See Corvette Wizard Shawn Pilot Save The Cheapest 1960 C1 In The World

If you’ve never met Shawn Pilot, now is the time. After coming out of hibernation and a multi-month hiatus, Shawn is once again taking YouTube by storm, with his unique jack-stand approach to transforming the bargain ‘Vettes he hunts and finds. He was gone so long that his fans were joking that he had lost his password. Today’s video curation, along with most of CorvSport’s digital content, is FREE and not behind a paywall. When any pop-ups appear, please click to dismiss them and continue enjoying the article.

If you’ve been following the Corvette markets, especially the old classics, you’ll know that acquiring a C1 for $12,000 is unheard of. In Shawn Pilot’s new video drop, he proudly proclaims to have the world’s cheapest C1 and proceeds to save her like no other enthusiast can. CorvSport is the only one that breaks down the key moments of these awesome YouTube videos and presents them to our faithful readers in an easy-to-read format.

Can Shawn save this 1960 C1?!? Image Credit: Shawn Pilot

What impact has the Corvette Wizard Shawn Pilot had on Corvette enthusiasts? Look at these stats he has amassed over just SIX Corvette dedicated videos! Keep in mind, he started his YouTube channel just over two years ago.

Total VIEWS: 7,997,654
Total LIKES: 193,000+
Total COMMENTS: 15,592

We know that not everybody has the time to sit down for a 19-minute video, but 5 minutes is manageable for your busy lifestyle! And of course, we always give you more resources if you have time to kill. So, let’s get after it!

What’s Inside Today’s Video Curation

Briefly Meet The Wizard, Shawn Pilot
Seven Key Moments Of The C1 Salvation: Part One
CorvSport Curates Shawn Pilot–See All Of Our Transformation Features
Today’s Featured Video: “Bought 1960 Corvette for $12,000. World’s Cheapest Classic C1”
7,997,654 Views: The Whole Shawn Pilot Video Arsenal

Enjoy an ad-free experience, get exclusive content, and support CorvSport for only $2.92/month!

1) Briefly Meet The Wizard, Shawn Pilot

Does his name ring a bell? His channel bio gives a perfect snapshot of the man and his passion for Corvettes, saying, “known as the wheeler dealer on the Netflix hit series Car Masters Rust to Riches, Shawn has a passion for hunting down killer deals. Truth be known Shawn is a genuine Corvette freak. A lifetime spent fixing up, chopping up and trading up Vettes has amassed an impressive car collection and a junkyard of over 100 Corvettes. VetteRod is Shawn’s Corvette adventures.”

2) Seven Key Moments Of The C1 Salvation: Part One

(1) [0:03] Shawn hunts down the bargain C1

“Have you ever seen a first-generation Corvette advertised for sale for under 20 grand? No. No, you probably haven’t. It doesn’t happen often, but right now there’s a ’60 Corvette for sale on Facebook Marketplace, and they’re only asking 20 grand or best offer.

Now, although the car looks like something no one in their right mind would pay 20 grand for, the guy says that he spent a ton of money upgrading the chassis with newer suspension. The guy also said he is no longer in love with this car, and he is very motivated to get rid of it, which is music to my ears. I smell a deal. I got to go check this car out.”

(2) [3:46] Despite being in shambles with a bunch of boxed up parts, Shawn finds hope…

“Although the body is about as rough as it could possibly be. It does have a little potential. Tell me about the suspension. I noticed the suspension on this thing looks really good. ‘When I bought it, took everything off the frame, took it down to a completely bare frame, sent it in to Paul Newman Car Creation, and he did the full mod for the complete bolt-in conversion to the C4 front and rear suspension.’ How many years ago did you have that done? ‘1996.’”

(3) [5:01] Let the negotiations begin! And exactly what the $12,000 includes…

“Okay. So, we’ve got no engine, no front end, no firewall, a beat-up transmission tunnel, and a lot of parts, but you’re pretty sure it’s not complete. ‘Can’t argue that.’ Okay. Now, the good stuff is that it’s got a really nice suspension on it, and you probably paid dearly to have that suspension done. But this has got to be the roughest ’60 Corvette I’ve ever seen. ‘It is, but it could be the best bargain you’re ever going to get, too.’

I like the sound of that, but you know, you got it advertised for 20 grand. 20 grand is nowhere near a bargain for me. ‘Well, here’s the deal. A friend of mine advertised it. He knew my intention was to sell the car. He got excited. He took a bunch of pictures. He listed on Facebook Marketplace and he arbitrarily threw the price on there.’ Oh, so that’s where the 20 came from. So the 20 is just a number he threw. So you’re probably more around 10. Am I right? ‘I was hoping for 15, but Okay, we can negotiate.’

