riggs 74

Whether its one of your own or one at a show or even one in passing on the street,
what make your pulse race?

For me I love a beautiful untouched corvette, Its like a blank canvas that I could throw
my personal touches on. I was at a show a couple of weeks ago and seen a lot of nice
vettes, original and custom and found the cars that were personalized drew my attention
more than the unmolested ones did. When I was ready to leave the show I seen a 69
convertible in pristine condition, a beautiful car, enter the show and started to walk
back into the show to have a look at it, but stoped, and said to my self, its probably
just like the last original pristine 69 convertible that I have seen. I guess my real
thought was, how fun can a low mileage, pristine condition original classic be.
You can't drive them every weekend with out worrying about the mileage adding
up and you can't change ANYTHING on the car to make the car perform better than
it did originally if your trying to keep it original, This doesn't sound very fun.

I love driving my car, AKA my little hot rod, the little go car. I look forward to
the next thing I can change to make the car faster and handle better than a C3
was designed to do.

I love an original looking, sounding and performing vette, but after seeing several
of them it seems you have seen then all.

So tell me whats your passion and why? Would love to see a photo of what you are driving,
or polishing.



Riggs.

CA-Legal-Vette

I think it's mostly a matter of taste but somewhat a matter of economics. The car helps make the decision too.

My current car I bought purposely to mod the heck out of. It's a 73 vert that I bought for way below market value (at the time) because it had a NOM that was dead. I've been through several motors now and still enjoy doing that very much.

The economics part comes when you try to sell it. I think the more that you mod it, the smaller the pool of buyers will be and likely the less that you'll get for it. The general rule is take the market value of a car and subtract the amount of money it will take to bring it back to stock. Obviously there is no end to exceptions to this rule.

What I mean by "the car helps make the decision" is that I had few qualms about modding my L48 auto. If I had Muddy's 72 A/C LT-1, I'd be far less likely to mod it to keep myself amused.

parkerracing

I've restored a '71 LT-1 coupe, so I can appreciate looking at those (and enjoy the appreciation that comes with it). But for driving, there are so many upgrades to make these cars fun in the modern world sense. However that comes with a penalty at resale time

Solid LT1

I like a car I can get in drive and not have to worry about it falling apart while I'm on my drive.

The "Top Flight" NCRS Vettes I am familliar with have many original parts on them in critical areas for judging points, I wouldn't drive them any further than to the trailer they arrived to the show on.

I'll keep putting incorrect Moog brand ball joints on my Vettes because they are the best quality parts but, they do not look nowhere near what original parts looked like, same with the idler arms (anyone need an original idler arm? Email me.)

7T1vette

I appreciate and look at cars that are in good condition and clean (engine compartment, chassis, interior, etc.), regardless of being original, modded or anything in-between. My personal preference is totally stock cars, but when it is owned by someone else, everything is good!

P.S. I don't care much for the 'elitist' viewpoint that "their way" is the only way.

72ragtop

Agree with others. Its personal preference. Keep it the way ur confortable with. I never bash cars that have been updated, nor cars that are stock. Just love the body lines of the C-3's.

My 72 BB vert with a/c, i keep original, right down to the smog system and the hard to find carb. Now i do drive about 1000 miles a yr. Car sits with 52K miles on it now.

Now my 74 L-48 motor is a diff story. Ext. paint was dark brown changed that to millie migila red. but exterior and interior, (ex. for stereo appears stock. Now drivetrain is a diff story. Has a built 70 LT-1 motor, alum heads, headers with 3in. exhaust, 5 speed and 3.70's. Motor dyno'd at 389 rwh. I bought this car with 140K miles on it. Was a clean car to do what i wanted to do. No rust, birdcage great. Fl. car. This again do to time restraints this one gets driven about same as the 72.
now the 74 was my first vette going back 20 or so yrs. I do have all parts to put back stock or give, if i ever decide to sell. The 72 from what my son tells me is his someday.

Good luck either way.
KC

Faster Rat

I like them both, but made the economic decision to go the NCRS route and found an appropriate car to start with. Wish I had the money to spend on modifying another. I've been driving mine every chance I get for 6 years now, occasionally stomp the **** out of it and never been towed home yet. Almost all of the mechanical and reliability issues have been taken care of, so I find myself looking less at the gauges and listening less for unusual noises. The miles I'm putting on doesn't concern me and shouldn't concern the next caretaker, because most everything has been rebuilt or replaced. However, I do avoid rainy days or wet roads.

