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Not much of a story yet. I always loved the C3. I don't care what anyone else says. When I think "Corvette" the image of a C3 pops in my head. I recently picked up a POS '79 of the side of the road for pretty cheap and look forward to making it mine. It needs a new interior and brakes and .... a host of other things but it runs and moves. I wish I had read the 10 things to know list before I bought it but I still would have bought it. Cheers
Not much of a story yet. I always loved the C3. I don't care what anyone else says. When I think "Corvette" the image of a C3 pops in my head. I recently picked up a POS '79 of the side of the road for pretty cheap and look forward to making it mine. It needs a new interior and brakes and .... a host of other things but it runs and moves. I wish I had read the 10 things to know list before I bought it but I still would have bought it. Cheers
Bought my 69 in December of 68 from Bayer Chevrolet in California.. I've had many years of enjoyment with the car. I am now retired and spending some of my time restoring it. Hopefully in 6 months or so it will be back on the road.
Somewhat stupidly, once I passed the age of excessive insurance premiums, and wanting something with a droppable top, I went Corvette hunting. (I owned two cars at that time, their value now approaching insanity, but don’t look back.) The first Corvette I saw that caught my eye was a near perfect 66-67 (1975 was a long time ago). It was gorgeous, the price was pretty good, turned out to be one big stumbling block. The current owner had removed (and sold!) the original 427, replacing it with a 283!!
Eventually I found the LT-1. Not perfect, not by a long shot, as the original owner had attempted to make it into an economy car also, but hadn’t dumped a 283 into it in place of the original engine.
A few highlights of our time together:
• 1977 went cross-country. Let her stretch her legs as we paralleled the Vermillion Cliffs on our way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. (Has the statute of limitations expired ). Nearly ran out of gas somewhere in far-east Oregon. Spent the night in the middle of nowhere, figuring we might find an open station come morning. We did. (better story, but it’s long) Had breakfast that morning at The Worst Food in Oregon. Lost the rear brakes in San Francisco, but we all know the rear brakes don’t do a whole lot... Drove back from Huntington Beach, LA, leaving @ Noon, to Watkins Glen, NY, 5PM on second day, by myself.
• Chris, didn’t believe in seatbelts… we’re zipping around a clover leaf when seat (not bolted down) and Chris start tipping over the consul.
• Summer of ’78 I rebuilt the engine, discovering it’s been apart before. There was a bunch of broken rings, but the bores, amazingly, were perfect.
• “I don’t believe it”, he said!
“No sweat”, says I and proceed to break 70 in first, brake hard, pull into driveway, kill the lights just before a patrol car streaks by, looking for the perpetrator who split the night …
• 3 November 1978, first date with my now wife. I leave her apartment on Beacon Hill in Boston in the wee hours, have to work the next day… 4 Nov 1978, @ 3:45AM I’m stopped for, officially, doing 64 in a 55 zone. It was actually quite a bit more than 64… “What are you, some kind of NUT!!!” Pregnant pause. “Don’t you know it’s cold out.” I’ve been trying to chase the trooper down for years – if someone has connections to late 70’s Mass State Police…
• We got married a few years later.
And a few years later it went to a local, highly recommended operation for significant work (starting with the windshield frame). Got jerked around, but eventually it ended up back in our garage, where it's resided ever since, waiting for the next chapter to unfold.
Last edited by Dirty Dalton; 10-31-2015 at 07:53 PM.
I got bored with my C6, bored isn't the best was to put it but it sums up how most people feel about their daily driver. From a C5 and through 2 C6's while living in an area where there's no clubs or cruises; I had a nice car, I was used to driving and that's about it. I stuck a for sale sign in it and it was gone in a week. I suddenly didn't have a car because I didn't expect it to go that fast. Forced to craigslist to find something to drive I stumbled onto several c3's up for sale. The prices were reasonable the people were friendly and th more inquiries I made the more I was reminded it's more than 8 cylinders and showing people your tail lights. I was reminded about the community, something I'd forgotten being so far from it. The more I chatted with owners and looked at the different corvettes the more my search became a hobby, I fell back in love with corvettes and community and purchased a nice 1979 coupe, she had me at the roar of her pipes. I drove 2 thousand miles to pick her up from one side of the country to the other, I then drove her all the way home. Best 4 days of my short life. I owe the C3 its loud pipes and harsh hot ride a whole life of things I tried to sell off and forget about. Oh, nice to meet you all. I'm new to the C3 forum but was a member of the C6 forum for some years.
