1962 Chevrolet Bel Air Was Abandoned in Mud for 40 Years, Engine Agrees To Run

Parked next to what appears to be a barn, this old Chevy was never considered important enough to get some protection from the elements. As a result, it spent a whopping 40 years outside, enduring rain and cold as the seasons went by. And four decades of sitting in the same place was enough for the mud below to swallow most of the car's tires.

The old four-door was pretty much doomed to rust away while sitting on its frame, but the folks over at YouTube's Working Hands decided to give it a second chance. After purchasing it from an online auction, they spent a whopping four hours digging it out of the mud.

They took it back to the shop and set out to get it running again. And amazingly enough, the 60-year-old powerplant agreed to run again with a bit of work. The mill in question is a 235-cubic-inch (3.9-liter) inline-six, which means this sedan was purchased with the standard engine.

Rated at 135 horsepower new, the six-cylinder is far from impressive, especially in a four-door that tips the scales at more than 3,500 pounds (1,588 kg), but it's downright impressive that it can still fire up after 40 years without a sip of gasoline.

So is this 1962 Bel Air salvageable? Well, not exactly. The interior is too far gone and most of the body panels have rust. The frame is also in poor condition after four decades of sitting directly on mud. This Chevy is simply too expensive to restore relative to its value as a Concours-ready classic. Most likely it will become a parts donor. But that's a better fate than rotting again in someone's backyard.