The potential buyer of a new Corvette in 1964 could choose from an array of seven different paint colors. Of these, cars finished in Saddle Tan were the rarest. Chevrolet sold 22,229 Corvettes in the 1964 model year, and a mere 1,765 wore that color. This is one of those cars, and while it might not be perfect, it is an exceptionally clean and tidy survivor. It has spent years in storage, but has now been revived and returned to a roadworthy state in preparation to head to a new home. The Corvette is located in Torrance, California, and has been listed for sale here on eBay. The BIN price for the Corvette has been set at $59,500.

Saddle Tan is an attractive color, and while that shade is original to this car, it has received a repaint at some point in the past. This was completed as a clear-over-base process, and it still looks very good today. The owner admits that there are a few chips and marks in the paint, but these are extremely hard to spot in the enormous selection of photos that he supplies. The fiberglass appears to be free of any stress cracks, while the owner says that all is well with the bonding strips. Beauty with the Corvette is way more than skin deep, as the owner provides photos of the vehicle’s underside. It is beautifully detailed, spotlessly clean, and free of any obvious rust issues or evidence of previous repairs. The trim and chrome appear to be really nice, while the Soft Ray tinted glass also looks to be in extremely good order. This is a Corvette that any prospective owner could take out in public with their head held high because it does present so nicely.

Prospective buyers in 1964 were faced with a myriad of engine and transmission choices and combinations for their Corvette, but in this case, what we find is a 327ci V8. The Corvette also features a Powerglide transmission, along with power steering, power brakes, and a 3.36 rear end. This engine is the L75 version, producing 300hp. The Powerglide is a rugged transmission, but with only two ratios at its disposal, it does tend to sap overall performance slightly. The car should be capable of covering the ¼ mile in around 15.3 seconds. That isn’t shabby by any stretch of the imagination, but if the same car came equipped with a 4-speed manual, the identical journey would be covered in 14.6 seconds. Still, as a grand tourer, this holds the promise of eating up the miles quite effortlessly on long journeys. The Corvette is a numbers-matching car, and the drivetrain remains completely unmolested. It was in storage for a number of years, but it is now in a roadworthy and healthy state once again and is said to run and drive nicely. The owner states that the odometer shows 42,450, and he has every reason to believe that this is original.

Opening the doors of the Corvette reveals an interior that presents just as nicely as the exterior. Trimmed in Saddle vinyl, the seats are free from any rips or seam separations. The door trims are also in nice order, while the dash and pad present perfectly. The rear carpet is showing some very slight fading, but this is so minor that replacement wouldn’t be justified unless the next owner was seeking perfection. When the original owner of the Corvette looked at the options sheet when ordering this car, apart from the tinted glass, he did tick the boxes beside the power window and the pushbutton AM/FM radio. This also brings me to the point of just how much technology has changed things in the intervening 56-years. The base price for the Corvette when new would have been around the $4,252 mark, plus dealer delivery and other charges. The power windows would have added $59.20 to that total, but that simple AM/FM radio added an eye-watering $176.50. Today it is easy to buy a pretty decent AM/FM CD player with Bluetooth for less than that figure, and that is without allowing for 56-years of inflation. That’s what technology has brought us over all of these years. I am aware that I am comparing factory original items with aftermarket components, but this demonstrates that certain accessories and technologies are significantly cheaper now in real terms than they were in the “good old days.”

On the face of it, it is hard to be critical of this Corvette, unless you are a perfectionist. There are certainly Corvettes out in the market that are pristine and unrestored survivors, but those sorts of cars can command values of $80,000 or more. This one isn’t pristine, but the next owner certainly shouldn’t be ashamed of its overall condition. It is a car that is ready to be driven and enjoyed immediately, and with values continuing to creep up slowly but consistently, the BIN for this one would seem to be probably about right for its overall condition. Is this a classic that you would consider parking in your garage?