Two Custom Chevrolet C1 Corvettes Up For Auction Offer A Combined 1,155 HP

Two stunning C1 Corvettes are just about to go over the auction block and they both highlight some of the best technology to ever come out of Chevrolet. While the new C8 Corvette is a masterpiece on its own, it wouldn’t be the car it is without the C1. Each of these cars has endearing similarities and defining differences that make them both very desirable.

Both cars will be auctioned at the 2022 Palm Beach event from April 7th to the 9th held by Barrett-Jackson. The older of the two is a 1961 Corvette finished in a paint color called Orion Silver. The other is a 1962 model painted in Champagne Mist.

The silhouette of the C1 is undeniably classic. How each of these cars accentuates that shape is interesting though. The older car comes with more conventional styling touches like traditional chrome brightwork and a white-painted panel on the side of the car.

The 1962 car breaks from that tradition with color-matched trim, bumper deletes, and a unique styling strake from the brake duct vent back towards the door. It also lacks any sort of side mirrors so the whole car looks very custom from nose tip to tail.

Both share modern powertrains though and despite being the more aggressive of the pair, the 1962 model has the more pedestrian of the two. It uses a 505 hp LS7 V8 to send power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 1961 example goes full fat with a 6.2-liter V8 producing 650 hp and routes it through a four-speed automatic. We’d love to see some more gears there but we bet 650 ponies is enough that it’ll still get off of the line pretty quickly.

It’s also sitting on an Art Morrison GT Sport independent front suspension chassis and that’s one reason it would be our choice. Sure, it’s only a four-speed, and it’s not as striking to some as the earlier model, but it just looks like we could drive it more often with a little less worry. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one who damaged the later model in any way shape or form. It’s almost too perfect.