Last edited by Lovingnocarpayment; 11-01-2015 at 01:17 AM.
Reason: This post is useless without pics
My Vette story started in 1976 as a 16 year old kid standing in our farm yard watching an orange 1972 Corvette (first one I saw) go very slowly down the gravel road to our neighbor's house. Cousins from CA were visiting and right then and there I wanted a Corvette. I met the cousins a few years ago and they had sold that beautiful car a year earlier.
Fast forward to adulthood and after having a few newer Vettes my wife and I decided to go with a C3 - not many in our area and the one I really wanted. Decided to buy a new Camaro as our road car (we like to travel) and a C3 would be the fun car that would stay closer to home - I'm not mechanically inclined so didn't want to venture too far with it.
Camaro was great to travel in, but it wasn't a Corvette. What to do, what to do? I know - buy a C3, but upgrade it just a little so we could trust it on road trips. You know - maybe just a new engine "at the most". We found a non-original so-so-condition 1982 Collectors Edition - wanted one so the hatch would open for all those road trips we would take. Then we started looking at options for upgrades and ended up deciding to resto-mod the car so we would have the body of a C3 with the innards of a newer car. We would use all Corvette parts, but do whatever we wanted. In the end we ended up with a tribute to my favorite Corvette - the 1973.
My Vette story begins in 1968 when my Uncle Ray, who I am named after, bought a brand new 68 in white with that really red interior. We lived in my Grandmother's house after my Mother divorced, and Uncle Ray lived there too.
He would take me out every weekend for at least an hour ride in the car. I loved it! I felt special as every person we drove by looked at the car with appreciative smiles. We received many compliments from other drivers at stoplights. Right then, I told myself that I will own one of these someday.
While I was in the Army, I had a 1973 Cadillac, and my barracks mate owned a 1970 Corvette. We used to trade cars back and forth, and I got another taste of the addicting, visceral sensation of driving America's sports car.
Post Army, I went to college, got a job on the Police Department, got married, had my Daughter, got divorced. I had no money for myself for several years.
Later, I met and married my Beautiful, Fun, Funny, Gorgeous Wife. We have been together 17 years. She loves me and supports me in whatever I want to do.
Now, with our 3 kids all married, two with baby's, I found the time had come to finally, after 48 years from my first ride in a Corvette, to purchase the car I had dreamed about owning, well, my whole adult life.
-And it is a beauty! Ultra-low miles, body absolutely perfect in every respect, interior like new, WITH the original sales receipt, original window sticker, original computer order sheet from the dealer, all 4 original Goodyear tires stored separately, and other documents.
She drives perfectly. I had forgotten the smooth rumble of the exhaust upon starting the car, and the absolutely addicting ROAR when getting on the throttle.
I look forward to many years of enjoying MY Corvette that I have lusted after for 48 years, and next year in the spring my Wife and I are taking it to our favorite vacation spot, Estes Park, CO, and up into the mountains and beyond.
Just wondering how you got your Corvette and what was the best thing that has happened with your C3 since?
ALSO if you would like to, read Corvette Stories from the Backbone of America. (Im not allowed to provide the webist, but you can find it). I got this book when i aquired my corvette last year! The Author, Tommy Mallory, is a good friend of my uncles and gave my Grandparents a signed copy, and on my birthday my grandparents then signed it over to me. Needless to say i am obsessed with the book and ive read it so many times ive became bored with the stories so I posted this to read more! EMAIL TOMMY MALLORY YOUR STORY TO GET IN THE NEXT EDITION!
I always dreamed of owning a corvette; but like many others, family, money and other commitments stood in the way. In 1998 I purchased a low mileage (38K) 1979 L-48 w/4sp. and trailered it home. I put it up on jack stands, removed the suspension, sent the calipers out to have them sleeved, etc. Then I took another job that required a farther commute and longer hours. That along with the arrival of grand children, more commitments, has delayed getting my C3 on the road. I recently purchase a GM crate engine realizing that after sitting 17 years the L-48 would need a total tear down. I hope I still have the energy to get her back on the road. I originally logged on Corvette Forum in 2007, I just recently got reacquainted.
