bj1k

Here is a wife story and how to handle them. I had a 69 Corvette convertible ( "YELLOW " Remember This ) that I was selling and a friend brought his wife for approval . She sat in the car and the face told me that he wouldn't own the car. He continued to live with her for a few years until he drove up my driveway one day in a beautiful ( YELLOW ) 2003 C5 convertible and said that he was divorced from his wife and was having the time of his life with his new Corvette. A couple years later they got back together and got re-married to the same woman and he continues to own and drive that beautiful " YELLOW" car. It just goes to show you that a man never forgets. I'm not telling you to divorce your wife to get the car that you want , but it sure worked for this guy.

Iceaxe

Your wife has to be able to visualize herself in the car having fun before she will want one... before I ever brought up the subject of buying a classic I took my wife to a couple car shows and cruise nights... next time I saw a classic Corvette I mentioned how cool it would look if we drove up in something like that to her class reunion/family reunion... let the idea simmer a couple of weeks... next time we went out to dinner I mentioned if we had a Corvette we could drive it to the restaurant with the tops out. Causally mention classics are a good investment while watching Barrett-Jackson on TV and marveling at the price restored cars sell for (this one is pretty much a lie but it's one I was willing to live with to get my Corvette). If you do a good job selling pretty soon your wife will be completely on board with the idea of owning a classic Corvette.

joewill

if you research the car and price it right, then buy the best car for your money, then you will be fine..

what nobody is saying here is that these cars do not depreciate and to a great extent you get a good price back on the money that you put into the car. Stupid mods and paying a mechanic to work on your car are examples of throwing money away.

tell your wife that a 20K investment in a good shape corvette will not depreciate and will be worth at least 20K or more in a couple of years from now when you decide to sell. resulting in basically a free car and free ownership.
of course you won't get dollar for dollar back from major expenses and there is licensing and sales tax and insurance costs. but with a correct purchase you can minimize that with market appreciation.

my wife spends 1500 a year on hairdoos and makeup. I can show her that after 10 years that my corvette ownership is close to free vs what she is spending on herself.

you will own an asset that you can sell.

BBCorv70

Do you feel this is true of all vintage Corvettes, NOMs included? We often get mixed signals on the non numbers cars depending on which camp the contributor comes from. If maximizing resale value is a goal I'd say this applies to only the pure originals. Trick would be to buy it right.

joewill

yes the trick is to buy it right..
as with any investment, a 5% increase whether you invest 5K or 100K will net you a 5% increase.
Unless one sees that there is an appreciation gap between numbers cars and non numbers cars and it is widening. I don't think it is? The numbers cars are appreciating, but not faster than the non numbers cars, or else we would be seeing the numbers car get way out of affordability. plus all the fake cars out there keep the numbers cars down to some degree.

CK5Truck

whats with all these wives "letting you buy something"? I guess I am the luckiest man on the planet, because mine loves old cars as much as I do, we do almost everything together, from grocery shopping to running our company to riding our Harleys! She knew I was looking and said when I was serious about buying a Vette, we would buy it. She even hid money away for the day I found what I was looking for. A few months back I found one that I loved on Craigslist that I kept going back to, not mint, but not a basketcase either, more of a daily driver that needed some "little things". She suggested we go take a look and it was better than I was hoping it was. After a test drive and an hour of talking to the seller, she pulls me aside and says "you want it huh?" Well yeah, so she suggests I make an offer as I said she likes to hide away some cash! That car now sits in my garage and believe it or not it only cost me $3400 and its driveable the way it sits!

mchar

Keen eye. There was one listed here on CF a month ago that had the same thing, "original motor 327/350"
but 427 badging on it. No one, to my knowledge, commented, we were so polite.
There was no point.
Find a car you love, in the best shape you can afford. Look underneath.
Look for rust. Otherwise, Your wife will hate you when you say
"OUR Vette" needs a complete rear end re-build at X kkk$.
Buy the most complete, best condition you can.
Or, dump the wife. Your choice.

rays699

Go buy the vette you like, drive it home. If your wife does not love it, tell her there is the door+ do not let it hit you in the *** on the way out!!!!! That is why i am not married!!!

harmonyp

Cars are easier to replace than spouses. You'll find a way to get her on-board for the car. Finding the right car will be harder.

briankeery

Yeah..........that's the reason.

mtnance

Hadn't check the posts in a few days,...

I am still working on things, slowly but surely. I have my eye on one but it's a little distance though, still might make the trip if it's still up for sale in a week or two.

I do have a question, (and this is another bullet point for discussion in the purchase) and it's on insurance. I've only really looked at Hagerty and they are quoting me between $250 - $300 per year which actually is much cheaper than the car I am getting rid of. So that's a plus. However the H website states coverage for 30 days in the agreed upon value. I understand liability but would the quote also include comp/collision? If so, that seems cheap. I am sure my "normal" insurance would just rocket out of sight.

