1962 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

The auction car is quite special, and not just as a beautifully restored example of the C1’s final model year. This car left the St. Louis, Missouri production line with a desirable 340 hp 327 ci V8, the top-tier carbureted engine, just 20 horses down from the exotic and expensive ‘fuelie’ fuel-injected option. Its 4-speed manual transmission is another sought-after attribute.

Purchased in 1978 by the seller’s mechanical engineer husband, the car has been a family passion project decades in the making, requiring countless thousands of hours of painstaking research, parts hunting, and labor to complete.

The car was Sateen Silver from new, but has been repainted factory-offered Tuxedo Black as part of restoration. According to the seller, bodywork was in good condition overall, but like most early fiberglass cars, many hairline cracks had formed around opening panels. Additionally, much extra effort was spent smoothing the waviness inherent to early Vettes, and the seller says it’s now finished to a better-than-factory standard.

Sale includes a factory fiberglass hardtop.

Equal attention has been paid to the interior, and factory-correct characteristics extend to such minor details as the correct type of material and weave for the carpets. Note also the factory 6,500 rpm redlined tach, station-seeking Wonder Bar AM radio, center console clock, and the 4-speed’s Hurst shifter.

Discreetly incorporated air conditioning is a highly welcome concession to modernity–Chevy never offered it for C1 ‘Vettes, but had they, the ductwork and vents would probably look a lot like they do here.

This car left the factory with the range-topping carb-fed engine, a $107.60 option. Developing 340 hp from 327 ci, this unit was fitted to 4,412 of the 14,531 ‘Vettes built for 1962, while the $484.20 (roughly $5,000 today), 360-horse fuelie had less than 2,000 takers.

Though the engine is not the matching-numbers unit, the seller’s husband expended great effort tracking a correct block from the correct date range as the foundation of this build.

Heads, rocker covers, intake manifold, cam, carburetor, and exhaust manifolds are correct as well, and the heart of the engine is an NOS (new old stock) crankshaft delivered to the builder still in its original 1962 shipping crate.

Brakes, suspension, drivetrain, electrics, and all other systems have been gone over as part of the comprehensive restoration, and the car is now reported to run and drive very well.

The car is sold with extensive documentation, mostly pertaining to preparatory research and final restoration.

C1 Corvettes debuted with a 150 hp straight-six, a 2-speed automatic transmission, and just two headlights. By the model’s final year in 1962, even base cars made twice the power, and sales had increased by nearly 5,000 percent, establishing the ‘Vette as the greatest and longest-lived icon of the American sports car industry.

This example, with its attractive mix of spec and careful presentation, is especially compelling.

Estimated $80,000 - $90,000.