Just Purchased First Corvette: Numbers Matching '64 4-spd Coupe.
 

Typical story, I've wanted a Corvette since I was a little kid, and the planets have finally aligned. Today I put a deposit on, what appears to be a genuine numbers matching, original non-restored '64 327/300 HP 4-spd white on black coupe. Which is pretty interesting since I'd almost bought a number of the C3, 4, or 5's that I've looked at recently.

$31,900 Canadian ($30,277 US), and a mere 28 blocks from home.

Generally speaking, the car is in good mechanical condition and needs paint (which is original). It appears to have never been hit, based on the uniformity of the paint degradation, all the glass and chrome is intact and straight (some surface rust on front bumpers). The interior is original and in quite good shape: power windows, wood grain wheel, am/fm radio, all the controls and instrumentation works (even the clock), except that the drivers 1/4 window doesn't seem to open, and the rear lights don't come on with the headlamps. It's got manual steering/brakes, original hubcaps (I believe), new exhaust, new brakes, new tires, and new hoses. The car starts and idles well and didn't have any scary noises emanating from it. When driven it was pretty tight and had tons of power (didn't see any smoke under heavy throttle).

An hour after I saw the car, the guy dropped his price by $7,100 from $39,000 in the on-line ad. I had just checked out the serial numbers against info on-line and was calling him back to get him to check the block casting number when he told me he'd dropped the price and inbetween him answering several calls, I jumped on it. All the numbers seemed to jive and so I went for it.

I've only been looking at the C2's for a short time, but $32k Cdn seems to be a pretty good price for a numbers matching original 4-spd daily driver class '64 Vette. So, I took the plunge. We do the paperwork on Monday...

:cheers:

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...engerSide1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...engerSide2.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...vetteRear1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...eInterior1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...EngineBay1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...EngineBay2.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...eEngineSN2.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...orvetteSN1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...orvetteSN2.jpg

Congratulations! Enjoy your new ride. Sounds like a sweet deal

Looks pretty nice!
Check the gap at the top of the drivers door, vs the passenger side. Just looks a little wide in the photos.
Good Luck with your new ride.:thumbs:
Welcome to the world of C-2s:thumbs:

Nice find! I wouldn't pass this one up. You could always sell for a profit anytime if you wanted something different. Don't forget to get any documentation/previous ownership history he has, ever so important with matching #'s car.:thumbs: Good luck!

According to the birthday calculator it is a February 22, 1964 production car.

Looks really nice from your posted photos. If you are an NCRS type guy, as you mention matching numbers, you might want to go for that survivor status certificate.

Good luck with your purchase.

Rich

Very nice job! Love to see those 64's!:thumbs:

Thanks for the feedback, info, and advice! I was experiencing post-purchase shock last night and didn't sleep super great. I felt like it was a good deal, and that I'd be able to sell it reasonably easily later on for a decent price when the time comes, it's good to get other opinions though. :thumbs:

I'll give it a good shake down after I get it on Monday, and I'll take it to the local Corvette show & shine next Sunday to meet the gang...

I'll see what paperwork I can get from the current owner for documentation, I'll look into the 'survivor' status and see whats involved and go from there. I figured it was built Jan/Feb based on the serial number info I found on-line, I'd be interested in decoding the plates and numbers further if anyone can point me in the right direction - or where to look for a build sheet (it has the correct 3782870 casting on the block to go with the 300HP 4-spd sn, I didn't get a picture of that yesterday).

Anyone know how to figure out production numbers by option? I saw that there were 8,304 base coupes built out of 22,229 total for '64 - is there a way to know how many coupes were 4-spds, white/black, etc?

And so it begins...
:cheers:

I know what you are saying about post purchase shock. I bought my 64 last October and you still can't get the grin off of my face.:cheers:
As for the numbers.....My Corvette black book shows 3909 Ermine Whites total in 64.

way to go, sounds like a great deal, Im looking into a freind of my brother who has a 66 327 4spd 350 hp #match project car for 10500. but Im not sure just how of a project it is, could buy it and flip it, but I wouldnt, Id end up wrenching for yrs.

In my opinion you made a real good deal. I would say a fair deal to both partys.If you want a lot of real good help over the period of your restoration I would join the NCRS and buy thier judging manual.The guys on the discussion board are a great bunch. They will help you any way that they can. Good luck.

I did not know a woodgrain steering wheel was offered in 64.

Congratulations. That is very nice for a Vette, let alone your first Vette. I would recommend that you buy the Corvette Black Book at any bookstore. It will give you information, facts, production numbers, etc.

Per your pictures (from the Black Book):

The engine stamp suffix, RD, means 300 HP, Manual.
Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the engine is stamped with 11804, the last part of the VIN.
The paint code 936 is Ermine White.
STD Trim means vinyl seats.
8,304 coupes were produced in 1964.

So you have an original engine and original color that looks great.

Enjoy it!

On the subject of 64's....
My grills (?) around the wind shield wiper arms and spray nozzle are chrome and yours looks to be the car color. Is that normal?

Yup, love mine.:cheers:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/1964/644.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/1964/641.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/1964/642.jpg

After a 3-hour lunch which started with a lien-check (clean), followed by a trip to the bank to get a draft cheque, and then a stop at the insurance store, the car was in my name with 3-months of insurance on it - by which time it will be raining pretty regularly here in Vancouver, and I'll park it for the winter.

I had to work late to cover the long lunch, and it was after 7pm by the time I got the plates on the car and could pull it out of the garage. The first thing that happened was a neighbour across the alley said, "Well, thats a sight for sore eyes!" Indeed. To the sounds of the local retro-jazz station coming through the FM radio mingled with V8 goodness, I made the short trip downtown, then over to pick-up a buddy for a cruise by the beach where we stopped to take some photos...

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay1.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay5.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay7.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay6.jpg

Then at the top of the hill, I spotted a good driveway for another angle:

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay9.jpg

And to round things out, a shot of the cockpit:

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...rchaseDay8.jpg

It was a totally sweet ride, got at least 10 thumbs up and comments in an hour and a half. Even saw another C2 and exchanged the first wave. The car behaved beautifully, was surprisingly quiet (in the rattle-free kind of way), and was as smooth as a lounge lizard around all the corners. To say that I'm pleased with the purchase would be a significant understatement.

:thumbs:

I can't wait to show it off at work tomorrow...

I am so jealous, nice hook up, enjoy it, and remeber to keep insurance when you store it away, try hagerty for some decent rates.

Nice car, great find , good luck with her

Get used to the comments. It sometimes takes me 45 minutes to get out of the gas station during a fill up. Everyone stops to talk and look.:thumbs:

They were originally painted body color. If yours are chrome, someone changed them. If you like the look, keep them. If not, it might be easier to get a set at a swap meet and paint them to match your car, than to remove the chrome and paint to match.

great car and very nice price (I'd venture to say you geot a great deal for an original engine car, the price you paid was more in line with a NOM 64 if you ask me, so good deal there). As for the numbers, one more you might want to look at is the engine block casting date, you'll find it on the rear upper passenger side, a letter followed by two or three numbers - post that one up and we'll help out. the '870 block casting number is certainly correct.

The other stuff to "decode" is that trim tag, it has a wealth of info on it. That "F21" just plopped in the upper left area is actually your body build date code, since your body # starts with an "S" we know this is a body built in St Louis, and for St Louis bodies in 64, F = February, so your car's body was built on Feb 21.

by the way, VIN# 40837S111807 [3 away from yours] was also a white 64 300 hp coupe, kinda interesting, like they had a batch of white 300 hp coupes coming down the line:

http://www.chooseyouritem.com/classi...500/23839.html