Abandoned C5 Chevy Corvette Found Trapped in a Backyard, Is It Really Worth Saving?

It looks like a typical scenario. The owner parked this C5 Chevrolet Corvette a gazillion years ago and simply forgot about it. That is how grass grew around it, strangling it, with the sun, rain, hot and cold eating into it. Meanwhile, the interior smells of all the years it has been sitting.

Once they pop the passenger door open, they are in shock. It's an ants nest, and the ants are huge. They will vacuum them before they move the larva into the car. They have to use insect spray on the interior.

RJ and Mike from WD Detailing claim it is one of the dirtiest cars they ever had to deal with. They also need to vacuum the exterior, because, after all these years of sitting outside, the car is full of whatever nature dumped on it.

Detailing starts with the five-spoke wheels. They look shiny and new within minutes. The Corvette is missing one of the pop-up headlights, while the other one looks like something bit off it. So, the owner is going to figure out a solution for that.

A full paint decontamination is going to get that black paintwork looking decent fast. But that is far from being the end of it. In fact, it is just the beginning.

The C5 Corvette they are working on is powered by the LS1 engine, which is a front-mounted 5.7-liter V8 that pumps out 350 horsepower, mated to a 4L60-E automatic transmission, carried over from the previous generation. The auto box helps that V8 put the power down through the rear wheels.

The C5 was the first Corvette to get the then-newly developed 5.7-liter power plant. The C4s came with an LC1. It is thanks to that LS1 that the speedometer is scaled up to 200 mph (322 kph).

The seats are covered in mold, so they have to come out. The detailers will clean the filth off them and put them right back in. The black leather cleans up nicely. It held up really well over the years, except for the left side of the driver's seat, which looks like some rookie surgeon cut it open.

The door cards and gear shifter undergo similar treatments. However, there is a lot of work around the bubbly buttons crammed together on the center console. The steering wheel is somewhat sticky and holds fingerprints like it's a thief working on it. But the dirt comes off it soon.

They vacuum the mess from the carpet, which is starting to come apart. The floor mats, however, seem to have withstood the test of time.

Opening the trunk is quite a challenge. Mike is a true stuntman, squeezing into the car to pop it open from the inside. Mike and RJ find a little treasure in the central armrest. They pick up several coins from inside.

Three days after they started, RJ and Mike complete the detailing stage. Now, the two of them take the Chevy Corvette to restoration experts who will tell them how much fixing this car would cost.

RJ says he wants the car functional enough to do a burnout. That is a high level of functional, so there is going to be a lot of work on the 'Vette.

The brake fluid is really low, so the system might be punctured. They will, in fact, change all the fluids and check if the engine runs. However, whatever that front end hit, it looks like it did not cause much damage underneath.

RJ hopes to buy it, fix it, and make a profit out of it. They settle that the price of the car should be around $2,000. All that is left now is to convince the owner to sell it for that price. It will be $800 to put the car through a day of inspection.

However, RJ is not going to get a final price this time. The experts say, "The sky is the limit" when it comes to costs in the worst-case scenario. Only the work to make it run, drive, steer, and brake properly would be a $16,000 situation.

But it would still look like it does right now. For that kind of money, RJ would be able to find a much better C5 Corvette without all the question marks this one came with.

RJ declines the offer and will give the car right back to its owner. He will decide what he wants to do with it from that moment on. One thing is for sure. His C5 is not a gold mine.