Stock Corvettes of every form are really not my thing, but man I love them "hot rodded", especially the C1s done g***er style. This car just floors me.
Corvettes are special cars. People back in the day were not afraid to personalize them by customizing or hot rodding. Later a bunch got restored to stock so I don't think anyone will ever forget what a stock one looks like. The rear flares on this one are really something. I would not have done that but it was his car and his vision. I love my mildly customized 61 and even though it was an original fuel inj car and probably worth more original I wanted it the way I wanted it. It is called having fun with cars. When it stops being fun it stops being a hobby in my book....
When that car was modified, it was just another used car and no one was concerned about whether it would be considered rare or collectible a half century (or more) later. Certainly, the viewpoint would different if you bought a C1 Corvette in 2026 and then got out the Sawzall.
I have a real nice original 1934 Nash Lafayette 3 window coupe that I had bought in lieu of a 33 -34 Ford 3 window. After 3 years of searching to really identify what I have , I am still going to leave it alone until I can definitely identify what I have . I do not want to regret messing with it in the future. Vic
Right. Some people lose sight of the fact that almost every car went through a period when it wasn't worth much. My grandfather owned a Chevrolet dealership, and in the late 1940s ended up with a 1932 Cadillac V16 someone traded in. They allowed the customer nothing for it and finally ended up selling it to a kid for $50.00. What do you suppose it's worth today?
There are plenty of restorations of almost every car out there. So I say fire up the sawzall, torch etc. make it yours. Unless the car is extremely rare, has major historic significance etc. I mean really how many perfect Ts, 32s Vettes etc do we need? @Moriarity your Vette is a perfect example, rare yes but not the only one. Your customization is perfect and the car is so much cooler than any stock example. I see the numbers matching crowd go bananas when someone starts modifying a desirable car, makes me want to cut up and modify something! That is the point of this thing we do Isn’t it? Dan
Man early corvettes modified are so rad. I can’t think of a single car that the difference of how much I like it stock, compared to modified is as enormous. they are such a fantastic jumping off point. They are a neat car stock but **** even a “mild” Custom like Moriaritys shows just how a little seasoning launches the cool factor sky high
The older I get, the more I'm a preservationist. Not necessarily in the stock restoration genre alone, but along the lines of, 'as raced', 'as customized', 'as hot rodded', etc. Does this make any sense? Of course if it's an insignificant, steaming pile, in search of any love at all, all bets are off. Have at it!
It wasn't rare when it was modified. It looks like 70s FG work. I'd finish the flares and paint them leaving it as is. Let the next guy spend the 10,000s of 1,000s of dollar to try and make it a Bloomington Gold car. By estimates there is still about 1/4 million Model As floating around. The prices indicate a buyers market so cut em up to your hearts content. AI sez: Total production for Nash and LaFayette combined in 1934 was limited to just 28,664 units, making surviving configurations incredibly rare today. Some specific variations, like the 3-window styling variants, have only a handful of known surviving examples worldwide. This is a tough one. Yes it's rare but is it desirable? Is anyone beating a path to your door to buy and restore it? If you've got the front sheet metal I'd say get it running as a stocker and putt around town in a very rare piece of history. Who knows at some point Kelvinator may start making fridges again and want a Nash for their company museum. They could bookend it with a Hudson which is the other company they bought to form American Motors.......
I'm all for Corvettes being hot rodded or a mild custom as is Moriarity's, but those kluged on fender flares would be the first thing to get nixed. I know the fender wells on Mazmanian's are subject to personal preferences, but to me it's one of the most bad*** Corvettes ever.
I have an uncle and aunt who buy and sell antiques. I remember they got a little upset when I bought a pair of 1885 stained gl*** doors for my bedroom and bathroom and spent a winter stripping, repairing and refinishing them as they needed a lot of help (old varnish, missing gl***, broken mullions, ect), but they turned out beautifully. They told me that I destroyed their value as they were no longer original, to which I countered that it's not worth anything if I can't use it and enjoy it. I remember someone built a 1963 Corvette as a Pro Street car some years ago that was featured in Hot Rod Magazine. He actually started with a concours 1963 fuel injected Corvette to build up, and there was a lot of backlash about that. Considering how much he modified the car, he could have started with a tired project car instead.
the value of used corvettes didn't really "perk up" until the latter part of the '70s. you could find decent ones for less than a grand. the killer was insurance; my agent told me the rule of thumb was just to double what you paid on a more normal car. lots of vettes got stolen... i had a buddy who found his '60 in the early '70s, and paid $800 for it. he put a hot smallblock and tricked-out 350 turbo trans in it.
in 1970 I was 17 worked in an esso station. guy came in with a 60 vette, hot 327, fresh paint, 3 sets of wheels and tires. He was getting a divorce, said he would take 900 cash. i could never get insurance so I p***ed.
