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This will turn into a build thread eventually, but it all starts somewhere. Surfing Craigslist last week I stumble on a 59 corvette only 2 hours away. I have to call.The owner said someone was going to take a look that night, I figure rats, its a goner. Call him back the following morning, no answer,left a message and an email to see if it sold. No response that day, so figure its gone for sure. Call anyway that night, but still for sale. Based on his description, it seems too good to be true, but figure what the heck, how can i go wrong at the price he's asking. Sent a deposit and drove down Sat. with trailer and cash.
Completed the paperwork and started loading up. Fortunately he had a car lift, so we put the chassis on the trailer, then lifted the body, cut the dolly out from under it, dropped it on the chassis with wood blocking in between then slid our the blocking and bolted the body to the chassis. After 3 hours and sweating a gallon of water, I started having buyers remorse asking myself why can't I be happy just sitting on the couch watching a ballgame...
Stuffed all the parts in my car and on the trailer then strapped it down for the long ride home. Its amazing how much space a disassembled car takes up.
It was a hot day and was concerned my Odyssey wasn't powerful enough, but took it slow and steady up 206 to the turnpike then GSP on home. Smooth ride and all the straps stayed tight. Got a couple of thumbs up from passers by.
Unloaded everything on Sunday and tucked it in the garage. Good timing as I just got done epoxying the floor and repainting the walls. I was rested and feeling better about the new project by then.
Some glass work needed on the front end, but everything else is excellent. $13k for a complete car (less motor and trans.) was pretty good compared to the stuff I see selling on ebay.
The owner had the car for 24 years with dreams of rebuilding it, but lost interest. He worked for Kerbeck Chevrolet in A.C. in the 90's and told me the story how they got to be such a large Corvette dealer. In '96, Gm told their dealers their allotment of corvettes for the 97 (C5) would be determine by how many 96's they sold. Customers were waiting for the new C5, so Kerbeck was selling the 96 at a $2K discount under cost. They took a beating, but sold a ton of 96's. This fella was driving trailers to other dealers picking up cars and bringing them to Kerbeck to fill orders. Kerbeck built a lot of clout with GM selling all those 96's and the rest is history.
I don't expect to do much on it till Sept. Will go with a Morrison or C. Correction chassis, lS3 with stack injection or LT1 engine, billet wheels.
Colors - no black, red, pink, or yellow, so maybe blue, silver, ????
Congrats Ken
Nice find. Sounds alot like my story 3 years ago. Found it on Craigslist not far from home. Sounded too good to be true. Didn't get a call back for a couple days but when I did, I jumped on it right away. Turns out it was right across the pasture from where I grew up & hasnt been on the road for 40 years. Brought it home in boxes in July. Had it finished the following May. Lots of fun & attention driving around in a C1. Your going to love it. Enjoy. Doug
Nice looking body Ken. 59's are a great car, and not many are left. Only 9670 made new. Any clues as to what engine and trans when built in St Louis? How about color. I like Crown Sapphire. Only 888 made. Silver 957 with red interior is always outstanding. I have only seen Classic Cream 223 cars twice in 40 years.
Neat thing is there is no trim tag, so paint it any color you like.
07-27-2015, 03:37 PM
'59 project find
