Barrett-Jackson 08: [VIDEO] A Tale of Two 1963 Corvettes

1. Ten years from now the numbers car will be worth more than the celebrity car for sure…remember some celebrity folks fall out of favor over time or the next generation of buyers doesn’t care about who they were!

   Having modified just about everything on the sixty’s cars that I owned in college your heart today goes back to being a purest with these timeless vehicles.

   If you grew up in the 60’s (and are still alive) and loved Corvettes the popularity ranking is as follows: 67’s…66’s…65’s…58’s…59’s…60’s and of course 69 L88’s.

   Anyone selling??? Call me: Tim 314-503-5375 I’am in the market.

2. Wow…well to start things off I bought the red split window at the Barrett-Jackson auction. The fact that you have the video of my purchase sort of freaks me out but in a good way I think… I hope…The car is better then first realized. First of all the car is NOT a base engine 250hp coupe but rather the 300hp RD coded numbers matching motor. I was so fortunate to have met a Corvette restorer, Greg earlier that day at he B-J auction and we became instant friends. He was in town for the auction from MA. I think he saw my passion and determination to own my dream car, a 63-67 4 speed Corvette. It’s so cool to go to these events and meet REAL car guys not the jack-offs that stand around pretending to know everything. We looked at many cars that day and he helped me determine what was right, wrong and no big deal about the C2s. I bid on a few of them but the cars either had many needs and went higher then I wanted to pay or turned out to be not what was described. Any auction including B-J does not verify that what the seller says is accurate so do your homework! We did not get a chance to look at the split window all that well before it went on stage. The seller did NOT have a clue what he was doing, showed up late with the car to the auction, did NOT have the car unlocked for viewing and was no where to be found before the car went into the staging area. To be honest I felt that the car would reach the 80-90k mark which was way out of my budget anyway so I really was sort of indifferent…Kind of like seeing a super model, drooling but knowing she’s way out of your league and…I was in the audience with Greg my dad and a few friends when the 63 came up on stage and we all were waiting for the huge $$. When the bidding stalled around 55k I ran up on stage with Greg in tow. The funny thing is the car was rolling off the stage and the stage hand wouldn’t let us go on stage until the car was done rolling so I took a chance, made eye contact with the auctioneer and raised my hand. At that point I told the stage hand get the h#!! out of the way and proceeded to follow the car off the stage. I had no idea if I had made a huge mistake or a great buy. We followed the car all the way back out to the tents in the grass only knowing that the car ran. The seller was soon to follow and was really pissed, yelling you stole my car you ####### and left the auction…fun huh (not really I’m 5’7" he was 6’4") It was late and I left the car there over night and retuned the next day and just hung out about 20 feet away from the car and listened to everyone talk about the car. I did speak with a few of them and two offered me a huge profit, I took their numbers but I really want to keep the car and enjoy. One of the guys actually was complaining to his wife that it was her fault that they didn’t come to the auction because she didn’t want to. I took the car home Friday night and parked it in my garage next to my 2003 50th anniversary convertible. The car drives really strong and was surprised that even the clock works. Saturday morning Greg offered to come over to my house and check it out for me. He brought his Corvette black book and his notes and we put the car up on ramps and we went through the car. The car was done to a mid-high level, some of the nuts and bolts used in the restoration are not accurate, and the alternator is not the correct date code. This is when we discovered that the car actually has the RD coded correct numbers matching 300hp motor not the 250hp motor. The brake master cylinder cap is also not correct and the power steering pump has a slight seep. I drove the car around on Saturday and I couldn’t be happier. It starts, stops, no smoke, and runs really strong, I did notice the gas gauge isn’t totally accurate but is a good estimate. I found some old paperwork for that was in the compartment under the driver’s seat and it appears that the car is an Arizona car. When I took the car off the ramps the interior door latch didn’t operate, so I took the door panel off re-connected the rod and noticed that the interior door panel was signed by the restorer and dated 2001. I’m guessing that when the car was restored. I was told that A/C wasn’t an option until later in the 63MY and this car is an early 63MY car. I hope I didn’t ramble on too long but I’m so excited that I got the super model for once.

3. Johnny:

   Thanks for your comment. It’s great to hear your perspective on this buy. As I mentioned in the post, I thought your car was just stunning. A red split window! I wouldn’t kick it out of my garage. It’s always interesting to hear about what happens behind the scenes and as the seller learned, there is a lot more involved than just showing up with the car.

   Congratulations again!

   Keith

4. There were some "bargains" at the B-J auction this year and I think we are going to see some changes in the auction world one being the "no reserve" condition that some auctions require. Some of the "bargains" were a direct result of economy and the housing market, some were the result of cars being sold by unpassionate people that were trying to sell poorly prepared/presented cars to people who knew better. The collector car hobby is attracting more and more savy buyers who know what they want and what to pay so the days of sellers selling shiney cars that are really just tarted up for the auction to people who are easily fooled are coming to an end.

   In the case of the split window, if the seller was even slightly passionate in the very least and bought a Corvette Black Book and bothered to look at the casting numbers on the engine pad and the heads, he would have very easily seen this was a 300hp car not a 250hp car. It’s very possible that other people saw that too and got really skiddish that the car had bigger issues.

   I am a licensed/boned dealer in the state of Arizona and prior to working for myself I ran dealerhips for Roger Penske for many years and just got tired of the BS that goes on in large corporation. I’ve always been a car nut as long as I can remember. You can visit my website ( I built it myself and does not compare to this website, I’m a car guy and not very computor savy ) http://www.VaccaroMotorsports.com

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