Corvettes for Sale: This 1959 Corvette Restomod Won the Builders Choice Award at Good Guys Nationals

Rarely can a $150,000 Corvette be considered “bargain-priced” but that is exactly what Classic Auto Sales in Omaha, NE is calling the Bentley Meteor Blue 1959 Resto-Mod that they currently have in their inventory.

The specifics of this quarter-million-dollar build are as interesting as they are impressive. AutoKraft Racecars & Restoration in Eau Clair, WI was approached by the original owner, Gumer Alvero to build him a high-end C1 VetteRod and this stunner is how they delivered.

Instead of starting with an original ’59 body and rendering it nearly unrecognizable, AutoKraft sourced a Downs Manufacturing aftermarket body as their canvas.

Providing power to this blue beauty is an LS3 crate engine with forged internals and a hotter cam. It was Dyno’d before installation where it showed 550 Horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque at the flywheel. All of that twist is sent to the nine-inch Ford rear-end (3.73 gears) through a Tremec T56 six-speed manual transmission. The LS7 clutch, throttle, and C6 disk brakes with ZR1 Blue calipers are controlled by wildwood pedals.

British luxury automaker, Bentley, didn’t just provide the paint but also the exhaust tips which AutoKraft installed after noticing that they perfectly fit the contour of the ’59 ‘Vette’s body.

One of the most striking of the other exterior modifications is the custom-cut frameless windshield that concurrently gives off contemporary and classic hot-rod looks.

The cabin is equally as gorgeous as the outside with custom work done by Steve Pearson and Upholstery Unlimited in Clinton, IA. Tan leather bucket seats, door panels, and console are accompanied by a Momo steering wheel, custom gauges, and a Hurst shifter. An upgraded Alpine/Polk Audio system provides crystal clear sound quality for the rare occasion when the LS3’s song isn’t enough.

Once the build was finalized, this car made its debut at Good Guys’ Nationals where it not only took home the Resto-Mod Builders Choice Award, but also participated in autocross where it reportedly handled like a brand-new car with the help of its Morrison Tubular A-arms and Afco double adjustable shocks.

Before we continue, pop-quiz time! Quick, what is the easiest way to tell the difference between nearly-identical 1959 and 1960 C1 Corvettes at a glance? I’ll give you a single picture break to come up with your guess…

If you said “the direction of the stitching on the seats,” and perhaps even went into more detail like this; “the ’59 has horizontal stitching while the stitching on the ’60 goes up and down the seat’s center panel,” than you were correct and Classic Auto Sales will buy you a meal of your choice at the country’s best regional burger chain, Runza, with the purchase of this car!

Within the solution to the pop-quiz lies one of my only gripes with this wonderful automobile. I would have loved to see homage paid to the real ’59’s calling card with some prominent side to side stitched panels in the seats. The start button is also dangerously close in appearance to the one in the Fifth-Gen Viper which is slightly strange but passable when you consider that during the time of the build, the C7’s excellent looking brushed aluminum unit might not have been available.

Miniscule wishes/complaints aside, this remarkable build has been featured in numerous magazines including a 2014 issue of Super Chevy and is sure to be one of the envy of your entire Corvette Club who won’t believe it “only” put you back $150,000!

Source:
Classic Auto Sales

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