Solid axle corvettes

they may be considered 'old people's cars' but they're still pretty cool....
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I'm always amused when people cite "performance" as a reason to avoid a 6 decade old car. Let's face it, the mid-to-late 50s is when cars became reasonably recognizable as "modern" in mechanical design.

There's nothing like the 50s in style, and these will always be desired.

 

Some great cars to be sure. Plenty of them still have "performance" as well.

 

Still my favorite Corvette. My trucks have solid axles... They seem to be ok

 

Solid axles were OK, not so sure about the kingpin front suspension from an earlier era. Or the drum brakes without cerametallic shoes. Some of the C1s were quite powerful, like the 340 and 360 hp versions in 1962 and the 315 hp 61s, which are very rare. The F1 57 was very quick, too. I really enjoyed my 1961 283/230 in the late 60s and it was high performing for its time, but 0-60 was probably around 8 seconds.

All very pretty and not for going fast anymore, but great for cruising (on smooth roads) and a bargain now.

 

I own a 1965 Corvette convertible and always liked the 1959 and 1960 Corvettes.

Whenever I see a nice one at a car show, I start thinking how great it would be to own one.
.

 

Back in high school around 1967 one of my buddies built a 327 with fuelie heads, a Z28 option cam and a big four barrel and put it into his 62 Vette. Blindly fast but in two stops the brakes faded out. I was sitting in the middle with one friend on each side of me when I realize Joe was pulled out of the seat pressing on the brakes with all his might and we were just coasting down from really high speed as we were approaching a really busy cross street and we didn't have the light.. We coasted through a gas station and managed to merge into cross traffic and then turned into a subdivision and rolled up into the yard of the guy sitting on my right... At which point the brakes emitted a massive amount of smoke and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief...

Solid axle Corvettes really need a brake upgrade if you want to go fast in one...

 

I know of a 61 for sale, fully restored, numbers matching car, 125k white on red.

 

They have real style, but if you ask me "modern cars" have been in production at most 20 years. And yes, I'm old and have some old cars.

These cars have real style and are likely to inspire many cars that we have yet to see.

 

What's considered a reasonable price for a well maintained '57/'58 condition 3 car?

 

I owned a 1960 Vette and now own a1954 Vette. I think you are right, old people are likely to own these cars. But and there is always a but, when I drive my 1954 it gets a lot of attention mostly from the under 40 crowd. I have several people want to buy it. I was 8 years old when this 1954 Corvette was built. I never saw any of these cars when I was young and today I have never have seen another on the road. Not fast but reliable and a nice cruise.

I still think the 1963 to 1967 Corvette is one of the best looking cars made.

In support of your point I would rather drive one of my new or newer super cars when I want to go out and play.

One last point my 2013, 665 hp Shelby Mustang has a solid axle and it works perfectly.

No argument that independent suspension on all four corners is best no matter what age you are.

best

Lee

 

I'm curious what you consider the requirement for a modern car, if a 1993 model doesn't qualify?

I was thinking in terms of widespread use of OHV engines, A-arm suspensions, disk brake systems, auto transmissions, and AC. More specifically, a vehicle that is reasonably reliable and didn't require the driver to also be a master mechanic to make it across the country.

I owned a 57 Chevy sedan with the V8, and it was a "real" car, for lack of a better term. I'm not so sure our current 57 Nash Metro qualifies