Some say the golden era of barn finds is behind us. While that may be true for million-dollar classics with Ferrari and Bugatti badges, many cool rigs still emerge from long-term storage. This 1959 Chevrolet Corvette is one of them.
Discovered in Frankenmuth, Michigan, the sports car has been off the road since the early 1970s. The license plate suggests the vehicle was last registered in 1973, meaning this Corvette has been sitting for a whopping 51 years as of 2024. That’s usually long enough to turn a classic into a pile of junk, but this Corvette took five decades of storage like a champ.
Granted, most of the car was safe from rust due to the fiberglass body, but the concrete floor also contributed to keeping the undercarriage clean. The Frost Blue paint appears to be in solid condition and should clean up nicely. There is no confirmation whether the paint is original, but it may very well be. The 62,152-mile reading on the odometer hints that the Corvette wasn’t driven much in 14 years on the road.
The limited number of pictures suggests the body panels are straight, and all the chrome bits are still in place. The Corvette still has its factory hardtop, a big plus for late 1950s rigs. We don’t get to see much of the interior, but the dashboard, the seats, and the carpets appear to be in solid condition. The all-blue interior matches the exterior for a rare color combo (1,024 painted Frost Blue, notably fewer with the matching interior).
The seller claims the V8 engine is numbers-matching, but the unit is incomplete. The carburetor and the valve covers are two obvious missing items at first glance, but this engine likely needs other parts as well. The ad clearly states that the missing parts aren’t included in the sale. It also looks like someone wanted to remove the engine entirely, so this V8 may have a major issue.
We don’t get any info on the engine, but it must be a 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) mill, the only displacement available that year. However, customers could choose between four different versions. The base carbureted model delivered 230 horsepower, while a higher-compression version of the same V8 came with 245 horses on tap. The company also offered a 270-horsepower variant.
Additionally, the 283 V8 was also available in two fuel-injected iterations rated at 250 and 290 horsepower. We’re most likely looking at an entry-level V8, which was the most common version. Of the 9,670 Corvettes produced in 1959, 5,487 were ordered with the base powerplant.
Even though it’s a tad mysterious and missing some crucial components, this Corvette is definitely worth restoring. It appears to be a fully-fledged survivor, and these types of cars shouldn’t be left behind. Whoever wants to buy it will have to pay $46,400. Is this forgotten sports car worth nearly fifty grand?