We’ll be the first to say that any vintage Corvette deserves to be restored to its full glory.
But sometimes you have to be a little practical unless your wallet is like one of those perpetual motion contraptions and constantly refills with more cash.
Such an example might be this 1954 Corvette that has been stored in a barn since 1969.
This classic C1 from the second year of production is available at the “Buy It Now” price of $28,000 on ebay.
That’s the lowest priced 1954 on the site, with other prices ranging from $55,930 all the way up to a staggering $184,900 for a restomod that admittedly might be my favorite ’54 ever!
Unfortunately, we’re wondering if a new owner could ever get his money back from this car because it definitely needs a whole lot of work!
The best thing about this Corvette might be the body, which from the photos provided on ebay looks to be in pretty decent shape. Also, the frame and underside “look very good,” the seller notes. It also rolls and steers “fine” though it doesn’t run or drive, he admits.
To us, this car makes more sense as a high-dollar restomod since it’s not going to be an original creampuff. The factory six-cylinder engine is “long gone” and the interior is basically a matter of starting over from scratch.
Since it’s been more than 65 years since this car was made, and in very limited numbers (3,640 in 1954), parts are likely going to be hard to locate.
This car reminds me of a 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am that my wife and I bought years ago for what we thought was a great price. Unfortunately, by the time we got it running good, we already had a boatload of money in it and still needed to do the interior and paint the exterior. We finally climbed out of the money pit and went screaming for the hills!
Along those lines, it might make better financial sense to purchase another 1954 already in good shape. We saw a “very original” one on ebay today for $59,995 that has already been gone through by an NCRS judge, had all the systems repaired (at a cost of $21,000), and has been judged as a 2nd Flight Survivor. Likely not to be nearly as many surprises with this car as a $28,000 barn find.
But the thrill of the chase is what drives some enthusiasts, so we wouldn’t mind seeing someone with deeper pockets than us, decide to take on this challenge and bring this ’54 back to life. Will it be you?
Source:
eBay Motors
Related:
[PICS] 1954 “Entombed” Corvette Now on Display at the National Corvette Museum
[PIC] It Takes a Chevy…To Catch a Chevy!
[PICS] Throwback Thursday: Zora Tests the Corvette’s V8 Engine in a 1954 Mule
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GOT DEEP POCKETS ? THEN BY ALL MEANS AN AUTHENTIC RESTORATION, BUT I CAN SEE THIS AS A VERY NICE SORT OF LOW BUDGET RESTO MOD IF YOU CAN DO A GREAT PART OF THE WORK INVOLVED YOURSELF. THAT’S WHAT I’D DO , PUT TOGETHER A NICE CRUISE NIGHT CAR.
This is a Corvette forum, and all things Corvette are of course appreciated. But, probably in some cases, for the sake of having readers on here that aren’t real knowledgeable on various year Vettes, you should give a little more details. Case In Point………yes, restoring a 54 since it wasn’t a particularly popular year to full blown restored is obviously going to end up costing probably more than you can get out of it (UNLIKE what you can do with a ’57, ’62, 63 SW, and several 67’s) BUT what anyone out there who might even be “thinking” of restoring this ’54 needs to be aware of is that “IT HAS HAD THE ENGINE REPLACED WITH A V-8” and as you well know, that wasn’t available until ’55. So if it truly is a ’54 then for it to be worth much it would have to have a Blue-Flame 6 put in it, and since it wouldn’t be the original one, you’d have more money in this thing than you would EVER get out of it probably…….but hey, if you’ve always wanted one, go for it. My question is that with as much as that engine bay looks somewhat original, is there any chance the owner or someone has mistakenly said it’s a ’54 when it could actually be a ’55? (worth more $ if it is, and especially if that’s the original V-8). There aren’t any side fins to show it’s a 55 with the V-8, but anything could have been done to those through the years. Just sayin…..worth looking into maybe if you’re thinking of spending money on this one.
The article on this “54” is completely valid. Craig and Swissrick have equally valid points.
I’ve never attempted a Corvette restoration. But I did two completed restorations: One a 1974 Porsche that was a converted pre-production test mule and completed in July of 1973, which I restored a total of 4 times at a cost of close to 200,000 total and was something I did for the love of the car. This one, however, had a certificate of authenticity from Porsche and it had numbers matching chassis and engine. The 5-Speed had no record of replacement but did have a record of order instead of the factory stock 4-Speed; thus the 5-speed was likely original. Porsche in Germany ignored requests to help authenticate the car. I also found a 1972 long-hood 911 T who had two owners before me. No engine: that had been stolen; full original body however, rolling chassis with transmission and headlamps and gauges all still in the car and with all original glass and original paint except 1-2% on a headlamp bucket. It was a great candidate for an 1972 RS (of which there were some) tribute. However I rebuilt it instead as an original 911T as the first owner, was allegedly a member of Steve McQueen’s film crew on “Le Mans”. McQueen helped him to option this T. Without being able to prove it one way or another I just left the body as is and the markings and built it as a sleeper. NFI on this one as the point is, some cars are fully restorible and others are not. The first one was a rust bucket full of holes like Swiss Cheese but had most of the original stuff right down to the tool kit. The second one was one which was super-maintained but had the problem of having its original engine stolen from a storage locker.
How much do you love the car? What do you want to do with it? Regardless of your decision, if you do a restoration of a car such as this, it can be done, but you will be upside down on the car, even if a high school automotive class rebuilt most of it for you. But how cool would it be to have a ’54 and actually be able to drive it. AF
@ SWISSRICK, THE EBAY LISTING SHOWS A PICTURE OF A VIN. PLATE STAMPED E54XXXXXX SO I’D SAY IT IS MOST DEFINITELY A ’54.
Thanks Craig, In that case, unless someone just wants a “project” and money isn’t a concern, or they don’t care about originality and eventual re-sale price, this is probably an OK project.
…i would think you restore it for the car as a child of its time and not for the money you can make…..so its a project for the female/male wiht the heart in the right place…
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