Barn corvette
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Black Hills of SD
Barn corvette
WOW, I was just down getting my 68 inspected and one of the guys at the Texaco said that his friend once got an old 50s Corvette with very low mileage for $25. It would seem that the young man bought it while home on leave and then went back to the war and got killed. It had been just sitting in his moms garage for like 20 years or something and she decided to sell it. I have heard dozens of slight variations of this story for over 30 years, but I actuall met a guy who knew the guy!! The same person at the Texaco also had to pass up a 56 Coupdeville with 1100 miles for $50 because he didn't have the money.
How many of you have heard the Corvette story before?
How many of you have heard the Corvette story before?
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From: LA
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From: Summit, NJ
Yeah, looks and sounds like an urban legend to me. I can believe that an old car like that can sit in a garage for 20+ years, but to be sold 20 or 30 years later for 25 bucks?? I don't think so.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: NE Texas
Don't be too quick to judge. When I was about 25 (1980-82) or so I saw an eary-60's pickup in a garage beside the road to a friend's hunting lease. I asked about it and was told that the old woman wanted to save it for her gransdon. It was her husband's last wish. The old man bought it new then died a few months later. Since it was a three-on-the-tree, his wife could not drive it and neither could their daughter. So it sat there for about 20 years rusting and rotting.
Never knew what happened to it, but can imagine it had all kinds of problems after being cranked and driven. Seals, gaskets, and such.
Would they have sold it for $25-$50? Doubt it. But there's your proof that it could happen.
Never knew what happened to it, but can imagine it had all kinds of problems after being cranked and driven. Seals, gaskets, and such.
Would they have sold it for $25-$50? Doubt it. But there's your proof that it could happen.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Black Hills of SD
I think I first heard it in 1971 and it was a 53 Vette that was advertised by dead hero's aging mother as a 1953 Chevrolet for $300. And of course the story had credulance because it was a friend of a friend who knew the guys cousin or something like that. But this guy had the audacity to actually know the guy who got the Vette. He also had a 65 Belair 2 door hartop with a 318 that got stolen. I think we know why this 45 year old guy is fixing tires at a gas station.
Last edited by willowbilly3; Oct 16, 2003 at 05:20 PM.
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Gone but not forgotten.
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My cousin in Arkansas has a 74 Olds coupe with 1100 miles in his barn - I've seen it. The barn is tight and he wipes the car down about once a month, starts it and moves it a little. He bought it from the dealer, put it in the barn and continued to drive his pickup. Only the drivers seat has been sat on. He is a real car nut (runs in the family), most operating rooms have more dirt than his vehicles. It will not go cheap and will never become one of the stories.
Dono
Dono
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From: Near Bloom, PA
That was the "thing" at Carlisle this year: old unrestored vehicles being called "Barn Fresh." I saw some nice ones but nothing under 2 grand.
Related Story: an ad in the Charleston Post & Courier several years ago. Mercedes-Benz $1.00. Everyone thought it was a typo, but the first one that called bought it for a buck. Seems the owner and his wife had a nasty divorce, and the lawyer told him to sell the car and give her half the profits. Bet he laughed all the way to the bank.
(I've heard stories like this before, this was the only time I saw it for myself.)
Related Story: an ad in the Charleston Post & Courier several years ago. Mercedes-Benz $1.00. Everyone thought it was a typo, but the first one that called bought it for a buck. Seems the owner and his wife had a nasty divorce, and the lawyer told him to sell the car and give her half the profits. Bet he laughed all the way to the bank.
(I've heard stories like this before, this was the only time I saw it for myself.)
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Post Fiend
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From: Black Hills of SD
I have had free cars and cheap cars but never a really cool cheap car. My first car that I could license was a 56 Caddy 4 door with 33,000. I bought it from the original owner in 1969 when I started my junior year in high school. I paid $500. I got a really straight 57 chevy 2 door post belair for 15 dollars. I had been hounding the old wino farmer for a couple years and he wanted $50 but had sold the 235 for 35 so he figure the rest was worth 15. I sold it for $100 and thought I had really cut the fat hog in the butt.
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From: Myrtle Point, Or
Originally posted by willowbilly3
I have had free cars and cheap cars but never a really cool cheap car. My first car that I could license was a 56 Caddy 4 door with 33,000. I bought it from the original owner in 1969 when I started my junior year in high school. I paid $500. I got a really straight 57 chevy 2 door post belair for 15 dollars. I had been hounding the old wino farmer for a couple years and he wanted $50 but had sold the 235 for 35 so he figure the rest was worth 15. I sold it for $100 and thought I had really cut the fat hog in the butt.
I have had free cars and cheap cars but never a really cool cheap car. My first car that I could license was a 56 Caddy 4 door with 33,000. I bought it from the original owner in 1969 when I started my junior year in high school. I paid $500. I got a really straight 57 chevy 2 door post belair for 15 dollars. I had been hounding the old wino farmer for a couple years and he wanted $50 but had sold the 235 for 35 so he figure the rest was worth 15. I sold it for $100 and thought I had really cut the fat hog in the butt.
Are u crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only $100
I would have kept it
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From: Villa Rica, GA
i heard a story like that, this one i know to be true .. a guy i know saw a vette sittin out back of this ladies house so he went and knocked on the door and asked how much she wanted for it, the car was a 60 something .. i dont remember the exact year, it was in near perfect shape with the exception of 4 flat tires and some leaves on the hood and roof. anyway the lady was actually quite mean and told him it wasnt for sale and to leave her alone. so later that day he went back and snapped some pictures of it when she wasnt home. i guess he ended up talking to a neighbor or something and they told him that it was the ladies sons car and that he had bought it brand new and a few months later was shipped off to war and never came home and that the car had not moved since then. the car isnt there anymore so i dont know what happened to it .. so mabye she ended up selling it or putting it in a garage or something.
-Jason
-Jason
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From: Near Bloom, PA
The Bigger Bower delivers for Sears, you should hear what some people have in their barns/garages/sheds. No good deals though, at least not yet. (ever hopeful)
Dad just pulled out a 52 (?) Allis-Chalmers WD-45 (original! running!) and sold it for 500 bucks. If I'd had somewhere to put it...
Dad just pulled out a 52 (?) Allis-Chalmers WD-45 (original! running!) and sold it for 500 bucks. If I'd had somewhere to put it...
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From: Illinois
cheapest car ive ever bought was my 84 buick electra, that was my demo car. the car sat out in this guys horse lot for a year and never moved til i came across it. i paid 40 bucks for it, dropped a battery in it and it started right up. then it almost won me the demo. that was a fun car. good times....