Restored Or Original? 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
It’s beautiful, but it’s going to be met with brevity, as unfortunately, that’s the essence of this listing. Barn Findy? Hardly, this is a beautifully preserved and well cared for 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster. Its Sunfire Yellow exterior appears as new but then there’s only two images so we’ll have to make a leap of faith regarding the details. While the aluminum wheels with their spinners and the side exhaust pipes are staples of this vintage Corvette, the wide whitewall tires are an attention getter, maybe and maybe not for all the right reasons. Whatever the case, this 1966 Corvette is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is available here on craigslist for $108,000. Thanks to Ron for this tip!
Right out of the gate we are told that this C2 is powered by what is known as RPO L79 which is a 327 CI, 350 HP V8 engine. There is no accompanying image unfortunately and that’s a shame as it is one of Chevrolet’s greatest hits. It is similar in temperament and internals to the 365 HP RPO L74 but it lacks the periodic mechanical lifter adjustment requirement of the L74 and is compatible with A/C. This ‘Vette has run up 90K miles and the seller claims that the motor has been rebuilt. He gives no indication, however, of how this Chevy runs and drives. Two transmissions were available with this engine in 1966, both four-speed manual units, one a standard, wide ratio configuration and the other a close ratio arrangement. The seller makes no mention of the specific unit employed in this example. Rear axle ratios allowed spanned a range from a highway friendly 3.36:1 up to a steep, step-on-it 4.11:1 ratio.
The interior is like the exterior, it too looks new. The seller advises that it is leather, which was an option in ’66, and none of what’s visible reveals any sign of wear, age deterioration, weather degradation or any of the other foibles that adversely affect a 54 year old, open car interior. We’ll assume that this Corvette has a fold-up canvas top but who knows, does it? What color? What condition? A removeable hardtop too? More questions than answers.
This listing is a head-scratcher. This is a high-dollar, very collectible automobile being promoted via a medium that is generally not the province of six-figure automobiles. Beyond that, the paucity of detail is outstanding, again for a car of this market value one would expect many more images and some pretty focused detail as opposed to throw-away lines about numbers matching and coming with “huge records”. This Corvette is stupendous looking, no argument there (except for the white-walls), but the glibness of the listing would probably preclude me from making an inquiry if I were interested, it just doesn’t sit right. How about you, is there enough sizzle with this minimalist listing to catch your interest and make you want to dig for more or would you be inclined to pass?
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Comments
Those wide whitewalls are just SO WRONG, they just leaped out at me, and then the ad copy did not inspire me. (IMO) It seems that if you’re asking six figures for a car, there should be a substantial amount of information AND photographs provided for potential buyers!!
In ’66 you couldn’t buy a whitewall that wide. Certainly agree with Moparman, a price like this one surely deserves a better sales pitch.
I agree with author Jim, Moparman, and bobhess. Very strange way to market an outstanding car like this. Almost like the seller isn’t really serious. Or has no clue what needs to happen when selling a six-figure car.
…but I saw one on Barrett-Jackson just like it for this much.
Those whitewalls just made my dad a little bit worse…
Why put this overpriced C2 on Barnfinds? Between the whitewalls, the color and the price, there must be at least one or two beaters in a barn better to feature instead.
Although I am a fan of white wall tires, there is a limit as to how wide I will go. These tires on this Vette are ridiculous beyond words. If you are going to restore any car, do your research and not go overboard. The guy can keep it for all I care.
This looks worse, but they HAD to put these tires on since it was 1955 – although maybe they could have flipped the tires around?
http://www.imcdb.org/v002967.html
Those WW belong on a ’56 Buick Roadmaster. with 3 tone paint.
Skinny WW, or black, would suit this Vette much better.
BTW…That yellow is a repaint.
We had inch walls in the sixties.
If that’s $108K Canadian dollars, it converts to about $80K US, which is still pretty strong for a rag top 66 small block. And those wide whites have to go!
Beautiful car, not a fan of yellow, but still a beautiful car. Love the knock-offs, hate the white walls. Overpriced for the current market, I’ve seen nice midyear roadsters selling in the $30-$50k range. The seller will no doubt revise the listing as a result of the questions he receives.
Did I mention that it is a beautiful car?
Big-block hood?
Those whitewall tires look great on my 57 Chevy pickup, and yes, I do have one with tires like that on it, but they are so out of place on that car. At least tires are an easy change to make.
I have a red one a lot nicer than this and correct tires I would sell for $65 K. Maybe I need to raise my price a lot!
Like the Tach with the needle missing.
But it does have the proper redline for the 327/350. fwiw
Wrong side mirror (early 63 Vette only; standard 63-64 Chevy mirror), and the antenna is wrong also. They should be straight, and in 66 they were electric.
As most every other commenter has said, the wide-whites look awful and are completely wrong for this car. When one considers that a well-known Corvette specialist dealer is asking a mere $11,000 more for a ’65 roadster with a big-block, the asking price for the featured car is clinically insane. I’m seeing no more than $65,000 on the very best of days.
Gangster whitewalls on a C2 Corvette? Yeah…………….NO!
If this was a 67 convertible with a 427 and a 4 speed I could see a six figure car but not a 66 with a 327!! The price is just to high in my opinion!!!!
Whites walls DO NOT belong on a corvette.
This sounds like a case where the seller will sell the car, but really doesn’t want to, and or,so definitely not cheap, by any means.lt looks to me,based on photos, this car has had light,to,and or medium restoring done, on it,we cannot see motor,and or really good quality photos, so maybe he wants people,to just look at car,and or not ask that many questions. He mentioned some type of paperwork, hmm, numbers matching, clear clean title, hardtop convertible,and or softop convertible and or maybe, both $100k-130k,and side pipes, kinda high,my thoughts are this, buy a big block car,might find one less expensive, and possibly a better looking factory color, this yellow color,and add on white walls,may not sell,at car show and classic car auction.