Rather than start a new thread, or perhaps I will if asked to. The car I'm looking at does not have a/c but Eckler's sells the vintage kit that can be added for roughly $1,600. I assume it's supposed to look almost stock. Anyone see a downside to doing this? I called the seller this morning to check if it was still for sale and he said many have probably passed on it because it did not have a/c. That is something I would want but would have no problem adding.

Easy Mike

Keep looking until you find a factory AC car. Why spend an additional $1600 if you don't have to?

harmonyp

One good reason is that it can be very hard to find the right car.

I too would be interested in how these kits work, and if there is any downside.

I looked for 9 months to find the right C3 for me, and A/C was one of my requirements. A requirement which I dumped as soon as I found my 1969 L46 manual, which was perfect in every way, except no air. I drove all summer without air in California, and did just fine. I wouldn't mind adding it, but I'm sure as heck glad I didn't pass on my Blubie just because she didn't have it. I'm not sure 6 months later, if I'd have bought yet if I didn't jump when she became available.

joewill

I would easily pay 1600 for a good working AC vs a non ac car... vintage or original.. it is money you will get back at selling time.. unless the car is absolutely original and a collector item.

mtnance

Thing is,...if the a/c is important (and it is to me) and everything else is just about "right",...then the pricing can be a in factor in this to me. Basically finding a deal, a really good deal, and then adding the a/c Eckler's has the kits but not a very good description.

oyealiz

I wanted a big block with side pipes and 4 spd. The absolute musts, though, were bumper car convertible.

I ended up with neither big block nor side pipes, but I do have 4 spd, 68 convertible....and no a/c.

Every time I fire my car up people say "big block?" A radical cam, Hooker headers and a custom exhaust make her sound reallllly good.

With cars this old, unless you are dead set on something, I'd say look at anything that you see up for sale. Drive them and see what you think. I still remember (this from 12-13 yrs ago) the drive I took in one 69. I was scared the brakes weren't going to work well enough to get me safely back to the guy's house (even though I realized this early on and only went about 2 miles!), or that it would literally fall apart!!! I knew I didn't want that one!

As to the wife issue....my (ex) husband wasn't keen on the idea of the 68, and you'll note which of those two I still have.

mtnance

That's too funny. However on the other hand when selling something and the guy wants to "test drive" and scares the crap out of you. That happened to me once.

It has been over 30 years since I drove a corvette. I really got the bug when the family moved from KY to NC and at age 12, I was introduced to a soon to be friend in the new neighborhood. His dad was a doctor and had a 70 corvette. At the time, it was only 2 years old. I was awe struck and ever since, vowed that some day I will get one. I've had some opportunity in the past, but not enough $$ or had some $$ but in the wrong place, (Stationed in Alaska with the USAF) and I wasn't going to watch a fiberglass body crack at -40 degrees. Now, I am in better $$ position but the cars aren't "2 years old" anymore, they are almost 45 years old.

The MGB I have, has the driver sit in a similar position as the corvette. Legs straightened out versus an almost 90 degree angle. It got me to thinking a few weeks ago,...hence trying to further my education,..adding a/c good or bad, parts availability, Numbers matching verification, or even it's important to me, common issues you owners face, insurance, etc. The list can go on. BUT the more I know, the better chances of doing this right the first time.

harmonyp

This is really good advice. Some of the cars that I thought would least fit the bill prior to seeing in person/driving, including the one I bought, ended up being the ones I liked the most. Since I was really wanting a solid driver, the test drive part ended up being the very most important part of my decision.

All cars I ended up driving to see, looked solid. After driving a few, I knew I couldn't buy one without driving it. Had a few with really bad brakes (I too drove one with basically no brakes). Shifting issues were common, one that only wanted to go into 3rd gear. One overpriced BB that was ear drum busting loud, but when I put my foot on the gas, it contemplated long and hard before I got any response. Another that took 3 lanes to turn around. And another that I knew was a no-go after just driving it out of the driveway. For those looking for projects, or willing to fix stuff maybe some of this is minor, but for someone wanting to drive right now, most of the cars I drove were not acceptable.

After driving approx 10 C3s, only 3 ended up being good drivers. Happily the best of all now lives with me.

mtnance

After some poking around, I did find an interesting web site with the statistics of the corvette by year at "VetteFacts.com". It answered a lot of questions I had such as the paint codes, how many were produced and in what color, etc. Really interesting to someone that is learning and shopping.

I still hadn't gotten much response though about these classic car insurance companies such as Hagerty's. What type of coverage and the "rating" so to speak. Other companies that do similar, etc.

harmonyp

I went with Hagerty, but didn't do a lot of research - went mainly on name recognition and a few referrals. Around $270ish a year, comes with roadside, matches my regular car insurance. Seems extremely reasonable.