Hello everyone. I just recently traded my 2002 Chrysler Prowler for a 1978 Special Edition pace car with 46,000 original miles on it. The car is in very good condition and the engine was rebuilt at 40,000 miles. An aggressive camshaft was put in, along with an Edelbrock high rise aluminum manifold with matching carb. A true dual exhaust was put on the car running straight pipes back to the mufflers without a catalytic converter. This car rocks! With the mods done to the engine it now has over 300 horsepower instead of the anemic 185 HP from the factory. I have owned several Corvettes in the past years but I had always wanted a pace car but never got one until now. I intend to enjoy driving it every day!
Like so many others, I have wanted a Corvette since I was a teenager, but it was – or seemed – beyond my reach financially. In my late twenties, when I was still single, I spent a couple of years in Alaska in the seafood industry for the express purpose of putting aside enough money to buy a used Corvette. But I succumbed to the allure of a Camaro. It was a black-over-silver 1975 Rally Sport, and I had it re-painted to look like a ’78 Corvette Pace Car. The Corvette paint scheme really suited the Camaro, and it was easy to tell myself I would trade it in later for what I really wanted. Then I met my wife-to-be and life happened. I never actually seriously looked at a Corvette until I had been married a few years and a woman I worked with happened to mention her husband had a Corvette he wanted to sell. She didn’t know anything else about it. When I went to see it, I found a ’73 coupe. Her husband had pulled the engine and begun installing a Greenwood kit by cutting off about half the front end of the body. The car was sitting outside, with the empty engine block sitting beside it on a piece of carpet. He wanted $2500 for the car and assured me that he still had the body parts he had removed if I wanted to take it back to stock. I passed. It was several years later before I ventured into the Corvette market again, when I heard about a car that was for sale and needed work. It also turned out to be a ’73 coupe. This one was missing its T tops and the guy selling it said the car had been on its top and had been repaired. It ran and drove but I was leery of it and didn’t even take a test drive. Finally, in my late 40s, I reached the end of my rope. I told my wife that I had to have a Corvette before I turned 50. Within a few months, I came across an ad for yet another ’73 coupe. I had never specifically limited my search to a ’73 coupe, but every time I went looking, that’s what I seemed to find. This one ran and drove but it had serious paint issues and other cosmetic problems. The owner wanted $4500. I offered him $3500. He said he couldn’t let it go for that, so I walked away, but he called me the next day and told me to come and get my car. My 10-year-old son and I drove it home. It was an original car, except for the paint, the color, the upholstery, the engine block, the glass, the wheels, and I’ve lost track of what all else. The frame was good. I was able to recover most of the tank sticker. It was a somewhat curious car originally: L-48, automatic, white paint, dark saddle leather, radio delete, power brakes but standard steering, AC, rear window defogger, map light, sold new in California, where it apparently spent most of its life. There was a sticker on the lid of the battery compartment from a JC Penney store in Downey, CA that had installed a new battery in the car in ’79, with the customer listed as T. Tolman. I found an old California insurance card under the seat listing the owner as Ty Richmond in ’89. The car at some point ended up in Seattle, and from there was brought to eastern Washington, where I bought it in ’95. When I stripped the car to paint it, I found it had been hit in the rear area once or twice and the complete front clip had been replaced. I had it painted dark red metallic, the color it was when I bought it. The color is incorrect, but it suits the car very well. In the 20 years I’ve owned it I have installed a rebuilt, breathed-on, small-block 400, rebuilt the trans, rebuilt and upgraded the brakes with o-ring calipers, went through the suspension, new exhaust, new interior trim, all the usual stuff. Yes, it’s a mutt car, but that’s fine with me. I’m kind of a mutt myself. It took a while, but the third time was the charm in my C3 story.
I really wanted the Pace Car, but I settled for painting my Rally Sport Camaro to look like one.
