This ClassicCars.com Marketplace featured listing is a rebodied 2004 Chevrolet Corvette reimagining the 1961 Corvette Stingray, and it’s for sale in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is the best of the classic Corvette design coupled to a relatively modern powertrain, chassis, interior, and all the rest.
The 1961 Corvette is an iconic, American classic. The body reflects the transition from a late fifties’ aesthetic in the front, to the more aggressive and complete muscle car design which followed just a couple of years later. Flavor from that era is evident in the rear half of the car. The design is instantly recognizable.
If you’ve driven any Vette from the early sixties, you know technology has left those days far behind. Furthermore, the C5 Vette’s interior creature comforts, quality, and ergonomics are in a completely different league. When the conversation turns to power and safety, the 2004 Chevrolet Corvette is easily the hands-down winner.
Now, if you could blend all of the charm of the 1961 Corvette along with the capability of the 2004 model, that would be the best of all worlds. This 2004 Commemorative Edition Corvette with the CRC Coachworks Conversion is here to show us all, you can have your cake and eat it too!
The CRC body panels are of Carbon Fiber that are vacuum bagged for strength and reducing weight. The 2004 Chevrolet Corvette Commemorative Edition features several upgrades over the stock Corvette that includes: revised damping for the Sachs gas-pressure shock absorbers, stiffer bushings for the upper control arms, and softer bushings for the rear anti-roll bar. These were dialed in by track testing at Nürburgring. In other words, this is engineered to take no prisoners.
In 2004, a total of just 12,216 Convertibles came off the assembly line. How many were Commemorative Editions, and of those how many have been rebodied by CRC comes down to a number that most likely could be counted on one hand.
The 2004 Chevrolet Corvette came with a stock, all-aluminum 5.7 that touts 350-horsepower or 405 with the higher compression engine of the same size. It also features a manual transmission, as well.
The paint is reminiscent of the Le Mans Blue paint found on the commemorative edition. This over a light grey leather interior that shows wonderfully. And best of all, this model only has 19,000 on the odometer. Good luck finding a 1961 that can top that!
To view the listing on ClassicCars.com, click here.