Epic Barn Find: Historic 1957 Corvette Custom Show Car Dug Out After 57-Year Hibernation 

May your grandpa Rest In Peace.

I’m sorry for your loss. He kept this car all these years for a reason and hopefully it is going to be recognized when it gets to the show

Sorry for your loss

My condolences for your loss, he seemed quite the interesting and personable man. May your Grandfather's spirit watch over you for all your days. I say Godspeed Bill, and thank you for sharing your unique custom - the design is quite striking and is as impressive now as it was in its glory days. It was good to see your dream of showing the car again realized. We need free thinkers such as yourself now more than ever. May God love you and keep you.

My condolences to you and your family.

I hate that he had to sell his pride and joy but at least he knew it was going to a good home.

Thanks Roy

Just gotta enjoy it now Bruce. Share your many years of collecting with someone who will appreciate it

It's alright, they are only possessions in the end that you did cherish and now it's time for someone new to appreciate the items you've collected over the years. I am the same way. It's hard to part with stuff you've kept so nice for so long. Again, it's only stuff and there are more important things after you die. We only live for a spec of time. Maybe you'll live for many more years! God bless!

Yup, life is to short for all the dreams we accumulate.

62 1/2here … same situation.. 1970 ISCA challenger custom , 1969 camaro ISCA car … and a lot of other cars … need to start liquidating.

My Pops was from the area where this car was created as I said before on another channel Richmond California had thee biggest wrecking yards in California where they built the battle ship's for WWII my Pop's and uncle's knew a lot of the junk yard owner's. I built my first car in the late 80s from junk yard part, a 1968 4 door Toyota Corolla made it into a show car. My Pops bought it as a parts car for $50.00 I paid the 50 plus POP'S help my rebuild the engine. Gas was $1.10 a gallon. Took that little car to many car shows cruise's swap meets. I made the car look older than it really was put a 1951 Buick grill cut down to fit put older BMW bumber chrome guards on the front bumber Apple ton spot light's white wall tires with the stock hub caps with 3 prong knock offs added lowerd all the way around, color of the car was antique yellow to much to list this was before the air bags or I would have put them. Thanks to the owner of the wrecking yard he let me have anything I need to build it on the low buck.

I'm in that age group having been born in 1942. Really rings the memories!.. Only regret for me is not having any money to keep that 1963 1/2 Ford Falcon Sprint I bought new off the show room floor in Ming Green when it was sitting next to a Cobra. My wife and I have been married for 61 years and may have lived our lives during the greatest times of American History.

@ Tony Morse True that, if you can't keep it, that's definitely the best way to pass it on!! You can readily see he already misses it!

Great car. Stuck in a barn with a old fart... Great you let it go.

Yes, people that criticize do not understand the movement into which and that he was moved by in the late 1950s to create this custom. I am planning updates. Yes, it was a thing to behold then and more today. What's the difference if the paint on the dash is not perfect? If this car were restored ground up it would look new. Right now we have a window back in time.

Thanks Steve for the nod on this project, which came up all the sudden and had me dropping other projects to get this car preserved and presented in video and in print in my column in Hot Rod Magazine, coming soon.

We agree!

Thanks! 😃

email me and maybe we can do a video with you and your father on this. (jerryheasley@gmail.com) Look at the '66 Chevelle video that we did to see what I mean -ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iyINFhqbHd4.html

Thanks to BIll and Mary Shelley and their son Brad. Plus, there's another enthusiast that got us together - look for a video on this.

really want to see it redone as the custom!!

He man, that's a dose of nostalgia for sure so thanks for sharing! What was the Beatnik scene like in LA in those pre-Beatle days? That's why I threw in a few rhymes, to recall those coffee shop days when people got up and read lines and sometimes with rhyme.

Thanks, much better “ late”, rather than NEVER:: pass it on, to other Car Peoples…..

Thank you kindly

His ideas brought to life, returns for others to see.

His story will live on forever for all us to enjoy. Thank you for sharing your story.

@@marcushume2240 Thank you! As my cousin’s daughter, Sierra, stated in another comment on this video, her grandfather (my uncle), Bill Shelley, passed away a little over a month ago. We are so grateful that my uncle was able to oversee the future of his beloved car and know that so many people appreciated it and its story. It is I that owes you, and every one of those people, my thanks for all of the love every one of you showed my uncle for his car and its story.

That is the plan.

Yes, having the original owner of this custom to give us the history is very unusual going back this many years. Now we know what happened, how it was built, and all kinds of details.

He dumped sacks of mica into each coat of paint - BIll said there were maybe 6 coats - and also enlarged the paint gun's opening so the mica would pass through. You can read more about this paint in my article in Motor Trend online here - www.motortrend.com/features/1957-corvette-custom-bali-hai-barn-find/ and later in Hot Rod Magazine when it comes out in print.

Our plan is to be there for that.

He was great to work with.

You got that right!

Yep. There isn't a single thing of my parents that I want. If they had a classic car, it had best be in running condition not requiring 10's of thousands of dollars of restoration work. I'd take it if it was decent ... I am no dummy. But they don't. I do want something of my grandmother's. It is a simple candy dish. It is not expensive but associated with many memories of youth and my grandparents as I dipped into that thing and had a million little sugary treats. Everything else is just stuff.

Hello, thank you for the love on the video, this is his granddaughter, sadly he passed away two days ago, but he would’ve loved to see how it turned out.

Good way to put it.

Thanks so much!

Rescue it!

@@johngrepo9976 I'm not sure my dad's hard headed we just got in another argument about it. He says he'd rather crush it than take the chance of someone repairing it incorrectly. He's a metalwork guy doesn't use mud one of the fins is damaged and has to be sweated on so on and so forth smh. I was wrong it's a 55 bird and turns out it's an important car. Long story short the car was built here locally completed in November of 56 with 57 stude fins and an Ala kart nose among other mods. It was shown once in Pullman WA. Pictures were then sent to George Barris for magazine publication. Pictures were never published. One year later Barris came out with the Aztec with very similar design que's shortly there after he released the Ala-kart which I'm not sure of dates but I have Pictures from 56 showing designs that Barris is famous for that he didn't do. (did he steal the designs?) About 20 years ago my dad ran into Barris and talked for awhile then when my dad showed him Pictures and said he had the car. He says George's demeanor changed and he became agitated and upset that it still existed. So it turns out when this car is brought from the depths it's kind of going to be a big deal! 🤔 (Edit) my dad found the car in a field in Palouse WA and is upset he payed $50 for it over 50 yrs ago.

Barris was famous for shady deals. I use to work for Dean Jefferies and i heard all about it

@@johngrepo9976 so I hear. I'm going to keep working on getting the car out. We're talking about maybe taking it to Sema. We'll see though

@@kdsboosted4954 im happy to hear that, hope you are successful. Cars like your dad's are history, they deserve to be saved

Our pleasure, thanks. We may do a preservation type of restoration. Know what I mean?

Thank you 😊

Yeah, true, and this car was an Oakland Roadster Show entry, and a Corvette, which was expensive, and then got striped by legendary Tommy the Greek, and one of the names in fiberglass in the early days - Bob McNulty.