UPDATE 1/23/12 – Bidding ended at $42,050, but it did not meet reserve.
Teenagers have dreamed of having a Corvette since it was first released in 1953. The owner of this 1957 Corvette got it when they turned 16, as their first car. That was in 1963 and after just three years they had to park the car due to high insurance rates. They bought themselves a Nomad, but kept the Corvette in storage for all these years. Now they have decided to sell the land that the car is stored on and instead of moving it to a new garage, they have decided to just sell the Vette too. The car is located in the Omaha Midwest area and the owner has listed the car here on eBay, with the auction currently at $24,600.
Considering that this car was driven by a teenager and then parked for 40 years, the body is in exceptional condition. The paint is showing its age, but has a nice patina. The seller is including a lot of NOS parts with the car, including some of the chrome work. They also have new tail lights and even new body mounts. They have been accumulating parts for years in hopes of restoring it. Since this car lived its whole life in humid Florida, we would check the chassis for rust.
The black and gold interior is intact and mainly needs to be cleaned up. The color combination is a unique one that we have never seen before. After a good cleaning and removal of the stickers on the dash, this interior will look nice. The biggest problem we see here is the hole in the center console. The center console can be replaced, or the included manual gearbox could be installed. We would do the later.
This car originally had the 283 Dual Quads, but the seller pulled the original engine and transmission from the car. The engine has been decked and is ready to be reassembled. The seller has lots extra parts for the engine including a fuel injection system. While having the engine out of the car could affect the value, the extra parts should help offset this a bit.
This Corvette is going to need a lot of work, but should make for a great starting point for a restoration. We would love to see this Vette put back together and left as original as possible. It’s hard to say how high this auction will go, but hopefully the reserve is set at a realistic level. We wish we could have had a Corvette for our first car, but then again it probably wouldn’t still be in one piece.
That color doesn’t look beige to me, and I’m pretty sure it’s not original paint! Where are the emblems?
The car is actually in the Omaha, NE area. Engine is in Florida.
I think whoever wrote this needs to re-read the E-bay listing. It says “I have accumulated replacement and NOS parts for the last 48 years to someday restore to the original Aztec Copper, and Shoreline Beige for NCRS judging.” The pictures are obviously not those colors and I’ve never seen an original Corvette with metal flake vinyl interior.
I would have loved to find this in a barn for my first car!
The interior is totally not original and was done in the cool sixties…..looks terrible. The repaint is not the great original copper color. So much wrong here it might be better to keep it as is for an interesting change. The FI and dual quad setups are worth more than the car……
If the FI and dual quad setups are worth more than the car, then you won’t mind buying me my next vintage vette to restore.
i would love to throw that dual quad setup on my 74 el camino hot rod
Sorry, not sure how we mixed that up. We have updated the post to reflect the fact that it is not in its original Aztec Copper and Shoreline Beige. Thanks for catching our error.
Ya that metal flake interior was a red flag to me too.
The RIM looks like it may be Aztec Copper compared to the rest of the car.
It is amazing that someone who was interested enough in this car to keep it for 48 years, and also accumulate additional parts for it, would put together such a rambling, incoherent story to serve as a description for an auction. There is probably something here for someone who must have a C1 and who has the stomach and spare hours to sort thru it all and figure out what to do, but to me this is like taking a flyer on the stock of an unproven venture—the risk to your money is very large for any potential payoff. One thing you can be sure of is that there would be lots of time, work, and expense involved. Unfortunately, one thing you can’t be sure of is what you are buying, since “It is packed away and too cold to clean till spring.” At least you get the warmth of knowing that he’s “Sorry for the dirt, as car has never been cleaned since storage.” Take the large amount of money that he wants for this lot, whatever that amount actually is, and go buy a nice C1 that you can actually look at and take possession of before the Spring thaw.
I’m guessing those dash plaques will reveal the car has been driven, shown, even rallied, later than 1966 when it purportedly was put into storage.
ugly interior
not one word of the Schwinn black phantom !
It seems some of you don’t understand the meaning of a “Barn Find”. Dolphin seems to think you should be able to hope in your barn find and take a cross country road trip. The joy of a barn find is doing the research on the vehicle and uncovering it’s past as you actually get your hands dirty restoring it. It’s sad that some people would rather buy a car already restored and then take pride in it, they never even turned a wrench on it! I would rather take pride in a vehicle that I stripped down to the last nut and bolt and the restored myself. But then again most people can’t even change their own plugs anymore.
I too would rather “build my own” vs “buy completed” [possibly more due to economic conditions than by choice !] but a “project” has to be “within reason” price wise. It is not feasible to way over pay for a project THEN bury a ton of money into it [ more than it would cost to buy a completed example of the same car ]. As with any car, if it is what you WANT you are not as concerned with the ability to either make money on it or to be able to “bail out” of it should you ever have to sell it. People with different motives look at projects / barn finds differently. I have a few I am way over my head in but I don’t care because they are MY cars, not cars i am looking to sell or “flip” for a profit. Some of us like automobiles, others are just in it purely for the $$.
