Warehouse Find: 1962 Chevrolet Corvette 327 Fuelie

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1957 was an important year for Chevrolet, as it was the first time the company offered a fuel-injected engine in their Corvette, a 283 small block pumping out the coveted 1 horsepower per cubic inch.  Chevy wasn’t the first manufacturer to use fuel injection- that award goes to Mercedez Benz, who beat them to the market by a couple of years.  But Chevrolet was quite innovative in the early days of the fuelie concept, and in 1962 a more powerful fuel-injected small block was introduced in their sports car, a 327 with a 360 gross horsepower rating and nearly that much torque.  The 1962 Chevrolet Corvette for sale here on eBay is one such equipped C1, and if you’ve wanted to get your hands on one of these for a project it would definitely be worth taking a look at.  The ‘Vette is located in Franktown, Colorado, and so far bidding has peaked at $51,300, but it’s going to take more than that for the car to exchange hands as the reserve has still not been met.

If there’s any negative news here, it would be regarding the engine, and there’s a two-fold factor.  One, it’s not the original block, so the idea that this will one day be a numbers-matching example goes out the window.  Second, the motor isn’t running, and other than the seller mentioning that it does indeed turn over we don’t get any further information as to why it’s not starting.  He does state that the metal fuel injector air cleaner is brand new and that the car has new wiring, and while things look tidy and mostly complete under the hood, I’d at least liked to have been given an educated guess as to why it’s not functioning.  The car is also equipped with a 4-Speed, but no word on its condition, either.

We don’t get a whole lot more information about the rest of the history of the Corvette, but the seller does tell us that he’s owned the car for about a year and, prior to his acquisition, it had been stored inside a warehouse for some time.  The previous owner had begun a restoration, but sadly passed away before it saw completion, and the car has been sitting for the last four years.  Outside, the body either looks very well preserved or has had some work done on it already, and that Honduras Maroon finish is looking pretty good as well.

I’ve always loved the all-business nature of the ’62s instrument panel, and overall everything on the inside looks more than acceptable to be 60 years old.  Not much in there looks like it’s been messed with either, and it appears that the original radio is even still in the dash, but no word on whether or not it’s continuing to crank out tunes or if all the gauges are working.  The car also comes with both a soft and a hard top, although the pair are going to need some attention, as the hard top is missing glass and the soft top needs to be replaced.

As good as things are looking underneath, it surprises me that the seller didn’t even elude to the bottom side, but he did include no less than 8 photos from down below and things are looking nice and solid from the south end.  I’m guessing once the motor is running that not much additional work will be needed under there.  I’m really digging this one, but just wish there were more details about why it isn’t running.  What are your thoughts on this 1962 Fuel Injected Chevrolet Corvette?

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Comments

  1. CadmanlsMember

    I always liked the C1 Corvette, now to the ugly part. The fuel injection is nice when it worked properly but a pair of 4bbl carburetors would be my choice. Today not too many people seem to get the fact that gasoline is up to 10% ethanol and it is not your old cars friend. Oh yeah they have talked about raising that percentage. Open up a carburetor that has had that nasty liquid sitting for an extended period of time. Corrosion and deposits of gunk abound. That wonderful mechanical fuel injection system isn’t immune from its wrath. They were costly to repair 20 years ago, can’t imagine what todays repair might cost. This car looks good but a non running fuel injected car could add some serious repair costs. This could get expensive for the new owner. You don’t drive these like they were designed to drive new (everyday) and a carburetor can be modified to work with todays fuels much easier.

    Like 6
    • bobhess bobhessMember

      And a set of hardened valve seats wouldn’t hurt either. Nice car.

      Like 6
  2. DeBorah & George Mattar

    Hardened valve seats are the least of your problems. Ethanol is total garbage forced on us by government. I have a 50 year old Corvette and go out of my way to buy ethanol free gas. So far, no problems. I also use it in my lawn mowers, snow blower and weed wacker. Worth every penny. As to hardened valve seats, I daily drove my 1965 Impala 283 on the interstates at 75 mph. This was in the 1990s. Lead was long gone. Engine needed a broken ring repaired at 200,000 miles. Yeah, it had some wear, but only oneo burnt valve.

    Like 0
  3. Lowell Peterson

    Its right at value range now. $15k away from useable?IMHO?

    Like 0
  4. Dennis Zozula

    Generally I tired of Corvettes but I have always loved this year model. I think it goes back to seeing one featured in Seattle show. Black with all chrome and shiny parts gold plated. I expect a purest would be sad but man it was beatiful.

    Like 0

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