Jam421

I passed this place a bunch over the winter but now the car cover has been torn by weather. There's a 1" gap where the passenger rear window meets the body...so rain is just rolling in. The interior shows signs of water damage...glove box has numerous dents like ice pick hits, console, radio panels pulled out onto the seats....like somebody spent 2 hours disassembling than said " Forget it". On the left looks like a C1 with no top. I knocked but no answer.
I did not want to poke around uninvited much longer.... Uugh.
Seeing this is saddening..........

Blk63Vette

Hello

I find it amazing the amount of people that will keep a collectible car outside and let it rot...

While living in Dayton Ohio...I knew a guy that had a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird 4 spd car sitting on the side of the street been there for many years and last time I was in town it was still there...

The owner never drives it but gets the tags renewed and keep insurance on it...

revupL78

Next time you stop make sure you have cash in hand and a lot of it. I would think the owner gets a lot of knocks on the door.

csherman

on the left looks like a 53-55

bluestreak63

Just another case of "I have it and you don't. And it's worth six figures because I've seen BJ auctions." There is no way on Gods green earth that you will be paying what's it's worth before dropping money into it to get it to what it's worth. You will be upside down pretty quick.

pop23235

Watched a 57 fulie rot down in Alabama. Still there for all I know and that was 40 years ago. Drugs can do strange things.

Railroadman

"Nope - not for sale. Gonna fix 'er up one of these days!"

Vette60

Yeah...I know how it is...looks like it might be a '59 Frost Blue...just a guess.

I drive by on my way to work everyday multiple yard cars. The first has an early Mustang that looks to be pretty much gone. The next yard is a real goldmine. There's a late 60's/early 70's GTO in dark green with Black Vinyl Top in the yard partially covered with tarps. Behind it and further back are 3 different Mustangs. One is a fast back. Almost forgot the last yard that has an Ford Fairlane under tarps...this is all in about a 4 mile ride along kind of rural roads...funny what's out there.

I have seen the elderly home owner a couple of times pickling around the yard. Have been tempted to stop, but figure that I have enough going on and the fact that they are there, really means they aren't going anywhere...

Randy

Geralds57

GEM '62

Lived in Franklin KY. many years ago. A guy had, around, a 65 convertible in his drive. The top was rotted off and the tires were flat. I know a few people who stopped to inquire were and kicked off the property. He said, it was his car, it was paid for and he would do what ever the he!! he wanted to with it. People get stubborn stuck and at that point can't make any rational decisions.

ptjsk

Crazy that they're still setting out there like that!

David Moroney

Ignorant "owners" who are really only custodians of their temporary asset.

Jam421

I don't have the time or cash to restore either of these but a friend who sells on the web assures me he can find buyers who would restore them. I'd like to offer the owner something for the cars just to rescue them. Where do I start without getting my tailgate peppered with rock salt ?

Frankie the Fink

These people, regardless of what they claim, have no interest in restoring, driving or selling the car. They 'get off' on admirers' enviously trying to buy them and lamenting over their deplorable condition. The owners value this interaction more than money or the car itself....

A few cars get snagged when the perverse owners die off and are given a new lease on life.

I've been chasing this triple black '67 GTO convertible for a couple of years now; stuck in a garage 100 yards from my driveway....

It pays not to let yourself get too fizzed up about such things...

ChattanoogaJSB

I remember that GTO story of Frankie's. Where I live there are still more than a few enticing cars of the era getting worse every passing year. I agree many owners enjoy the interaction, absolutely.

also, I see no harm in walking up to the door and making a courteous inquiry. Most people will turn you away nicely enough. I caution against walking up someone's driveway and snapping photos of their possessions - whatever they may be! Would make me angry.

Railroadman

While I hate to see a nice car rotting away, I have to disagree on this. By the very definition of the word, the man IS the owner. Our entire concept of private property is built on the fact that you ARE the OWNER. You can do whatever you want with it, obviously subject to public safety and other laws.

However nice a Vette is, it's really an inanimate object which was built by humans and used as a tool by humans for their own purposes. If the man who owns the car wants to let it rot away, he does not owe anything to those who wish it was in better condition. It does not belong to anybody else, it belongs to him.

Bill Pilon

If you are uninvited and you know this much about this car on someone's private property you have already "poked around" too damn long.

I don't know where people get off thinking they have any right to question what a person does with their own property, frankly it is none of their business.

As far as the owner being the "custodian" of an item that is a crock of BS, and what they do with it is frankly up to them without advice from the peanut gallery.

Bill

Easy Rhino

There are lots of ways to be odd. Some people may include keeping 50-60 year old cars in pristine condition and enjoying driving these relics.

There is no reason to expect that the ways to be odd might not include keeping an old car with the dream of fixing it up, even if it is not rational.

Heck, since Corvettes are considered desirable by at least some people, I expect that the proportion of rotting, abandoned Corvettes should be a much higher proportion as compared to the number built of total same-year cars built.

My mother in law is a classic hoarder - I can't begin to figure out that psychosis, but she considers me to be the psycho between the two of us.

jrs 427

Its some lucky paperboys tip for delivering in rain and shine. His dad will sell it on CL for 1/4 value alleging the childs college fund which is in essence his $8.65 per pack smoking habit. It will all go up in smoke, .... except the barn find buyer who has a value clue. A major advertiser like Pro Team will buy it for triple the CL listing fee. A forum member will pay 125% value for a " barn find " and be the hero of the day for hunting down the best value C-1 59. The next five years will see rebuild cost nearly equal the outlandish purchase price.
The 55 next to it is one of a few eight cylinder early production ( within 5 units ) with specialized refinements tested for 56 models. Destined to be destroyed the original owner purchased it driving a mere fifteen thousand miles. Perfect body with a strange non production color. It is exploited by the dealer as a " experimental car " sent to BJs ringing the bell at a cool half million.
Now you know the rest of the story.

Railroadman

Not always, Frankie. Sometimes the people DO have good intentions but other factors are involved. While not a Vette, I have a railroad caboose which is almost 100 years old. It's wood and is literally rotting away. My intent for years has been to make a short piece of track on our 13 acres in the country and use it as a "man cave", restored to its original configuration. I have turned away countless offers from people who want to make it into a boutique, or an ice cream stand, or whatever.

Well, guess what. Come to realize the driveway to our land goes up a short but steep hill, with a bend of almost 180 degrees at the top. And by the road, we would probably have to have the utility company move wires to get it under there. Getting the caboose moved there would involve far more PITA and $$$ than we had planned. Our plans to move there full time have changed as well. So there sits the caboose on the railroad siding with wood literally falling off it. The local train museum already has one identical to it so they are not interested. It hurts but I concede one option might be to scrap it for the +/- 20 tons of steel in the underframe.

Not trying to be long winded but my point is sometimes people DO intend to "get around to it" one of these days but circumstances intervene.