I’d like to be able to see them better, but I might keep those dash plaques.Back in the day, it was considered quite racey to have a Moon Roll bar.Since it doesn’t have the brace going to the passenger side footwell, I don’t think this one is a Moon roll bar.Often wondered if there were more people hurt by hitting their heads on a roll bar than saved when the car flipped.
If this car was indeed parked in 1966 it sure had a very hard start in life!It’s amazing how trashed and tossed around it is.If this were 20 years ago no one would look at it.
In the 60’s this was just another used Vette. People did with them what they wanted. Even turning them into staight axle gassers. The NADA old car price guide shows a average retail value of about 74 k. w/o extra parts. So like many old cars probably loose money on a prof. resto. But only 6700 of these built. How many do you see on the street? I think price right now is about it.
Obviously this car is some ones failed attempt at restoring a classic. It looks rediculous, engine and transmission are gone, its a complete rat project. $24,000. to restore it at the minimum. What a scam story of a barn-find to hype up a pile of junk!
in 1977 i was offered a 1964 corvette for $1200.00 i didn’t have the cash. :(
I think John has missed my point, which is: From this ad you don’t know exactly what you would be getting, apart from a butchered, neglected C1 that’s been sitting for decades. And as the seller describes it, you won’t know until Spring thaw. From the description it’s not clear exactly which of all the components he mentions are included, and you don’t know what all those components are since some of them are in boxes and some of them are in Florida and some of them cost extra. Then, if you win the auction you get to travel to the frozen—no, sorry, the thawed Midwest, because it will be next Spring, and maybe also to Florida, to decide whether you really want it all. And have you already paid for the stuff? Don’t know, because the listing is short on procedural details. This may be the best bargain in a C1 to come along in a long while, or big a waste of your time and money. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to know which it is from the listing. But if you think it’s a great barn find, why don’t you go ahead and bid?
Considering the rising fuel costs and the transporter fee’s for moving a dead horse, that should make some people [ even the uber rich ‘Vette set ] to think twice on this one. The part in the listing [ add 5k to the final price if you want to swap for fuel injection ] and the fact that the engine and other parts are in Florida and the car is in the Midwest [ AND it was not very clear if this really is a matching numbers block ] it makes the whole deal too “squirrely” to be risked. Sounds like some one needs cash fast and is not willing to wait until he has the whole car rounded up in one place to unload it. Too rich for my blood, condition considered. I don’t care HOW much they go for at Barrett Jackson finished, this one is not finished or even CLOSE to all correct.
The price is a little high for someone just wanting a driver but with the options and from I can see of the condition it is a good investment. I have seen ’55 and ’56 vettes with factory dual quads go for anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000 restored. Now if you plan on taking it to a shop and letting them do the restoration you will be close if not over the value of the car, but where’s the fun in that? I also realize that most people don’t have a shop equipped to do a full restoration so this might not be a reasonable project for them. You mentioned the fact that the photos don’t show much? Well I have never and never will bid this much on a vehicle without seeing the vehicle in person. The ’69 Boss I am restoring now was located in Wyoming but I went to Utah to look at a ’70 Mach I with a factory 428. The mach I turned out to be a bust but since I was in my truck pulling my car hauler I traveled on to Wyoming to look at a Boss a friend had told me about. The Boss made the trip from Texas worth it. I’ve never paid a transport company and don’t plan on it unless there is no possible way I can make the trip. And I realize most people can?ÇÖt just pick up and take off on a long road trip but some can. I’m not interested in this car, especially since I have two projects going on right now, but for someone with the means to handle the restoration themselves it has the potential to be a good investment. Personally I liked the looks of the ’58 to ’62 better because of their dual headlights. I can’t see the butchered up part someone mentioned. Yes the interior has been changed but it’s nothing that can’t be put back original. Other than the interior the body looks in fairly good shape. Don?ÇÖt know about the underside but you have to remember these where basically trucks under the body. Anyway this is just my opinion and the bottom line is how much money can you spend and is this the model and year you want. I’ve just never been much of a vette person.
Well on rethinking after my last comment I hoped you would not take the challenge to bid. …and now the bid is over $30K, it’s worse. That’s why I said it would be better to take that money and maybe buy a decent car that you can actually examine and evaluate, instead of this risky deal. BTW, the current Sports Car Market Price Guide for a 1957 with 270 HP engine is $49,200 for the low range of the market for this car. That value is for a #2 condition car, which is one with minor cosmetic imperfections but otherwise perfect. I’m thinking you couldn’t bring this car up to #2 for the difference between that number and the winning bid, which we know will be above $30K.
