very valuable hacked up Corvette! Someone will save this because it’s an early Vette, but if there is racing history here that would mean that it could be worth some serious money. I’m sure that someone with knowledge of salt flat racing could dig up photos or race results to prove this car’s pedigree or lack thereof. There are a lot of assumptions here, so it might be a good idea to remove the body from the frame to get that VIN. It might not make the search for information any easier, but at least you would have something to work with. So, from what you can see, do you think this really is a period race car?

Comments

  1. Avatar jim s

    it will be very interesting to see what else was in the barn. as for this car i see no safety systems and a very rough/rusty frame. the seller needs to prove the racing history. great find

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Don Sicura

    On ebay, provenance generally never needs to be proven as there are many people in the more money than brains club & the bidding has already exceeded $3,000 in the first few hours of the auction………….lol

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Mark in Medford

    Thats a whole bunch of StingRay doors sitting behind it.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Dolphin Member

    From the ebay listing:
    “Vehicle title: Clear”

    From wading through the giant run-on sentence that is the description:
    “…the car is sold as is and on a bill of sale only…”

    Wading a bit further on:
    “…the VIN number I’m sure is on the frame but we do not have the facility to separate the body from the frame…”

    Wading a bit further:
    “…the bill of sale will be for parts only…”

    Then the kicker:
    “…this car in my opinion is “AWSOME’!”
    ————————————————–

    Yep, I buy all that! Where do I sign up?

    Like 1
  5. Avatar Tom S.

    They could have pulled it away from the wall for some better photos of the left side, but the movement might have reduced it to dust.

    Like 1
  6. Avatar BrentF

    What’s the land speed record for a car without a drive train?

    Like 1

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