This would be best as either a ground-up racecar project or fix it and drive it around. Starts but does not move under its own power at the moment. Will need to be trailered/towed. Located in Richmond, VA.
I bought this C5 to do a ground-up racecar build after I wrecked my last C5 at the track. However, I have too many Corvettes at the moment and the racecar build keeps getting pushed to the back burner. So, in an effort to thin the fleet a bit, I figured this was a good time to see if someone wanted an off-season project or needed a chassis for a ground-up build like I was planning.
This could also be fixed and driven on the street no problem, clean VA title in my name in hand.
The issue with it is that it has either a bad automatic transmission or just a noisy torque tube that needs to be rebuilt. The previous owner drove it daily until it started having a loud noise that can be heard even at idle from the driveline (not from the engine, the engine sounds good). He started taking it apart and in turn broke the shift cables. When I got it it was stuck in drive. I manually switched the gear selector in the transmission into neutral to move it around. The car does not start without bypassing the neutral safety switch since the car does not know what gear it is in, but is able to be started with a jumper wire.
Otherwise it's a higher mileage (190k = 8k/year average) C5 with a straight frame and a decent body. The rear side skirts/rockers are cracked on the underside from someone putting the car on a lift without understanding lift points. The tint on the hatch is peeling badly.
Like I said above, I bought it as a racecar build so the aesthetics weren't a concern for me. Looks pretty good from just a few feet away though. There are rock chips and such, as with any 20+ year old car, but the pewter color does a good job of hiding a lot of it. The interior is a little on the dirty side, but should be able to be cleaned up. The driver seat is absolutely trashed, but I have another set of tan leather seats in decent condition that will be included with the car.
The car will need some maintenance items such as tires and it has some oil leaks. I have not looked at the brakes. Again, it was being driven daily until the previous owner broke the shifter cables.
Selling the car as is exactly as I bought it from the previous owner. I have not done any further diagnostic work on the transmission as I was going to be swapping my manual transmission into it. It is a complete car minus the exhaust from the headers back, but I have a stock X-pipe and stock mufflers that I can include if interested. $5k for the car as is. With some DIY/mechanic's special transmission diagnostics/replacement and/or torque tube rebuild it's still a pretty cheap C5 to drive around.
For those interested in doing a manual transmission swap, I do have a T56 manual transmission, manual 10mm bolt torque tube rebuilt in 2021, and manual brake and clutch pedal set that I will sell with the car for an additional $1,200. These items came out of a 1999 C5 with 146,000 miles but were working perfectly when removed. Also included would be a 3.42 rear differential, but mine has a cracked case. I was going to look into swapping the 3.42 gears into the automatic differential. Or you could source a used 3.42 for $300-500. You would also need your own clutch/flywheel and hydraulics.
I also have a second pewter hatch (un-tinted glass), pair of doors, and pair of front fenders that can be available with the car for additional cost. I have a pewter hood with some Trackspec hood vents already installed for an additional $600 as well. I imagine this stuff would be most useful for someone planning on a racecar like I was.
For those who want to fix the car and spruce up the interior, I also have a 95% complete black interior swap that I will sell with the car for an additional $1,000. I have everything from seats, seatbelts, trim panels, door panels, carpets in honestly pretty good shape, hatch access panel doors, etc. The only thing I don't have is a black glovebox. Also included is an additional black cargo mat and of course the cargo net that the car came with.
Please let me know of any further questions not answered in the ad. I will gladly take more specific pictures as well. I can't speak to any more of the car's history as I bought it like described above and it's been sitting in the back of the shop for a bit now, but I will go take a look/take pictures of anything else you would like to know about it.
