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Storage Unit 1957 Corvette Fuelie

storage-unit-1957-corvette-fuelie

Few cars conjure up the emotions and imagery that the first generation Corvette does, for many it is the first sports car they ever dreamt of owning. One of the rarest and most sought after of early Corvettes has to be the fuel injected model, as very few fuelies remain today. This 1957 Corvette was discovered in a storage unit, where it has been parked under a cover for a number of years and as it turns out, came from the factory with fuel injection. The original motor has been swapped out for a carbureted unit, but the original motor is still with it. Take a look at it here on eBay.

storage-unit-1957-corvette-fuelie-engine

The current owner’s father pulled the original 283 cui fuelie V8 at some point in the car’s history and thankfully they kept the original block, but sadly the fuel inject system is long gone. These early fuel injection systems were very complicated, which could explain why so few still retain their original injection system. Locating a replacement could be difficult and rather pricey.

storage-unit-1957-corvette-fuelie-interior

After a good cleaning, a service, and some sorting, this Corvette is now running and driving again. It still needs some work, but looks solid. The interior is intact and looks to be in nice shape. It was obviously well cared for by the owner’s father and thankfully the heat of Nevada hasn’t taken its toll.

storage-unit-1957-corvette-fuelie-rear-corner

While this Corvette could use a restoration, we would be tempted to leave it as is and just enjoy it until we found a correct fuel injection system. The seller claims the owner is taking offers, so we aren’t sure if that means they plan to let the auction run its course or if they will sell it out right, so don’t let this one slip away.

Comments

  1. Avatar paul

    Wow very cool I am sure this will end near the 6 figure mark the only thing I don’t recall ever seeing is black seats on a red interior.

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  2. Avatar rancho bella

    These are nice to look at……………but a barbaric beast at best, even if you can fit.

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    • Avatar paul

      Most 57 cars were, yes like driving a buck board, king pin front end no IRS but even a Jag 120 or 140 wasn’t far off & most sports cars of the era had the steering wheel in your face.

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  3. Avatar Lemble

    The last good looking first gen vette 57. Worth a save .

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  4. Avatar jim

    what a great find. the listing is no reserve so someone is going to own this car. and right now for a lot less then the lotus!

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  5. Avatar larry

    Nice vette but I kinda wanna buy the caprice the seller has listed haha

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  6. Avatar Jeff

    Nice, looks solid but missing/lacking originality. Back when I worked for “Old Cars Weekly” the editor and I drove to Bloomington, IL. from Iola, WI. and back for the Vette show in 90′ in his mint 57′ Vette 283 2×4, a ride I’ll take to the grave, I was so excited I did not even notice the “buckboard” ride everyone talks about. I’m a smoker and wasn’t even thinking about it the whole way down and back (640 miles). We did spend the night in Bloomington compliments of OCW and I got my cig then lol. These cars are not made for comfort but are a dream come true for a real car enthusiast. Under full throttle these cars hum the old fashion way.

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  7. Avatar bowtiecarguy

    Even harder to control with the aftermarket smaller steering wheel. The original is 17″ and is somewhat of a challenge to sit comfortably behind if one likes cheeseburgers and fries too much.

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  8. Avatar Dolphin Member

    I think the clean look of the body on the early V8 cars is about the best of the C1 cars, so I could go for this even tho not perfect. I’m not an expert on these but agree there are some non-original things like the steering wheel, black seats, and that yellow area across the middle of the dash, which should be white I think.

    I didn’t notice much of a buckboard ride on any of the C1s that I’ve driven, which may be harder than a same era Chevy sedan but comfortable compared to some small cars from that time. With no power steering these are slow and very stiff to steer, and that smaller wheel won’t help with that.

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    • Avatar SoCal Car Guy

      I think that the yellow across the dash is just glare from shooting in direct bright sunlight and the way digital cameras will distort colors under glare conditions. I’ve experienced that several times when shooting (with a digital SLR) red cars. And for what it’s worth, the C1 Vettes are a lot less uncomfortable and awkward, both to drive and to ride in, than a 1955-57 T-Bird, I owned (past tense) a ’55 Bird for several years and have been fortunate enough to get a lot of seat time in a number of different C1s, so while it’s a personal opinion, it is based on real world experience

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  9. Avatar geomechs Member

    Either I’m blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other or else the original (?) engine isn’t around. Or maybe someone forgot to take a picture of it? I tend to get skeptical whenever I see the Fuelie labels but no fuelie engine, or fuelie equipment. True, they’re a lot easier to drive and maintain with a carburetor but the fuel injection system has got to be somewhere visible.

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    • Avatar Kman

      It doesn’t come with the original FI system, just the original engine. And a carbureted replacement engine.

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  10. Avatar Brent

    The person listing the car on Ebay is not even the owner of the car. How unorthodox is that?

    As evidence of that, here is what he posted on Ebay:

    “I have just taking (sic) 5 phone calls asking me the price on the car, we are taking all offers to the owner so you have to know what you can spend so make the offer based on that, who knows you could be the owner of this fine ride.”

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    • Avatar Dolphin Member

      eBay is the wild west of classic car trading. CL is even wilder, since there are no controls at all. At least eBay has public records of feedback, and “buyer protection” for transactions that qualify, so if the car qualifies and you never get a valid title you can collect (up to a certain $$ limit) from eBay.

      This seller admitted that he is acting as an agent. I suspect that some sellers doing this don’t even admit it. The way to be sure is to go see the car and ask to see the title, then ask who gets the payment and see if the names match.

      One possibility here is that the owner is having the agent sell it because he doesn’t want the hassle of selling it himself. If the agent hadn’t come along the car might otherwise have sat in the storage unit until….who knows how long, and might not have made it to any sales venue for a long time.

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  11. Avatar Chris A.

    Looks good enough to restore back to original. Yes finding and actually being able to tune an early low pressure Rochester fuel injection engine are two expensive issues. Almost miight be better to check out that original 283, find the f.i. unit and set allof it up on a dyno.There must be a numbe of the f.i. units around because of all the conversions to 4 barrels. Question though, did 283 f.i. engines have their own fuel injection engine only cam shaft?

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  12. Avatar Fred A

    i raced a 57 fuelly in scca north east from 1958 to 1968. I was 6th in BP in 1961 – A great car! Wish I still had it!

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    • Avatar paul

      The Glen, Lime Rock Park or the Bridge?

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  13. Avatar Bill

    I find it odd that it has an alternator? so what else is modified?

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    • Avatar paul

      They are saying that it is a different motor.

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  14. Avatar joe howell

    +1 on the spotting the alternator.

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  15. Avatar Charles

    It looks like a solid car. If the fuel injected engine comes with the package, it could easily be restored.

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  16. Avatar Highpkts

    Hey This just doesn’t sound Kosher to me. To top it off when I went to the Ebay listing it had been pulled off and was not available. ?? WTF?? The highest bid was 40,000 bucks. Surely he didn’t sell it for that!!

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    • Avatar Jeff

      GONE! Not available, seller took it off. IMO 40K was a screaming deal for the seller, agent or whatever. The car is a nice driver but incomplete/modified.

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  17. Avatar Charles

    Maybe he sold it to a local buyer.

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  18. Avatar Brent

    Like I said in my earlier post from a day ago, this person listing this car on Ebay is not the owner of the car. What else did you expect from his so-called auction?

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  19. Avatar Jack Quantrill

    Two of us teen age weasels took a test ride in ‘58, in one of these. The sales guy took a chance, and let us have it for a spin. I read it would go 60 in first gear. It did, we hit a bump and both our heads hit the roof. What fun!

    Like 0

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