Last year’s Florida floods resulted in some high profile car wrecks, including a Dodge Charger Daytona, Plymouth Superbird and McLaren P1.
The Chrysler muscle cars are currently being restored and YouTuber Tavarish has necked an entire lifetime’s worth of brave pills and is now embarking on a rebuild program for the McLaren, having paid out almost $575k for the totalled hypercar. But there are plenty of other collectible cars that need some TLC after going for an unintended swim, and they won’t cost you anywhere near as much as the world’s most famous yellow P1.
This 1960 Corvette currently being auctioned by IAAI in Fort Myers is a case in point. Dressed in a classic combination of Roman Red with white coving and a white top, its got the tougher quad-headlamp look that arrived a couple of years earlier and, if you hadn’t read the mention of flood damage would say it looks very presentable. The Corvette is plastic anyway, so what’s the worry over a little water? The trouble is, while the body might be made of fiberglass, the ladder chassis is steel, and we also don’t know what effect the flood water has had on the interior trim, engine, gearbox and driveline.
Related: You’ll Be Holding Back Tears Watching 1962 Corvette Fall Off A Transporter Truck
But there are at least a couple of reasons why this classic Corvette needs saving beyond that C1s just look cool. The first is that despite what the auction listing says, this car appears to be equipped with the optional Borg Warner T-10 four-speed manual transmission instead of the base three-speed manual or two-speed Powerglide automatic.
And from the look of the engine and the healthy 6,500 rpm redline on the rev counter, it seems the original owner threw a few more bucks at his dealer to upgrade from the 230 hp (233 PS) base motor, too. Obviously it’s possible that some of these goodies could have been added over time, but we can spot aluminium valve covers and what appears to be an air cleaner for a dual four-barrel carb setup rather than the single four barrel fitted to base versions of the Chevrolet 283 cu-in (4.6-liter) V8. So even if it’s not packing the fuel Rochester fuel injection setup, around 245-270 hp (248-274 PS) should make it fairly brisk.
If you like a challenge and want to save this old Corvette you better act fast. The auction is live now and then you’ve only got a couple of months of wrenching time to get it ready for summer. You up for it?