I paid $600 for my 54 in 1968. In the mid 70s I had a 63 roadster & 66 BB Coupe both were under $1,000. The insurance was actually cheaper on the BB car because it was an automatic. I picked up a 20,000 mile 85 around 2010 for 3 grand what a POS that was.
I love the look of the late ‘50s early’60s Corvettes, but you aren’t likely to get me down inside one. G***er stance, or 15 inch wheels… I’m in!!
My Vette was modified in the mid 60s I believe, it was put in long term storage in the late 70s . When I bought it I never had any intentions of restoring it
I worked at S&H Autobody in Fresno in the early 70’s. We specialized in Corvette repair, then came the flaring craze. We made molds and would cut the existing fender out and add the flare. This was done for $200. A wheel, we kept the original flares on top of the bathroom, thinking we’d use them for repairs. Well the fad ran short and customers were back wanting the stock well again. We cut off the flares and sold them their original pieces. No one caught on how we made the well look so original. Corvettes have bonding strips above the wheels you can see from the factory, if you can’t see them the car has been wrecked or worked on. That 58 is a great find….
This one was for sale on the HAMB a couple years ago. That Latham supercharger pretty much says it all.
The older I get, the more I respect and like untouched, original survivor cars.............restored cars are cool and will always have their place. That being said, I am a hotrodder and will modify and cut stuff up
I don't think I've ever met a vette I didn't like. I even like the boxy 80s vettes. They're all pretty cool....
The car is already modified, so it’s good to go with whatever someone wants to do with it. Id personally get rid of the flares. As a side note, how are these early gen Corvette’s inside room for someone who’s 6’-1” ? Looks like the steering wheel would be a tight fit. Always liked the 56-62’s
When I got this back in ‘85 it was only one of two’56 Nomads in Australia . I copped a lot of flack from the non believers but I had to do it.
Well I just have to say that it wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit if who ever bought that 58 cut those early 70's gotta cover the wide tires on deep reverse rims flairs off and put stock wheel well opening back on it. Ugly is ugly. On the other hand Moriarity's red and white Vet is what was done with a number of them in the mid 60's especially the three tail lights that some old timers might swear that were stock because it was a popular mod back in the day. Then with the race oriented Corvettes shown in previous posts they are correct for the time frame they represent When you didn't worry about cutting the hood or wheel wells a bit to clear carbs or tires or swap a straight axle under one because you were building it as a race car and that is what was done at that time. I had a steering wheel that I bought for 10 bucks from a buddy in Waco who bought the pretty much hulk of a 59 for a low price to use the body shell for a drag car with a tube frame and he sold the 59 to my best friend who in turn built the grand daddy of all frame swap rat rods with it by setting a hacked up Model A body that someone had tried to make a roadster out of on it and sticking a mild small block in it. I moved before the guy ever got the 59 built into a drag car though.
In high school auto shop cl*** I had the privilege of changing the heater hoses on a 69 big block Corvette. That was so much fun! Out of 15 guys in the shop, I was the only guy that was able to get the job done. To gain access for the heater hose connection on the heater core, we had to work through the gills in the fenders. You could not have given me any Corvette, after working on one car, one time. I completely lost interest in all of them. Changing spark plugs in a 428 Mustang cobra jet wasn't much better. I got to do that one for 3 years in a row! We ended up drilling holes in the inner fender so we could remove and install the plugs in the motor. Then we made removable covers for the holes on the inner fenders. Ford listed the flat rate to change the plugs in a 428 Cobra Jet as an 8 hour job, they suggested you lift the motor off the motor mounts a few inches to change the plugs. At least once the big block 68 Barracuda cooled off it wasn't too bad. I had to pull the alternator off the motor, reach between the bottom of the exhaust manifold and the inner fender and pull the front plug out, then I had to pull the 2nd plug out, then I had to pull the 3rd plug, then I could reach the 4th plug. I pulled it out, and put the new plug back in, and connected the wire. Then I put the 3rd plug in and replaced the wire. Then I put the 2nd plug in and replaced the wire, then finally I put the front plug in and replaced the wire. Then I reinstalled the alternator. The other side was easier, except the rear plug, I had to go under the car, pull the plug wire, then with a plug socket and an end wrench I could remove the plug one flat at a time until it spun easily. I reinstalled it with the same process. Putting the plug wire back on was much more difficult then pulling it off was, I could only use the very ends of my two middle fingers to reach the plug wire to install it. It the old car you have in your possession is not a flawless, absolutely complete, original, rare car, feel free to cut it up. To the hard core restoration people, anything less then perfect original is a parts car. Before you start, its a parts car, after you cut it up and have fun, its still a parts car.
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