It’s amazing what you may find when you strip down an old Corvette. Mine had been through a lot by the time I got my hands on it.
Seeing it – and driving it – when it’s all cleaned up and shining makes all the time and effort worthwhile.
Back in the early 70s a neighbor two places over had a 62 red on black 340 hp that I used to drool over. One night he took me for a ride up Indian Head Hwy. All I remember was he said watch the tach needle. What a blast. In the mid 70s I built two of those 2' long red 65 coupe models and dreamed of ownership when I was old enough.
In 85 I was in college and I sold my 67 Chevelle and bought a Silver 71 LT1 convertible that was in the autotrader from Thoroughbred Motors in Arlington TX. It was rough and had diamond back mags on it. I had them throw in some rallys and caps. I found a former owners papers and was able to track him down in CO Springs. He was an Army chopper pilot when he owned it and the car came from Reed Chevrolet in PA.
After college I worked on it and bought a 72 White all stock coupe that came out of Austin TX to drive in the meantime. I got a lot of help from the Lone Star Corvette Club along the way. The 72 was in the 92 Dallas AutoRama's first 20 years of Corvettes display and looked pretty good.
I still have them both and hope to some more work to them when my kid gets out of SMU and law school.
It’s amazing what you may find when you strip down an old Corvette. Mine had been through a lot by the time I got my hands on it.
Thank you for that. I thought mine was a complete disaster when I got it; my husband was not pleased at all, still says I'm wasting my time. It looked a lot like yours when I started stripping it down.
Thank you for that. I thought mine was a complete disaster when I got it; my husband was not pleased at all, still says I'm wasting my time. It looked a lot like yours when I started stripping it down.
I keep showing him the success stories in here.
Happy New Year! Never give up and keep us posted on your progress!
As a kid growing up in New York in the 70's I was always impressed by muscle cars but the corvette was my top pick. Always wanted to own one since I was kid but never could afford one. My older brother Billy shared the same enthusiasm for corvettes as he owned a shop and worked on a few corvettes in his time. But he fell on hard times and lost his shop. Anyhow, my brother always knew I wanted to own a corvette someday so he found a 1991 C4 corvette on craigslist. We actually had time to hang out and work on the vette together. It was a very cool project and I had fun fixing it up. But my love for a C3 vette was a bit stronger and I just knew the c4 would be short lived. He had a really beautiful 1974 corvette which I held on for him in my garage for a bit and I just loved this car!! But as times got tighter for him, he ended up selling it. Yes it was a big kick in the gut for him but he needed to sell it.
About a year later I was searching through craigslist and found a 1976 corvette all the way out in Hazelhurst, Georgia. Even though there were many c3 vettes this one just spoke to me. I just had to have it!! The owner was such a great guy and he held the car for me until I was able to drive out there and haul the car myself. Me and my brother drove my truck and uhaul trailer from Long Island New York to Hazelhurst Georgia, round trip it took us about 35 hours! I guess our love for corvettes just runs in the blood, we would do anything to get our hands on this vette.
So this is my very first C3 vette and I'm having a great time restoring it. It's a learning experience and I can't wait to show her off once I'm done.
I recently bought another c3 corvette, a 1975 numbers matching with a 4 speed manual- Which I always wanted. I'm currently restoring both corvettes.
The story of my vette is a lifetime... Literally. My father purchased it as a newly minted lieutenant in the air force in 1970. It was a year old. The person he bought it from was the original owner who shortly after purchasing the car found out his wife was pregnant. He originally tried to get a L71 or L88 (he doesn't know) but couldn't get financing for it. He purchased it in Riverside, CA. It is Riverside Gold. Two years later he met my mother. They drove it all over CA, across death valley to Vegas and back. He never got rid of it, even when he was stationed in England it went into storage in Minnesota (in my grandfathers garage). My earliest memory of it was when we moved from South Dakota to Texas. My dad drove the vette and my mother drove our suburban. That was in 1983. It has literally been apart of my entire life. It was the car that I drove to the prom in HS. My dad has finally decided to give it up and let me have it. He just doesn't drive it much anymore due to the fact that he has another one (2012 GS and now a 2015 Stingray). Since he brought it to Texas, it has been driven less than 5k miles. It still has the tires he put on it before the drive to Texas (or shortly after, he can't remember but they are over 30 years old). It has been garage kept it's entire life. It doesn't have a single touch of rust on the frame or birdcage.
