Bill & Mickie Anstine's 1960 Corvette
(Alternate Participant)
I saw this car on a dealership floor where I was there inquiring on a new '95 Corvette. I ended up buying the new one. But with my free time in the negotiating, I spent it looking at the '60. I asked the salesman if it was for sale and he said he didn't think so. I knew it would be expensive because it only had 29,000 miles on it. It belonged to one of the owners of the dealership. He also told me he thought it was a '57 Corvette, but he knew the mileage was original. He told of how no one was permitted to drive or be in the car except for the owner and special management people. Thereby it was driven and kept in good running condition. I didn't know too much about the older Corvettes so I took him at his word. Even though we just bought a new Corvette, in my conversation with my wife, she could tell how much I liked the so-called '57.
Unknown to me, my wife called them up and asked them to find out if it was for sale. She negotiated a good price and then the salesman said, "Oh by the way, it is a '60, not a '57 like I told you." Now she didn't know what to do. She was tormented. Did I say I liked it because I thought it was a '57? Or did I like it because I liked that style? Her intention was to buy it as a surprise Valentines Day present. She became afraid to complete the deal and asked my teenage son if he thought I would like it, now knowing it is a '60 and not a '57. He started laughing. He told her he was sure I would be quite happy. She was still concerned so she ended up telling me and spoiled the surprise. I hate it when surprises are spoiled, but I can deal with it.
To continue, the '60 was exactly the car I liked and not the fact that I thought it was a '57. I negotiated some more over a couple of weeks and got it for what was an exceptionally low price. A week or so after I had it home I called the dealership to ask a question on the '95 I bought. In the middle of the conversation with the Sales Manager, he said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. The owner has the original hard top that goes to the '60 you bought!" My mind started racing wild. I concluded they didn't tell me about it to begin with because they knew I would try to include it in the original negotiations. I also knew the hard top would add at least $2,000 to the value of the car if it was in fairly good shape. Now I have had the car for a week and know I got it for a very fair price based on no hard top. There was no way I could pretend that I expected it should come with the car. (I hope you can picture how this is flashing through my mind while I am on the phone.) So I said, OK, how much does he want for it. The salesman said, "Oh, it was to be included with the car, I was just supposed to tell you where you had to go to pick it up." It is a miracle I didn't have a heart attack there on the spot, with the phone in my hand. I picked it up and it was in outstanding condition.
Everything about the car was perfect, with the exception of the color. The condition of the paint was so good I could not justify painting it. The car is so special that I only drove it on special occasions. Keep in mind, here in Ohio, any sunny day that it is not raining is a special occasion. Eventually there was a paint chip on the leading edge of the hood, and then a second. They were small, but it was justification in my mind to have it painted. The guy I selected to paint it for me, also judges car shows. You may remember how I said it was important for me to have it just like the picture. Well when the guy and I discussed the details, I told him Roman Red with a white cove and the hard top was to be white. He called after some time and told me it was finally painted. He joked of how he almost made a mistake by painting the top white. The original hardtop for that year did not have white as an option. He laughed how he wrote down white in error, but assured me that they did not make the mistake and it was in fact, painted proper in red. To keep the story short, they ended up painting it white, which is the color it started with.
This car sat on the show room floor for fifteen years. It was kind of kind of a signature for the dealership that specialized in Corvettes for a large portion of their sales. I was amazed that I not only was able to buy it, but at a good price too. I kept looking for defects and couldn't find any. Shortly after my purchase of the '60, the dealership changed ownership. I concluded they sold it because of the dealership change. No matter how it came to be, the '60 is a gem and special to me.
I am proud to be part of the Historic Motorama. I would be much happier to be the primary participant, but will be happy in the secondary.
Bill & Mickie Anstine
Akron, OH
NCM Founding #2969