The 87th Corvette ever produced is available from a Phoenix dealer on ClassicCars.com.
And believe it or not, this three-owner 1953 roadster has been driven just 5,800 miles over the past 67 years, with the sellers noting it’s “believed to be the lowest original mileage example in existence.”
Hence the rather steep – but totally in line with current market conditions – $249,800 asking price for this rolling piece of history!
The car includes some serious documentation, not the least of which is courtesy of its 50-plus years of ownership by noted Corvette authority Lyle Hill. At age 20, in 1962, he bought the car from the original owner, Gerald White, in Orrville, Ohio.
Hill drove the car for the next four years and then mostly stored it away, awaiting the restoration that finally was completed nearly four decades later just in time for the Corvette’s 50th anniversary celebration in Flint, Michigan in 2003. After Hill’s death in 2014, the car was sold to a third owner who polished the car even more with the help of well-known restorers Rex Marshall and Corey Peterson. Their efforts eventually resulted in an NCRS Top Flight evaluation with 96.6 points.
According to the sellers:
Cosmetically, No. 087 is beautiful in its correct and nearly perfect livery of Polo White. The body finish has the correct fiber and seams showing throughout, and it is as authentic as they come. The chrome is excellent and of top quality throughout. The Corvette has its correct bias ply tires, red-painted wheels, and the correct factory two-eared spinner hubcaps. The exterior quality of restoration is excellent in all regards, understanding that the finished work on the 1953’s was not up to today’s standards for mirror-like finished fiberglass. Both the panel fit and body finish is representative of the technology available to GM in 1953.
The interior of No. 087 is terrific and finished to Concours standards. The Sportsman Red vinyl interior is complimented with its correct two-tone white and red dashboard. The red carpeting is beautifully fitted through the passenger compartment. It has its black canvas convertible top in its storage compartment.
The engine is also in excellent condition visually, with the beautifully detailed 235 CID “Blue Flame” straight six-cylinder engine and its triple Carter carburetors. We love the rumble of the engine from its chromed dual exhaust tips that are stylistically exiting the body in line with the rear bumper.”
Interestingly, the dealer’s “detailed inspection” finds the clock and tachometer “not functioning at present,” an odd situation for a car priced at nearly $250,000. Of course, it’s not like this Corvette will ever see much use on the road, so a working clock and tach aren’t really essential, are they?
Source:
classiccars.com
Related:
Matched Set: 2020 Corvette Buyer Orders No. 285 to Match the VIN On His 1953 Corvette
The Best Corvettes of the 1950s: No.3 – The 1953 Corvette
Former Owner of a 1953 Corvette Reunited with the Car After Selling it in 1974
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The tach needs to work, the clock not as important, but on a quarter mil car they both need to work. Something funny why they don’t.
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