Once I get it down here (I already have the bins of old parts, like the original carbs, the original wheel rings and center caps (he put on the deluxe wheel covers in ~'71),smog pump, etc.) I will be putting on new tires and going over the entire thing with a fine tooth comb to make sure it's up to safely driving some longer distances. I will probably replace the springs and all of the weatherstripping at some point. Just going to take a while and put small amounts of money in at a time.
Last edited by 5.elements; 12-30-2015 at 10:33 AM.
Mine too came from Riverside CA, but it wasn't cherished. Check all your rubber "pieces", I'm sure they are dried out from all the summers. (I used to live in Lake Elsinore).
Picked up a 1982 Corvette Crossfire Injection early last summer. Many things wrong with this car. Timing was advanced too far at 21 Degrees BTDC. Vacuum leaks everywhere. Replaced HVAC Vacuum hoses, Electrical problems everywhere. I rebuilt the passenger side trailing arm. Rebuilt the brake calipers, replaced the rubber brake hoses. Replaced the Master Cylinder, new battery and starter. New in tank fuel pump assembly and fuel filter.
There is a long way to go with this car but she does show potential. The only saving grace is that the engine has been rebuilt. In the near future she will get new T-tops and tires.
Last Fall, I flew out to Kansas City to buy my 1972 Convertible from a dealership with no info on the previous owner(s). I started the paperwork and loan information before the flight, so I was pretty locked into buying it without even seeing it in person first. I was very lucky and grateful to find it in fantastic condition. Definitely a well kept survivor.
Well, I just touched base with the last owner, and it turns out I'm the 3rd owner! The original owner bought it ~1974 and stored it without doing any work. The 2nd owner bought it off him for 16K, and 5 years later sold it to the dealer for 24K, and I bought it for 28K. It sounds weird that the price kept going up until you factor inflation and repairs.
He's going to send me his old maintenance paperwork, legitimizing it's on its original 40,000 miles, and a few receipts from the radiator and exhaust he put in. I asked him about a mystery switch in the car, and apparently the 1st owner put in an 8-Track sound system that he later ripped out. He said the tires are 13 years old, but I have a feeling they've been replaced. He was happy to hear the dealership fixed the A/C! On another positive note, he said he's likely to buy it back if I ever want to sell it. (I don't!)
EDIT:
I made contact with the son of the original owner! The C3 registry site already had my car registered, and I tracked the username to the owner's Ebay profile. He told me the car was the dealership demo until they bought it. It stayed in their garage for 35 years on a battery charger, often started, but rarely driven. It turns out it wasn't an 8-Track that was installed, but instead a CB radio! There use to be a roof rail clip antenna magnetically mounted to the bumper that was later mounted to -get this: a bolt-on trailer hitch that was connected to the two bumperetts. He said he'd like a chance to buy it back as well if it should ever come to it. I can see how there could be some sentimental value there.
Now I baby it in my garage. I decorated it was some new floor mats, an arm rest, and a cup holder. I just purchased an original Hard Top that should be arriving this month. I took it to the shop to plug up some leaks, replace the intake manifold, and a few other quips here and there. My friend helped me wax it last week, and now she's all ready for some fun in the sun this summer! I'm so happy with my purchase! I should be able to pay off the 5 year loan in just a 1.5 years total if I keep up my savings. I couldn't be more happy.
Day one pickup after a 4 hour flight, right before a 10 hour drive.
Last edited by GraphicFeedback; 03-09-2016 at 03:41 AM.
Reason: More Information!
09-04-2015, 09:26 AM
). Nearly ran out of gas somewhere in far-east Oregon. Spent the night in the middle of nowhere, figuring we might find an open station come morning. We did. (better story, but it’s long) Had breakfast that morning at The Worst Food in Oregon. Lost the rear brakes in San Francisco, but we all know the rear brakes don’t do a whole lot... Drove back from Huntington Beach, LA, leaving @ Noon, to Watkins Glen, NY, 5PM on second day, by myself.
