Corvettes for Sale: Restored Barn Find ’63 Corvette Split-Window Offered on eBay

After being ignored for 40+ years, this now fully restored 1963 Corvette split window coupe is basking in the limelight today.

This gorgeous Riverside Red Sting Ray, located in Templeton, Massachusetts, is now up for sale on eBay, and not surprisingly it’s been attracting a lot of attention from enthusiasts. With just over four days left in the auction, the highest offer has already hit $181,400 which broke through the reserve limit, but the end is obviously nowhere in sight.

The car led a pretty normal life in the early going, with original owner Jeffrey Mills of New Jersey buying it at Benson Chevrolet in Brooklyn, New York. Three years later, he sold it to Edward P. Farley. By 1971, it had changed hands again, selling this time to Robert and Annette Stafford for a whopping $1,850. Sadly, Robert passed away soon afterwards, and the car was placed in a barn for more than 40 years.

That’s when Hagerty Insurance Hall of Famer boat judge Terry Fiest and his son, Richard, came to the rescue of this forgotten Sting Ray that they discovered had never been in a wreck and was still wearing its original paint – though it was covered by a thick layer of dust accumulated over the years of storage.

The father-son duo then embarked on a meticulous restoration, complete with extensive documentation of every brand new item placed on the car. The result is a 1963 Corvette that would definitely look at home on the showroom floor of a vintage Chevy dealership if it could be transported back in time.

Perhaps the only negative comment someone could make is the car doesn’t have its original 327 ci V8 engine. The seller explains the first motor apparently had a problem “in the early days,” and the motor and transmission now in the car was installed more than 40 years ago. The good news is that the replacement engine is an original 1963 Corvette motor dated Dec. 10, 1962 “that was stamped originally by the Chevrolet factory in 1962 and [is] not a restamp,” he says.

“What I’m telling you collectors is this is not the original motor or transmission that came in the car from new 1963,” he says. “However, it’s the exact engine and early Borg Warner four-speed transmission that would’ve came in a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette matched together.”

The Fiests spent more than $9,000 restoring that engine, professionally built by a highly recognized race car machine motor building company, the seller says. It’s been driven just 3,000 miles since.

If you’re hesitant about bidding on a car you’ve never seen, you might take comfort in the fact that the seller provides an extensive look through seven videos, including a cold start that he proves by putting his hand on the valve cover and exhaust manifold, and more than 100 photographs.

While most of us don’t have the financial means to spend upwards of $200,000 (or more?) on a classic Corvette, we can at least dream and drool a little bit, can’t we? We’ll try to keep track of the bidding to see just where the offers top out on this immaculate C2 classic and let you know the final price, and whether it met the reserve.

Source:
BarnFinds.com via eBay Motors

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