Meant to be – This Sunfire Yellow 1966 Corvette Circled Back into Michael Seebert’s Life
Congratulations to Michael Seebert for being named a Finalist for the Goodguys 2025 Snap-on Muscle Car of the Year with his 1966 Corvette!
Michael Seebert was born into an automotive family in Detroit. Both of his grandparents worked for Chrysler. At the impressionable young age of five, Michael fell in love with a neighbor’s ’54 Corvette and decided then and there that he would own one someday.
When the time came to fulfill this Corvette dream, Michael had to make a decision between a red ’66 coupe or a white ’76 T-top as a daily driver. He chose the ’76 model, forgot the 1966 Corvette coupe, and moved on with his life. As we all know, life sometimes lets you revisit those earlier decisions.
Years later Michael was leaving work in Madisonville, Kentucky, when he spotted a red ’66 Corvette in the parking lot that looked like the one he passed over years before. He returned to the office and found the car’s owner. Long story short: The owner confirmed that the car was the same ’Vette, but he wasn’t interested in selling it.
A few years later the car’s owner called Michael, said he was ready to let it go and he wanted to give Michael first shot at the now-yellow Vette, its original color. Michael said yes and then drove the car for 15 years before enlisting Classic Restorations of Southern Indiana to bring the car back to its original, just-out-of-the-showroom condition.
Michael’s 1966 Corvette features a numbers-matching 300-horsepower 327c.i. V8 and a Powerglide automatic transmission, making it a somewhat rare car. Of the 27,720 1966 Corvettes, about one-third were coupes, one-fourth were equipped with the Powerglide, and only 2,339 were painted Sunfire Yellow. For 1966, Nassau Blue was the most popular Corvette color.
The 300-horsepower 327 was the base engine that year, with a 350-horsepower 327 the only other small-block option. Two versions of the new 427c.i. big block were also available. Four-wheel disc brakes were standard in all 1966 Vettes. Michael’s ’66 has the 3.36:1 Positraction rearend. Stock 15×5.5-inch steel wheels feature stock hubcaps and 7.75-15 Firestone Super Sport goldline reproduction tires.
The Corvette’s black interior features several factory upgrades, including optional seat headrests, factory air conditioning, and power windows. Also, a teak wood steering wheel sits on a telescoping steering column. Cutters’ Hot Rod Interiors performed the interior restoration.
With virtually everything on the car refreshed, this Sunfire Yellow 1966 Corvette is likely in nicer condition than it ever has been, even when new. Even better for Michael is the fact that it shares garage space with the white ’76 Corvette he bought decades ago. “I am fortunate and blessed enough to own the first two Corvettes that I considered buying way back in 1976,” he says.
Photos: John Jackson
