Get it running, fix the fire damage, blend the fender, Cragars or Torque Thrusts, slight tire rake, drive. Leave the chrome cove trim, it's the icing on the cake of that era!
Make it a driver. Unless it's a fuelie and you have all the trim, make it a 50 foot car. Live axle Corvettes want to be hot rods, not customs. Obsolete chassis, light roadster body and the best motor you can find pretty much defines a hot rod, so go with that. Gasser, vintage LeMans car, hoodlum street car, whatever your 14 year old self wanted back in the day.
If that's tattered, I'm the Pope!!! If it were mine? Lose all the chrome possible (except for the grille surround, the headlight rims, and the cove trim), , beef up/modify the suspension, add period kidneys, build a 302/4 speed combo and have a TON of fun!!!
I suspect you will be sticker shocked at the bids this vette will garner. Unless you get very lucky and the auction is not widely known. Even then it only takes one determined buyer to ruin you chance of a bargain. I looked at a 57 last year that had no motor and had taken a shot of flood water up to the steering box. This in of itself could be mitigated if addressed forthwith. Unfortunitly the owner has not touched the car since the flood that happened in 05. (Katrina on the gulf coast.) The interior had been removed before the flood as well as much of the chrome accessory trim and such. He was firm at 20,000. I passed. He offer a lower price recently but not much lower. Good luck, but be prepared.
In the jug early? C1=53-62, C2=63-67, C3 =68-82, there were no 83's sold to the public, C4 started in 84 and ran to sometime in the 90's at which time I lost count. Think they're up to C8 with the new mid engine models. We had couple of C4's, a 84 and a 86. Decent cars with too much computer and electrical bullshit on them. Pretty much cured me of owning another Vette unless it's a C1 trunk car, preferably a 56-58 single headlight version.
I`d put it up on blocks in my yard for a year or two. And tell everybody I`m gonna fix it up someday.
Thought the '58s were dual headlight....had my chance to buy OT 69 vert from my brother back in 1990, side pipes , Not numbers matched, 350, Impossible to get in or out without branding your left calf. $10000.lots of work to be finished. Decided nah.
I would allow myself to think only of the good stuff, and pull the trigger like Dirty Harry on that car. If you don’t you will think of that car forever.
Custom cruiser. Fire damage.....lol. That’s an ez fixer. Make it go and stop, a primer spot or two. Slam it in the dirt. A couple bellflower tips. Zoom zoom
Sell it, because I'm 6' 5" 270 and 69 years old. Can't fold my long-legged carcass into something that small and low to the ground. If I got in and got the door closed, I'd have a hard time getting out.
Red Christmas Special Hello, Betty Skeleton was a “Wonder Woman…” She drove all kinds of Corvettes for herself, her sponsors and the factory races all over the USA. This was a time for women to step up and be a part of local history. Women can do things… just like men… astronauts, jet fighter pilots, race car drivers and college math professors doing things with numbers we can only hope they work… We can thank a ton of women like Betty Skeleton to show other women the way it can be done, even in the 50s-60s. Jnaki We only wish we could have owned and driven the streamlined 56 Corvette at Daytona Beach, Bonneville and with the right set up, the dragstrip racing. If only… A lowered, sleek, Red Rocket on a slight rake, for the “Big S” if he can fit… ha! On a different note: There is a thread on Corvettes and what would you do if you had one. Having driven in a 1954 White/Red Corvette with a 6 cylinder, then 6 years later in a 1960 dual carb 283 4 speed version, it was like night and day. If one did not mind the cool factor of the 54 Corvette the 6 cylinder was ahead of anyone else at the time, so satisfaction was gotten from that drive and cruising around. But, the power of the 1960 dual quad 283 with a 4 speed was our introduction to the high power cars that could be had from the factory. It was a teenager’s dream car, not good for double dates, but good enough for power acceleration and curvy roads like going to Big Bear Lake or the local mountain resorts. If we had access to the early V8 motors and even a 3 speed stick, it would have been, I am sure, somewhat disastrous with all of “sporty” car shenanigans going on every time we got behind the wheel. One thing for sure was the cost of insurance for teens. A sporty car is one of the highest in the whole industry. That, in itself is a deterrent to owning a Corvette. The Red 1956 Corvette in the drawing is what ours would have looked like back in 1957 if we had all of our dominoes in a row. A high powered 265 up to a 283 CI, dual quads, and possibly a rare 4 speed from our friend’s automotive contacts in Los Angeles. The stance would have been a slightly lowered, rake angle with 56 Buick Skylark Wire Wheels added for the custom touch. No hardtop as shown, as it becomes a daily driver weekend cruiser and sometimes racing in the sports car classes at Lion’s Dragstrip. But, as dreams and art go together, my brother always wanted to go to Bonneville and make a full speed throttle run for the top speed. In what car? Either in a lowered Altered Roadster or a sporty car. The sporty car being a 56 Corvette with an added stabilizing fin. Of course, the tow/push car would be a 1954 Corvette Station Wagon with similar V8 power.
Second this one. Gasser would be great with the paint job. Some additional gold leaf lettering, needs to be subtle though.
@Jive-Bomber did you ever get this car ? Red / brown primer on repairs. Fix wiring, little bit of cam and a 4 speed. Clean it and drive. Always like this car from movie Presidio, the car and Meg Ryan were the best parts of the movie.
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