1964 Corvette Barn Find "Relic of the 70s"

[06stang]

The story on this Corvette is that it is a 1964 model, the "red headed step child" of mid-year Corvettes, due to not being a split window, and one year shy of a big block. A family member bought it as a retirement project in the late 80s and has looked like this the whole time he has owned it. The reason that the car is in such solid shape is because it was garaged for so many years. Now I am a young guy who wasn't alive during the custom 'vette era of the 1970s, but this car has 70s goodness going on everywhere with the L88 hood, minor fender flares and the hard to miss "whale tail" molded to the back panel. The original color of the car was the beautiful Silver Blue color and has the dark blue interior. The seats are out of a different car. After doing some decoding, we found that the engine is a '65 327/250 out of passenger car with a date coded 1968 Holley carb and an aluminum Edelbrock intake with a set of long tube headers. The tranny and rear end are all original to the car. The car has 82,048 miles on the clock.

I think of myself as a muscle car purist. I like my muscle cars original as can be. I do like the period "Day 2" modified cars too. As far as mid year Corvettes go, I love them stock. I am not too wild about radical fender flares and prefer them to not be on the car to begin with because I like the body line running the length of the car. This car does have its ups and downs. The interior is all original and complete sans the seats and shifter. the carpets are in really good shape considering the age and the headliner shows no signs anywhere of aging. It does need work however. It needs a new fuel tank and fuel lines (which the owner has) but as far as I know, you have to take the body off the car to do that, and needs to be repainted. The picture of the car sitting on a set of slots was taken the day the owner bought it in 1988.

As a student of restoration, I would someday get to restore this car to original day one specs. Unfortunately, with the value of a '64 Coupe being not as high as any other mid year Corvette, it is hard to justify the cost of doing all that work to get it running, as well as all the body work. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that giant whale tail on the rear panel. Since the flares are small enough, they wouldn't be a huge concern of mine so I would let them be, and the owner does have a new hood (needs painted) so I could get rid of the L88 hood. But the whale tail is really hard to accept. If I had the means, I would be all in. The car is complete and anything that is missing or needs to be replaced, the owner already has. I would restore the interior, try to get rid of the whale tail, keep the flares, and have it ride on some custom 70s wheels like cragars or daisy spokes.

Just thought I would share this car with all of you, even though it isn't a supercar. It is a really good canidate for a restoration, and I hope that someday the car will become mine, so it can be restored right. But unfortunately, it is hard to justify the cost of restoring something, that is in this bad of shape exterior wise, that's just a '64 base model Corvette. Could it be saved? Should it be saved?

Alex

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[Lynn]

JMHO, but being NOM, if the body mods are well done, I would restore the body back to 70's. Personally, I think the mild flares and even the "whale tail" as you call it, look pretty darn good. And, I would keep the L88 hood. Waaaaaay less work and $$$$ than trying to put the body back original. And, without the original motor, it still won't be original.

Put disc brakes up front, modernize the motor a bit, at the very least something like AFR heads. Could even go LS.

[427TJ]

Dare to be different and leave it modified.

[cook_dw]

I agree.. Rock that baby the way it is.. I would freshen up the engine but idk if I would modernize the drivetrain. It has that look and feel of the 70's. Also the paint doesnt look bad from the pics but if something needs repairing then spot it or blend it in. Set of Ansens or Cragars and MAYBE sidepipes and call it a day. But I wouldnt restore it back to day 1.

[seventieshow]

I agree with the above posters. Put the slot wheels back on it (if you have them) and leave it alone. A four wheel disc conversion is all I would do. And a big Lemans style flip up gas cap and a loud exhaust. Its been out of the sun so I bet the paint would clean up well.
Thanks for posting the pictures it is a great car.

[markinnaples]

For some reason the pics aren't showing up for me. Bummer.

[MosportGreen66]

It's a '64 Vette... leave it and use it...

[x77-69z28]

Very cool day 2 Vette! Get it running, and enjoy it. I agree a 4 wheel disc conversion is in order. Love the Hurst shifter. I think I still have mine in a box from my 67 that, like an idiot, I sold in 1983. Long story!
Buddy

[seventieshow]

I think this car would be appreciated at the MCACN Barn Finds display.

[06stang]

Yeah the flares I would leave, and the car does have new suspension components that were installed about 3 years ago. I would still paint it silver blue because the paint isn't as good as it may look in the pictures. I think the Silver Blue with some bigger wheels and tires to fill the flares would look really good. I agree a 4 wheel disc brake conversion would definitely be in order.