Flashback Friday (Mar. 2020): 1964 Coupe Survivor
This ’64 Corvette coupe was being sold by a California specialty car dealer and failed to sell on that eBay auction, missing the Buy It Now price by almost $15,000.00. That’s not really a huge surprise, given that it was equipped with a two-speed Powerglide transmission. But this car seemed to be original and unmolested, would probably have been a nice weekend cruiser, and would not have required a lot of maintenance or repairs. The Saddle Tan paint was apparently not a popular color choice in 1964 – only about 5 percent of Corvettes were delivered in this color, so in that respect it was relatively rare.
The seller claimed that the car ran and drove well even though it was in storage for many years. It was difficult to find fault with any aspect of this C2 – the chrome, paint, interior, and engine all presented very well.
The Saddle Tan exterior was repainted with a clear coat over the base original shade and still looked very good in the photos provided in the listing. This C2 even has the correct factory wheel covers.
The list price for this coupe when new would have been close to $5000.00. The fiberglass itself also appeared to be in good condition and free of any stress marks.
The interior showed just as nicely as the exterior and the seats, door trim, and dash were in nice condition. The car was optioned with tinted glass, power windows, an AM/FM radio, and an automatic transmission.
The five digit odometer read 42,447 and if this Corvette was truly in storage for many years, this could have been original mileage. Although this mileage was difficult to verify, the overall condition would tend to support the indicated miles.
This matching-numbers 300 horsepower 327 engine was a $53 upgrade from the base 250 hp engine, and the automatic transmission cost about $200 more. With only two speeds as opposed to the optional four-speed manual transmission, the Powerglide sacrificed performance, but as a fair-weather cruiser this Corvette could have been a pleasant driver.
Examining the underside left little doubt that this had been a dry-climate car, most likely living its life in sunny California.
All things considered, there was a lot to like about this clean, unmolested Corvette. There were no glaring deficiencies to be found, and the car seemed ready to drive and enjoy without major maintenance or repairs.
The original Buy It Now price was set at nearly $60,00.00 and the high bid was $45,600.00, so I’m assuming the seller accepted an offer around $50,000.00 which may have been about market-correct in early 2020. In today’s environment, what do you think the market value would be for this clean C2?