One User Has Spent Millions Buying 26 Split-Window Corvettes on BaT
Do you like 1963 Split Window Corvettes? Of course. Who doesn’t? But maybe not quite as much as Bring a Trailer user “DDSEOE“, who has plunked down $5.26M on 26 different 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Coupes on the auction platform since 2023. In other words, this buyer doesn’t like Split Windows. They love ’em. The latest acquisition happened this week, and if you need any further evidence that this person is putting the heart before the head, the sale price of $352,000 for the example seen here was 60 percent over the #1-condition value for the model. (Such #1-condition, or Concours, cars are considered virtually flawless and representative of the best examples in the world.)
The car itself has a thoroughly documented restoration, a matching engine, a four-speed manual, and an overall clean presentation. But it’s worth adding some Corvette context here. The 1963 model year was, of course, the first for the second-generation (C2, 1963-67) Corvette, as well as the only year for the famous split rear window. That treatment looks great but also harms rear visibility—a classic tale of the friction between styling departments and engineering departments.
Being a one-year-only feature makes it relatively rare in Corvette circles, but this was still a mass-produced product from a giant corporation. Chevrolet built 21,513 Corvettes for 1963, divided almost evenly between coupe and convertible. This one’s 327-cubic-inch, 300-hp L75 engine represents the second-lowest output available in the 1963 Corvette, and valuable options like power windows, factory air conditioning, and knock-off wheels were not fitted to it. A $352,000 price for it, then, is beyond steep. The maximum average value for a Split Window with this powertrain in the Hagerty Price Guide, according to our data, is $217,000.
As for DDSEOE’s little Sting Ray shopping spree, the user has been buying lots on BaT since 2021 and has been the top bidder on 92 of the site’s auctions in that time. The majority of them are vintage Corvettes, but there have been a few Thunderbirds, some Packards and other prewar cars, a handful of Hummers, and a few Cadillac-themed sofas in there as well. Of the 26(!) different Split Windows he’s bought, there have been a few 327/360-hp fuel-injected cars as well as several 327/340-hp L76 cars, but nothing super-rare like a Z06.
It isn’t clear whether DDSEOE is opening a museum, orflipping cars to overseas buyers, or simply building a big collection for personal enjoyment. What is clear is there is cash to spend and a clear sense of taste.
Hello, my long time friend has a 63 split window. The car is very near completion. Complete frame off professional restoration. I know he has over 100,000 in this,so far .. His plan is to take it directly to auction,after completion. If anyone has a legitimate interest. I ca forward the contact info to him.
Uhhh? Darn it! I left the negotiations for a split window in 1983 at $4950, he wanted $5,500, and told him, forget it, too expensive. 1983 $4950=2024 $14,800 +or-
shoulda, coulda, woulda…had a brother in law who traded a ’63 in the mid ’60s for a real Shelby AC Cobra with a 428 that he no longer has either! Probably a seven figure car today…
maybe DDSEOE’s gonna have a Corvette Ranch, IROC-like race, classic driving school, super merry-go-round, or amusement park in Dubay.
The split rear window was not a great idea in 1963 and it hasn’t gotten any better with time. I was reading how in 1964, when the unsplit rear window was used, owners were taking their cars back to the dealerships and asking them to cut the post out and install the 1964 rear window to get better rear visibility. The interest in the split rear window cars doesn’t make sense to me. Perhaps uniqueness and rarity is the appeal. Or maybe Barnum was right?
Well, I gotta admit, it’s sexy. But certainly not practical or even terribly safe, really. Still, I don’t know many who would turn one down (if presented as a gift)!
They were so unsafe that most of them are still on the road today.
Why does every ad, or reference to a ’63 Coupe always say “’63 Split Window.”? Like there is any other kind?
Ah, but there is.
No, ’63 Coupe would suffice.
Convertible comes to mind
The message is clear: anyone on the fence about selling theirs should get it on BAT right away with a very high reserve.
This article seems a bit exaggerated to me. If you look at this buyer’s history, it appears that the ’63 ‘vettes are less than 10% of what he’s bought. He’s bought pre-war cars (including a Cord), a gull-wing, a couple of military vehicles, and quite a few earlier ‘vettes.
I had a split window many years ago…considering today’s values I should have kept it…it’s difficult to comprehend why a split window has a $50K plus premium over an identical roadster…enjoying a top down drive on a sunny day is a great reward that the coupe cannot provide…C2 Corvettes are fun and excellent investments…especially the 65, 66 and 67 big block powered roadsters that generally are worth more than an identical coupe…the reverse of the collectible 63 models…to each their own!
Love the NCRS stickers! Started in 1974 by a small group of folks in Ohio who may have changed a portion of the collector car hobby. At least it was a hobby back then. It is a business now.
I have never really seen the appeal of collecting more than one of the same kind of car
I’m hoping Freddie B. doesn’t walk off a cliff for a matter of ~500 bucks back in ‘83 lol. And I agree with TG ….. why collect more than one of the same car? Unless you need ‘parts cars’ like I do for one of my fave affordable rides – the rare SVT Contour
Maybe he likes to say, “Hmmm, today do I wanna take the black one, or the red one, or the white one, or the blue one, or the blue one with the white interior, or the red one with….?”
No wonder I can’t find a ‘63-‘67 Vette coupe that I can afford (or a ‘32 Ford 5-window coupe street rod). In January of 1970, I could have bought a Nassau Blue ‘66 Vette coupe with 327/350, 4-speed with factory side pipes. The seller wanted $3,150 and I offered him $3,000. He wouldn’t come down and I wouldn’t go up, so I ordered a brand new ‘70 Chevelle SS (Forest Green with white stripes), 402/350, 4-speed, posi, PS, PB, bucket seats and console, for $3,550 out the door. Ordered it in February, took delivery in April, and sold it in October. The Chevelle was nice, but I should have bought the Vette (I loved the sound of the side exhaust, and the way the Vette drove over the Chevelle). Oh well, in October of 1971, I sold my full fendered, gloss black, all steel, Chevy powered, ‘32 Ford 5-window coupe street rod for $1,925. Those were the days! I wouldn’t mind having either car back, but at today’s prices, I would much rather hang on to my money than have an expensive toy. Just sayin!
I guess the man knows what he likes and buys multiples of it. Me, I only need one.
Kinda screams money laundering to me.
DDSEOE= DANIEL DAVIDSON, SANDRA EVANS AND OLIVER EVANS
🙂
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