You guys are right, as a project it’s worth maybe 10 to 15 g’s with deductions for professional inspections of both locations.
Now at 38k….”. Choke
The Barrett Jackson profiteers are hot on the trail ! Out to set a new auction “record high sale”. *Gag*
The televising of all of those high end auctions has been a disaster for the hobby. Sure higher prices have meant the salvation of some cars which would not have been restored otherwise. But they have raised the expectations of any nitwit with grandma’s old sedan. They and the high end concours have also raised the price of “restorations” with the “quality” demanded. Is it really necessary to spend thousands of hours of labor to redo something that took dozens of hours at most to build in the first place? Epa regs on paints have helped raise the price on materials to the point that it’s laughable. We don’t need cars that were better than when built. 2.5 million for a Ferrari is ludicrous just because Steve Mcqueen’s butt sat in it. Yes there are truly rare and significant cars, but please.
Indeed, God help you if you go try to buy a gallon of red automotive paint, the most expensive color going hands down ! No such thing as cheap paint anymore.
I agree with you Pickett, the movies have ruined the pricing on some cars. I have always been into Mustangs and own 5, my pride and joy is my Boss 302 and my Boss 351. Before gone in 60 seconds came out, the new one not the original, you could pick up a pre 70 mustang fairly reasonably. Today every Mustang ad you look at, including those for Mustang II’s, has the title Eleanor Clone. I drove almost 200 miles a few months ago to look at a ’66 Fastback 2+2 that was supposed to be in fair condition. When I arrived, with my car hauler, I couldn’t believe my eyes or the dude?ÇÖs nerve. There was not a useable panel on the car, not even the roof! Not to mention that it wasn’t even a 2+2. The seller said he had bought it with the plans to build an Eleanor clone. Now correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t Eleanor either a ’67 or ’68? And why build a clone of a restomod? I mean it wasn’t even a production car so why clone it? To me this says “hey I have no imagination so I’m going to copy another builders design”. The trip wasn’t a complete waste though because I found a man in Mena, just a few miles down the road that had a set of Magnum 500’s and a set of Lucas lights. Now if I could just find a ’67 GT500 for the lights.
Hey I am looking for a set of Lucas lights for my 68 GT/CS, late production used square-ish Lucas lights and mine is a late production [ early production used Sev-Machelle lights ]…if anyone “stumbles” onto a used set…. I believe you are talking about the round 67 Shelby lights correct ?
First “Eleanor was ugly. That settled many good Mustangs have already been ruined this way already. Now If I can find a cheap old Panther chassis country squire that has a good body and interior but bad paint and interior I might consider a Family Truckster!
I for one can remember when the dealerships were selling Daytonas and Superbirds for less than sticker because of the ‘Oil Embargo’ and insurance rates around 3500 to 4000 so i have a hard time justifying the money people want for any old muscle my first 56 Chevy post was only 500 now my neighbor wants 6500 for one that needs paint and other ‘work’ where will it end?
One of our customers is the person who bought this car. we are restoring this car right now
I will try and post pictures if i am allowed to.
RPM – Please keep us updated! You can just post to the forums for everyone to follow. Thanks.
alright here is the car now :-) Enjoy
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/w4k34l1f31/2012%20Shop%20cars/2012-03-21_17-00-26_114.jpg
RPM has posted photos of the restoration of this Corvette and it is looking amazing. To see all of the photos visit his forum post here:
http://www.barnfinds.com/forum/f6/1957-corvette-posted-orignally-you-guys-january-february-19/i tried searching for the forum and it says it is gone what happened? I have HUGE updates!!!
We had to take the forum down for a while because spammers took it over. Just email us your updates and we will write up a post.
Just fyi and not to be a smart butt or a p.ick…the word used in the description to describe the area where the shift knob is is CONSOLE not COUNSEL. Counsel is something one gets from someone else when he does not know what to do, such as legal counsel. I do not wish to offend anyone but I have seen this word mis-used so often. If you want to curse me out, be my guest and email me.
You are right Richard. All fixed and no offense taken. Thanks.
hey i saw the forums had been shut down but is there any way to do a story on this car its all done and it runs and drives would love to share the time and work that went into this if there is any way to get a hold of someone and maybe even get the old owner involved to see the car would be great. hopefully someone can help me out thanks again . its amazing what the car turned out when we got done and long long restoration process .
Hi Brandon, you can just email us an update with photos and we will be sure to get something posted on the site. We would all love yo see how it looks today. Thanks!
My first car was a 57 Vette bought it for $1600 in 1972 sold it in 1980 for $4500 still miss it wished many times over I never sold it it was an original fuel injection only just over 300 were made most going over $100,000 today