Detroit Steel

Following its restoration in 2013, the car went on to earn a Bloomington Gold Certification in 2013, an NCRS Regional Top Flight Award in 2015, 2nd Place in the Corvette class at the Santa Fe Concorso, and the Palmetto Award at the Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance.

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ChattanoogaJSB

Fantastic color combination on that z06.

The sales price doesn't surprise me these days.

Dr L-88

I wonder what the VIN is. I used to own a 63 this same color combination but it wasn't a Z-06, at least it wasn't when I owned it. It DID have a 36 tank and metallic brakes but not Z-06 brakes.

midyear

unless I am mistaken, I think this was a small tank car.

Boiler_81

Yes, it's a small tank car. I saw the car in the mid 80s when the previous owner was gathering parts to restore it. He never got it done. Here is a short history of the car: http://www.superchevy.com/news/1963-...te-with-price/

When I saw it, it was still in the wrecked condition that Danny O’Brien had purchased it in. The left front was hit pretty hard. At the time, I thought he was nuts trying to restore it. Of course with 20/20 hindsight he was absolutely right to buy the car and try to restore the car.

backlash2032

Well hell, maybe in 50 years my 06, one of 1540 Velocity Yellow 06 Coupes, will be worth a quarter million!

65 Hardnoks

I sure hope the new owner is OK with his doors being blown off by a Nissan Maxima.

Oh! I forgot that the new owner will NEVER drive that '63 beyond the speed limit. ( If the new owner ever does drive it. )

Midyrman

IMHO I think the buyer did ok given he paid another 10 percent or so commission on top of the price for the car. Absent the damage history the car probably would have brought more money.

I know if I had that kind of money and wanted a Z06 I would look for the same qualities in that car as if I were looking at a 75k car.

Driven or not driven, sure makes for great eye candy in the garage. Prices won't be going down either.

gbvette62

I was chasing that car back in 2013, for a customer of mine. The owner had died and his sister was selling it to settle the estate. We tried to buy the car from her, but she decided to auction it instead.

There were actually two cars, the 63 Z06 and a 66 big block, and a number of parts also. We had offered the sister more for everything as a package, then she ultimately got through the auction, and she had to pay the auctioneer's fees too.

That car was a race car from the day it was new, it had never been driven on the street!

Funny thing, the car is supposedly numbers matching, but from what I remember, the original engine was long gone, when it was sold in 2013.

There are pictures of the car, and history on it, at the link below.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...barn-find.html

65hihp

maybe a quarter, but not a quarter million.

docent

When I was in Seattle, looking at my potential 63, the dealer had the 63 Z06 with the big gas tank. The car was junk, and he was still asking $175,000. It would have to be the last one in world for that kind of money.

vetdoc

Here is the picture of the ZO6 as found before the restoration. As you can see not much of the original car was there when they found it.

Boiler_81

I had seen the pre restoration photos from the Lakeland auction with the frame looking straight. I thought I was losing it until I read post #22 in the link you provided. When I saw the car in 1986, I had remembered the left front being severely bent. The frame was obviously repaired or replaced sometime after that.

Your story aligns with what I was told by the owner in 86. The car had always been a race car and he had the complete history. It's unfortunate he never got the car finished.

I have no recollection of him telling me if he had the original engine or not. I was only there twice. I had him rebuild the trailing arms for my 66 restoration and bought a few small parts from him.

Midyrman

If only these old race cars could talk. I bet they would have some terrific stories to tell. Instead we thread the history together in hopes of building a better understanding of the car's life story. That's a big part of the enjoyment of these cars. When I look at my '66 historic race car sitting in my garage I can't help but picture in my mind the car in the past doing what it did best on the mountain road or race track. Just like thinking back on your own life and sharing stories of your prime years--- ehhh... better done after a couple of beers.

Boiler_81

It seems that restoring this car to total stock configuration was a disservice to it's history. It was a race car from the time it was delivered. I'm sure it was an economic decision for the restorer. He must have felt a show room restoration was going to be a better return than a restoration to race configuration.

65hihp

And I think he was right if the car was always drag-raced by Joe Schmuck. Or even if road raced by the same Mr. Schmuck. Returning it to its glory days look of monster flares and other racing mods was not going to increase it's value. Not by a long shot. Real Z06s in as stock condition is where the money is, unless someone real special spent documented time racing it.

gbvette62

That car was not drag raced by Joe Schmuck, or anyone else. It was an SCCA road race car, from the day it was delivered to it's original owner. In 50 years, the car had never once been registered for highway use.

It may have been road raced by Mr. Schmuck, but during it it's glory days, it did not have monster flares on it or many other racing mods. The SCCA did not allow flares, monster or otherwise, before 1973. When larger racing tires became available in the late 60's, tech inspectors looked the other way, if a racer showed up with slightly radiused wheel openings, but flares would never have been tolerated. From the history I received about the car, it appeared it had flares added in 1974, at the same time it was painted yellow, and just before it was totaled, and no longer raced.

The car had a solid racing history. There were no log books, but there was other documentation, and it was known that the car competed at most of the popular mid-west events, including the famous Road America June Sprints.

It doesn't always have to be about the money, but personally I think the car would have been worth just as much money restored to it's first as raced appearance, and a lot more interesting too!

SW Vette

Regarding this car's post-restoration market value, I'd have to agree with 65hihp that it's worth more in factory original, as-delivered condition. While it may have been more interesting to a few folks as a race prepped car, the widest appeal will always be attained in stock condition - unless, as previously noted, someone really special lent the car significant racing provenance.

Midyrman

I've got my 66 historic race car in this C1-C-2 Section including a number of pictures. The car was restored to race condition and not as factory delivered. The car was ordered to race hill climbs, which it did from day 1, for quite a few years with the Philadelphia Hill Climb Association. The owner subsequently SCAA road raced at many of the well known courses in the east.

The noteriety of the car is being featured on the cover of Corvette News magazine while ascending the Jefferson Hill in the spring of 1966. It's a great action photo.

When being restored the decision was made to restore a triple black, L72, J56 HD brake convertible to the identical configuration as captured in that photo, thinking that the photo and the hill climb that day represented the high point in the cars history. With the racing records and photos documenting the cars history the NCRS recognized its historical significance with the American Heritage Award. The Award is considered quite an honor.

Getting back to the question of whether to restore to racing or as delivered condition I think the right decision was made with my 66. While a factory ordered all black, 425hp, heavy duty brake, heavy duty suspension, 4:11 rear end, side exhaust convertible is a very cool car as it rolled out of the factory I haven't had anyone who has seen the car and who knows the back story say the car would have been better in stock configuration.

SW Vette

In the case of your '66, it clearly makes sense to have chosen restoring the car to its racing configuration for the reasons you explained in your post, i.e. records, photos, awards, etc. Extensive documentation of racing provenance justifies the decision, IMO.