Either path one takes, this is a great hobby.

vettebuyer6369

NCRS. I've yet to see someone come up with personal styling changes that beats GM in these cars.

onaqwst

i bought mine and it needed work.... no point in making it ncrs when it would cost me x3times more to take it back to stock.... i bought the 77 for a project and a creative outlet....same reason why we knock down trees to make furniture

oldsarge

Some mods are nice, but I prefer the GM original look, as well.
Well said Steve.

joewill

I like original for me although i don't care if it is NOM as long as it looks close. same color it came with. working vacumm system is pretty cool in the C3s

OK exceptions in my opinion: i would pay extra for a 6-speed, maybe some nice conservative wheels if not original, a fancy stereo would be nice and much better than original.

no headers... headers are a sign that a car has been run hard.

my 76 ray

While I appreciate the time and effort to keep a car or restore it to NCRS standards, as long as my car is in good mechanical condition I'm happy. Custom bodywork isn't for me though because I have never seen any custom work on the body that I thought was an improvement over the original.

riggs 74

While I read some of the post I see that some folks get their greater value from
driving and making the car their own with their touches, And some don't seem to
get any enjoyable value until they have cash in hand after selling their Vette. I
can think of plenty of other ways to invest my money and get the same or better
return on the dollar at the end of the investment.

I have had my Vette now for almost two years and have had a blast with driving it,
and making it different from others that I see around at local car shows. This car
makes has already given me great value, it relives the days stress with everyday
life and that is a much greater value then the possible return, if it was ever to be
sold.

Enjoy these cars, make them yours, add what makes you happy, or leave them in show
room condition, what ever makes you happy, just make sure you get their current value
out of them by really enjoying them now, because tomorrow my not be here for you and
someone else will whined up enjoying it for you.

I only write this because when I have mine out on the local road ways driving it hard
and having the time of my life each time I get to enjoy it, I wonder how many other
C3 owners really get to enjoy their cars.

Riggs.

81pilot

I agree. I really love the interior in mine. It is the 81 Cinnabar, one year only. Just this week I finished redoing the interior, it is stock except the radio, I love it. However a stock engine to me is boring. So mine has a lot of aftermarket chrome and headers and true duals with chambers. I am shooting a custom paint job next, so for me as with others, the lines are great, the interior is hard to improve on, but I added my touches to make it mine. And like you those are the cars I salivate over unless it is a very rare survivor, those are sweet, but an original anything in a year where a gazillion were produced is another Vette to me, but they are ALL cool, no matter what the owner likes.

GD70

I prefer stock also, though I can appreciate a tastefully modded Vette. To me, it's far more difficult to keep it stock and original, especially after 40 years. Even though mine is a NOM, I've been working to get it appearing correct.
My fantasy is to have a beautiful numbers matching 70 LT-1, and another 70 that has no running gear to set up as I wish. Crate motor, 6-speed tranny and so on. Who cares since the running gear is gone.The body is gorgeous as it is, except for maybe mild wheel well flairs that look factory. I'd also leave the interior as is, except for a great sound system.
That's my 2c.

mobjack68

There is a lot to be said for stock, I think most vette owners were sucked into the vortex by a bone stock go fast that scooted by, snapping our necks.....NCRS???? How much does it really cost to play in their sandbox??? There is a lot to appreciate looking at top flight points getters....

I want a bone stock daily driver go fast that says "look at me" and you know??? that little bit of top color coat paint that is missing from my driver's side valve cover??? Won't matter to me.. I want something that I can drive thru a mud puddle after a rain shower that makes me put the tops back on.....

crf311

Modified. If I want orginal I'll look in a magazine.

markdtn

I like a stock appearing car that has modern improvements. I built mine as "the '69 that GM would have built in '89" From the outside it is stock except for the wheels. Inside I have the later C3 seats. Under the hood TPI fuel injection and 700R4 overdrive. Subtile touches include later GM cruise control, later C3 a/c system, and a few other similar things. That is what I like to see. I enjoy an original looking or NCRS car, but I really like to see Survivors rather than restored. That's just me.

JW3101

Well said! My '86 sat most of the time (over the last 23 years) and was very rarely driven. After I bought the '69 (last year), I started taking both of them out and enjoying them. Maybe it's because I'm 23 years older now - but I wish I enjoyed the '86 more as you don't get that time back!

capevettes

I prefer Corvettes that are stock in appearance but I like to incorporate some performance improvements that aren't detectable.