65hihp

By River,
a suggestion for you, so you can get the C2 roadster you have been wanting for almost 40 years. Join your IL chapter of NCRS, and get involved in the judging meets, and make friends with some members local to you. As is often discussed here, the club is mostly made up of the gereatric set, and more and more we hear within the club of people quietly selling their vettes that they have owned as long as you have wanted one. Often these owners do not have to get BJ moonshot prices but mostly want their baby to go to another good loving caretaker. When you are in the loop, you will hear of these cars, and you will score your dream car. I speak the truth.

warrenmj

I bought my '66 L79 convertible in 2000 and still have it. The person that sold it to me had seller's remorse as he contacted me 6 months after selling it to me wanting to buy it back. No sale.

ByRiver

Thanks for the advice.

63redvette

Rebuilt and sold 6 hotrods since 1978; always had fun with them but I was always looking for the affordable 63 convertible vette. Found it in 2012. I will never sell it. I have had the rest, now I'm driving the best!

vettebuyer6369

I am definitely the oddball. I've had 17 Corvettes because I enjoy driving and playing with different models and colors, etc. The only car I "regretted" selling was my first SWC in 2006 because that wound up being my favorite model.... so I solved it by buying another one.

There's lots and lots of Corvettes for sale. There's always another car.

1snake

While I've only owned/restored 16 Corvettes (#17 is in the works), I agree 100%. Even though I've owned my 60 for over 40 years, I can see getting rid of it and I seriously doubt I will have sellers remorse. They are ONLY cars. However, I wouldn't mind driving my old LS6 Chevelle or L79 Nova again. These guys that say "I'll never sell it" are full of crap. Life happens and things change. Very few cars are sold by the widow/estate of the deceased owner compared to those that are sold by us elderly owners while we're still kicking.

427435

I like the color!!

LouieM

I agree, but don't forget that a lot of old Vettes are passed on to family members when the owner kicks the bucket, as mine will be.

CrossedUp

It does happen - Last week I inherited the sad task of helping my oldest and best friend's widow figure out what to do with his '59, '69/427-435 and '91 Corvettes as well as all his tools and spare parts etc. It's going to be a very emotional ride for us.

65air_coupe

Pretty harsh judgement from someone that doesn't know any of "these guys...".

I've owned mine for about 40 years, had a lot of fun both just driving it and setting it up to suit me and only me. I certainly didn't buy it for the investment although it's easily worth over 10 times what I paid for it. As it is, it suits me fine and it's all I need or want. No reason to sell, certainly don't want or need the money, just the fun of owning and driving it.

Frankie the Fink

One forum member here is selling off a deceased good friend's collection of C1 & C2s as I write - 4 or 5 nice cars IIRC; another long-time Florida enthusiast died of Lou Gehrig's disease about a year ago; leaving a 10-12 car collection. The cars are in limbo until the kids decide what they're worth.

I brokered the purchase of a '61 down here for a friend - the seller died two weeks later leaving two '57 Chevy convertibles in absolutely pristine condition along with a '69 Chevelle and a Cord replica. He also left a wife that knows NOTHING about the hobby.

Its more prevalent than you might think.

ByRiver

My father-in-law passed away last year who owned a home based gun shop. He was an avid match shooter and collector. His friends quickly wanted to help the widow get rid of all his dirty tools and useless firearms. I stepped in and supervised everything. I didn't know the business, but I can research. I did give them friend prices on the reloaders and tooling, but I didn't "give" it away.

One offered to buy his 45/70 Cowboy rifle for $700, but after looking up the valuation, I saw it was going for $1600. I told him he could have it for $1400 since he was such a good friend. He balked, then relented. The father-in-law didn't own a firearm unless it was something special, unique, and/or had some great collector value. I took the last 50 firearms home to sell myself. I didn't feel right if I didn't try to get close to market price. I just knew he would look down and shake his head in disbelief if I didn't try. If he had an old '63 split window that didn't run, I wasn't going to give it away for $2000 like his widow would have done at a garage sale.

I did get to keep a few choice pieces for myself.

vettebuyer6369

Yeah, I know of a guy with a garage full of collectible cars who passed recently... Had no intention of ever selling, and he did not, leaving them to his estate. As I understand it, the multiple siblings have various amounts of knowledge of the values and the sales, distribution, etc and it is causing some conflict.

I think if I was in such a position I'd want to possibly get on paper an approximate value to save the drama, but still, some valuations are so way off and some change. I know some families trying to sell cars for ridiculously inflated values that they have been told, and they continue to sit. Tough spot for spouses/ kids sometimes.

I got my personal perspective back in the 70s when one of my custom cars was at its peak and I was offered a ton for it. I said I would never sell it, and naturally 3 years later I was bored and wanted something else. Lost out on a pile of cash, all the while people close to me saying, "sell, there's always another car." My personal habit of wanting to try different cars and this experience has led me to my "everything's for sale, there's always another car" attitude.

But every hobbyist has their own life experiences and I know many friends who have in fact kept their cars "forever." To each their own.

Frankie the Fink

This GTO with racing history is in sad condition right across the street (which I only found out recently) and had sat in the garage 10 years before I saw it. Lots of racing history and an original triple black car. I've been goosing the deceased owner's nephew to buy it but he claims he's going to restore it some day (he lives in Ohio and purportedly knows NOTHING about cars). Sucks.

I do get an occasional 'twinge' over muscle cars I've sold just because of the memories attached to them but it has nothing to do with the actual steel and rubber components. Everything in life is transitory.

So, I pose the question, would the aforementioned GTO have been better served if the ailing owner had sold it to some happy new purchaser, or, sitting around going to hell ?

I will be down to one classic as I approach 70 years of age, and, depending on health and continued interest, maybe zero after that

histoy

The owner should have sold it to someone who appreciates these old muscle cars. The thing that disappoints me about this one is the lousy white paint that was sprayed on top of everything in the engine compartment. Why do this to a beautiful black car?

91DRM

And the spotlight, old school guy.

91DRM

Paint looks brushed, coil and splotches on top of wheel wells.

dcaggiani

Frankie:
I LOVE the GTOs of the 1966-67 vintage - and the color is spot on sans the engine bay....
The GTO is one of those cars that just draws you in - I would love to have this car too, it is unfortunate it will rot in a garage for who knows how long.....
ARGH - frustrating.

Dan

C2Racer

I have owned maybe 50 cars and really don't regret selling any of them. Every time I think maybe that one I realize what I have now is much better and what would I do with it? I bought and sold most of those cars at a profit to get to the collection I have now. I told myself long ago this hobby would not become a loss leader.......and then I started racing full time. So much for that BS. You know how to make a small fortune in racing, start with a large one....... So not too much car collecting / trading anymore for me. Happy where I am although I have found another race car I need.......

Love GTO's! The best mechanic at the Exxon Car Care I worked at in HS had a blue HT that screamed. Never forget that car.

Steve

Frankie the Fink

A racing buddy once told me the formula is pretty simple, "....how fast do you want to go and how much money do you have?"

Sometimes you find a car just doesn't fit you. I sold my '67 Chevelle SS-396 with no regrets whatsoever. Car was fast, loud, looked bitchin' but I found I just don't care to drive big blocks regularly. It just seemed like a tank compared to my Corvettes...

I did take some pleasure in how excited the new owner was with the car....