I bought this car with my heart and not my head from a Dealer who claimed it was one of the nicest C1's he had ever owned. Yes I bought it over the phone had no inspection - took the guys word, which I never do,but I've wanted a C1 since I was maybe 10 years old and just bought it. Yes I bought it, by far I did not steal it because I was assured it was in Great... condition.​So the car shows up, they pull it off the truck and it is puking antifreeze like crazy. I call the Dealer saying something like "I think you sent me the wrong car" and he promptly tells me he will never do business with me again, which I have to admit I determined that was the only piece of information this guy had given me that I should believe.​My specialty is collecting and selling Porsches, mostly vintage air cooled ones. I really knew very little about Corvettes, but thought gee, maybe I'll start having a few C1's to broaden my collection.​So starting at zero I called a friend that does some minor body work and painting and asked if he knew anything about C1 Corvettes. To my surprise he said actually he knew quite a bit about them, and agreed to look at the car. He discovered the car had a cracked radiator, bad radiator cap, the hoses were not correct, and the clamps were wrong which made the hoses weak. After telling him to fix and replace everything with period correct equipment, I said do you see any other issues? My friend informed me the doors need to be realigned, the trunk was so far out of alignment it would not close, the windshield needed to be adjusted so the the top would close, and the gas gauge did not work and to fix it he needed to take the gas tank out. Again I had him to address all of those issues, which he did. The day I was to pick it up he told me that while driving the car to see if all was well it had died. He had figured out that the generator was not working and it would have to be taken to a friend of his who could rebuild the generator. It also needed to have the twin four barrel carps worked on as well.​I picked the car up with a smile on my face, finally all was fixed and I had my vintage Vette to show off! However on my way home I discovered that when one down shifted to third or second it would come out of gear. Now I'm thinking, "what was I thinking?" but I called another friend who said call Vern at Chevy Service Center, he's and artist with C1's and he is. Vern agreed to take my beautiful C1 and fix the transmission. However finding the correct parts took time and I decided while there to take the Firestone tires off and put the vintage appearance steel belted tires on which did make a huge difference.​Finally done new tires installed at Tires Plus and the open road before me! Well, for a mile or so until the two left side hub caps came flying off like weapons! My first thought was, I'm in a James Bond movie with that Asian guy with the hat! After damn near dying trying to find my hub caps in the middle of a four lane expressway I'm back to Vern's, hat in hand, with "what the F---?!" on my face. Well he says whoever put the wheels on did not know that they do not have the required nipples on the wheels that keep the hub caps on, GREAT order new wheels.​New tires, new wheels, everything fixed, a dream come true. Well not exactly I now notice that the outside tire in a turn was still dragging. Vern had already looked at the rear end and determined that it was basically new and had hope after a few miles it would loosen up. WRONG, so Vern took the rear end apart this time and discovered that whoever had put in the plates, was probably the same guy who did not know about the nipples and had not measured them and thus put them in too tight.Now fixed, new head lights added, dome lights fixed,and oh yes a new electoric ignition I've driven the car the last few days and it is a dream boat! This is what I had pictured as a young boy! The only issue is I can't stop at a light without people wanting to talk to me about the car, or perhaps how good I look in it. I'm leaning towards the later, what the heck I am a car dealer, sort of !!Believe it or not I'm now looking to buy another C1, yes I'll put Vern in my plane this time to go check it out before buying it. I figure what the heck these are beautiful pieces of American art, what could possibly go wrong? And besides it 's fun bringing them back and making them something to be proud of.​So if you;re looking to buy, not steal, a beautiful driver that has every issue addressed, give me a call I don't think you will be disappointed! Oh it is a matching number car!!Oh since I last wrote about the car I have replace the defroster motor,fixed the windshield wipers, had the steering wheel refurbished, and put foor and trunk mats​ CharleyWhile we attempt to communicate any and all aspects of our vehicles as they sit in our showroom, we strongly encourage every buyer who is unable to view the vehicle in-person to send a representative of your choice to perform a Pre-Purchase inspection prior to purchasing. Everybody's opinion of "perfect" differs and we have found that Pre-Purchase inspections are helpful to all parties involved. The information we provide come from the current owners, previous owners, and our own review. Any statements such as original or matching-numbers should be verified independently during the Pre-Purchase inspection prior to purchasing. Our showroom is open by appointment only. Call 877-858-6494 or email to schedule your appointment. Tampa Bay Sports Cars, 10641 75th Street, Largo FL 33777 Art In Motion
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