Okay. So, I tell you what, I can’t do 15. And I know 10 is way too cheap, but let’s meet somewhere in the middle. ‘Well, 12 would be what I bought it for 30 years ago. And I’m going to I mean, all the work that Paul Newman did and all the parts I sourced, that’s just a sunk cost. So like I spend 12, I’d like to get 12.’

Okay. So you take 12 and you’d include all the parts, the extra wheels, and that six-speed transmission? ‘Correct.’ For 12 grand? ‘Yeah, it’s all part of the package, of course.’ Does it got a clean title? ‘It has a clean title from Nebraska.’ All right, Steve, you got yourself a deal.”

(4) [8:29] Shawn inventories and assesses the parts

“I know this looks more like a pile of parts than a complete car. And yeah, my inventory list is telling me that I’m missing a few things, but there’s a whole lot more parts here than I thought I was getting in this deal. And a lot of these parts are in really good condition.

Like, check out the chrome on those rear bumpers. I mean, those are going to clean up really nice. The taillights look good. Got gauges. Do you know how much these doorposts are? They’re very expensive. They look pretty good. That’s what I’m talking about. The windshield frame. These are very expensive parts and they’re all here.

Seat tracks, seat frames, and the seats are all in pretty good condition. We got the radio, the wiper motor, and look at the front bumpers look good. They’re going to clean up good. The headlight bezels, the grill. There’s a lot of nice parts here. Not to mention the bonus parts I got. The six-speed manual transmission, the C6 polished wheels, and a brand new aluminum radiator for this car. Those parts add a lot of nice value to this deal. But the best part of this deal, and the thing I’m most excited about, is something that you can’t even see. It’s hidden underneath this body…”

(5) [10:00] Shawn’s favorite part of his bargain C1

“He bought for this car what I’ve always wanted, a chassis built by Newman Car Creations. I guess I’m just going to have to show you what I’m talking about here. Okay, this is what I’m talking about. A custom modified frame that uses newer Corvette C4 suspension. This is not just a cheap bolt-on conversion. This is a high-quality fabrication done by one of the best in the business, Newman Car Creations.

And it may not look very impressive in this condition because it’s been sitting in storage for years. And the dust and the dirt buildup on this thing does it no justice whatsoever. I need to detail this up really nice and then get rid of these hideous-looking rollers. I’m going to find some tires for these C6 rims. I’m going to slap them on here and make it look like someone spent a whole lot of money on this chassis, which they did a long time ago. But it’s still nice. This thing’s never been on the road. It’s beautiful. It’s, it’s still new. It just doesn’t look new. I’m going to make it look new.”

(6) [12:15] Shawn gets to work on that Newman Car Creations chassis!

“Well, the plan was to clean this up really nice and just detail it. But after I got all the dirt off it, I noticed there was a whole lot more scratches on it. And there was even a few bare metal areas. And you know, a frame with this much custom work, I’m going to want to show it off, you know? So, I can’t have it looking like that. I got to make it look beautiful.

All right. I’m going to sand this down really nice. Take all the scratches out of it, kind of make it look like a bit of a show car frame cuz you know I’m going to be showing it off, right? And then I’m going to put a few coats of POR 15’s top coat on it. It’s their chassis black. It really leaves a nice satin shine. Exactly what I’m after. I’ve used this in the past and it looks really good. And it’s a rust preventive paint. It’s going to seal it up nice and protect it for me. And you can spray direct to metal. That means I don’t need to prime this. I just sand it down and give it a few coats and it’s all sealed up, ready to go. Got to love that. Be ready for the car show in no time. Whoa, yeah!”

(7) [16:24] Shawn completes his vision for this 1960 bargain!

“Okay, so I found some tires for the C6 rims I picked up in the deal, and my chassis is now fully beautified. Thank you very much. Damn, that thing looks good. And that six-speed manual transmission, that is going to match perfect with this suspension. Now, all I need is a source for all the horsepower that this is going to require.

And it just so happens that I’ve been looking for the right project for this supercharged LS engine. I think I found the right project. Oh yeah. Okay. Is this just me, or is this starting to look like something kind of special here? I think all of this is going to help transform the cheapest ’60 Corvette on the planet into a high-powered restomod beauty worth six figures.

Now, I know the only way this car is going to be worth anywhere near six figures is if I can bring the body back to its factory original condition, which will be quite the challenge. But once I get the factory-correct press-molded fiberglass panels from Corvette Central, I should be able to bring this body back to its factory original glory. And that’s going to be something special. Woo! Yeah. Cuz that’s what I do. I’m a body guy…”

Stay tuned for Shawn to drop part two of this crazy restomod!

3) CorvSport Curates Shawn Pilot–See All Of Our Transformation Features

4) Today’s Featured Video

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5) 7,997,654 Views: The Whole Shawn Pilot Video Arsenal

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♦ I bought a classic Corvette for only $3500.

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