1965 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe

1965 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe For consignment, a C2 Stingray that just bleeds Corvette. With its bulged hood and curved rear glass and another body bump heading rearward, hidden headlights, wrap around aircraft styled doors, of course the iconic side pipes, split bumpers and spinner wheels you just cannot get enough of this car, and you havent even hopped in as of yet! Purchased in 2007 by our consignor and treated to a complete cosmetic and mechanical restoration, including a period correct engine and transmission, new suspension components, and new steering components. A log book of the build is included, the leather seat covers are original, and our consignor states the engine puts out an estimated 385hp. Hows that for a Sting Ray with some bite? Exterior Rally Red painted fiberglass showing very nicely with very few faults, cracks or crazing, just the deep end of the pool red, ( in 2021 from doors forward all fiberglass was repaired to eliminate cracks and crazing but shows with a slight color difference from the rearward parts of the body). With the split wrap around bumpers, hidden headlights, newly designed grille and a hint of a stinger on the hood, the design for the front of this car is meant to slice through the air. Gills reside in the front quarters and a chromed trimmed windshield surround and sleek rear of this car with more split wrap around bumpers and round tail lights in the back. These year Vettes really had the shark/stingray look. Speaking of predators, the back deck lid is to die for. Very close to the split window nirvana, this year uses the solid curved glass that turns into the rear deck and rolls around to form a point at the rear of the car. On back a pointy rear roll pan houses round tail and backup lights and punch through dual exhaust. More curve around split, like new rear bumpers, and a shout out to the upper doors which wrap around the roofline just like an aircraft and indeed it was inspired by this. Below these doors is the essential sidepipe with the horizontal opening gridded protector stainless. All this aero art form sits upon 15-inch Torque Thrust chromed hub wheels with trim rings, and all wrapped up in black wall radials and completes the look . Now THIS is a Corvette! Interior A swing of the aircraft style doors and we meet up with black leather and molded black plastic forming the door panels. These have a bordering chrome thin trimming, all knobs, cranks and even a chrome door pull are excellent and truly showroom . Moving inside beautifully aged overstuffed tuck and roll inserted and smooth bolstered black leather bomber style buckets are in the cabin. These are the original leather covers over top of new seat foam. A small center console races through these seats and eventually houses the chromed ball topped shifter. In front of the shifter is a vertical rise with a vertically mounted radio, 4 chromed knobs and a round chrome bezel clock. Bordering this vertical panel two thin pillars rise on either side and form a graceful curve for either passenger. The driver gets the instrumentation and the passenger a glovebox all under the watchful eye of the padded dash also in black. All of the instruments have been rebuilt and work perfectly. A wood rimmed steering wheel has a central stainless trio of ribs. Speaking of the dash front, behind the gauges is a near perfect textured panel forming with the upper curve and looking very clean and like new. Black carpeting is reserved for the floors and rear storage area under that curvaceous glass. The carpeting in the back is slightly faded. A smooth tight black headliner conforms to tell the interior curves of the roof very nicely. All clean as a whistle! Drivetrain Our decoder did a deep dive into this 327ci mill and found it is circa 1962-1967 engine and is date correct for this car. There is a single 4-barrel carburetor on top which is covered by a shiny dinner plate like air cleaner cover. On either side are cast aluminum CORVETTE badged ribbed valve coverings. More decoding from casting numbers and the transmission is a circa 1964 65, (3851325), Muncie M20 4-speed manual transmission, it has been rebuilt with a new clutch. On the back is a 3.36 posi rear axle appearing original in code to this vehicle. Our consigner states that this drivetrain has less than 3,500 miles on it since the rebuild and it makes an estimated 385hp. Undercarriage Not even a hint of slight surface rust is seen in various areas on the frame, which is all structurally solid. We see independent coil springs upfront, and an independent rear with a transverse leaf spring on back. Disc brakes are all around and of course the exhaust piping leading to the side pipes is all excellent with no rust. Our consignor notes that all new suspension bushings have been installed along with new tie rods and steering links and the brakes were redone with the exception of the rotors and the in-frame tubing. Drive-Ability Not only is this car a real looker its a cooker too! It fired right up, and those side pipes are a melodious tune for any motor-head or Corvette aficionado. Off to the test track where it has grand acceleration, excellent bias free stopping, and smooth easy clutch shifting. The consigner states the brake pads are new, and the metal knobbed shifter was an easy grabber. Just a stunner with its design that in this writers mind can only be eclipsed by the 63 split window, but this is a very close second. Just beautifully done and who cares if its not numbers matching, it is rebuilt healthy correct era engine, good solid transmission and has plenty of reliability built into the drivetrain of this mid 1960 Mitchell masterpiece. Go ahead, make your day! 194375S108050