72and86

Seriously considering this 1968. Would like some feedback on the price ; $48K is his reserve.
He said he may lower it if it doesn't sell.
Do show cars command a much higher price? If so, how much more?
When does a car move from "driver" and qualify as a "show quality" car?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121722167955?forcerRptr=true&item=121722167955&viewitem=
Looks awesome!
Steve

Alan 71

Hi Steve,
68 BB convertible!!!! VERY NICE!!!!
I think you'll get lots of replies!
I'll begin…. "show quality car" is probably even less clearly defined than "matching numbers". I would disregard that description when thinking about this car. One of my descriptive favorites is "investment grade"?!?!
My first concern would be that if you plan on driving this car on a regular basis the fact that it's been driven so little in the last 8 years may mean that you'll need to go go through a period when you're 'sorting' things out with this car. Are you prepared for that?
It does look nice in the pictures and certainly is a terrific color!
If this car was absolutely EVERYTHING it could be how much would it take to buy it? The fact that it can be bought for considerably less is an indication that you need to check out very carefully just what this car is.
Will you go see the car and drive it?
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

I think the stamp pad on the engine might deserve a close, knowledgeable look…. if things like that matter to you.
Has the car ever been Flight Judged?
It would be a plus if it has been because then you'd have the thoughts of 10 other folks about this car.

Easy Mike

If it matters to you, this car is not stock and it is not an original tri-power car. It's a nice looking car.

My advice is not to purchase this car without seeing it in person and looking it over.

Good luck.

72and86

Right but he's got all the original parts aside and come with it.

ddawson

It does look nice and worth looking at. I'd say that's a lot of money for an automatic bbc convertible.

There are more pictures here
http://www.c3registry.com/index.php?...te&car_id=5316

Billem

JOOC, why would the seller advertise as a "base convertible"? Have a wonnerful weekend, Bill

72and86

Probably a default choice by eBay during the listing process...

72and86

Hi, Alan,
WHATs the concern on the stamp pad?

ddawson

To make sure it's real. The picture isn't very good of the engine pad.

Easy Mike

That's fine if having the parts is important to you.

It's an IL code, so the big block is probably correct, but the tri-power is not. The car left St. Louis with a Q-Jet.

Alan 71

Hi Steve,
My thought on the stamp pad is that the vin derivative was typically done with the individual stamps held in a 'gang holder'. This generally controlled the spacing of the digits.
These seem to have been stamped individually which is certainly possible but is something I'd want to sort out if I was considering this car. There are various reasons for this pad to look the way it does. I'd hope that could be settled to your satisfaction while the money is still in YOUR pocket.
The same 'gang holder' was used to stamp the vin derivative on the transmission case to so it would good to see what that looks like.
Regards,
Alan



The stamp done at Tonawanda on the left and at St.Louis on the right.

JC68

Steve

Stay away from this one. I think the block is a re-stamp, but to me the bigger problem is the vin and trim tags. One of them is not original to the car. Car vin 321 would have been produced in August or September of 1967. The body trim tag date is D13 which is November 1967. That can't happen.

John

72and86

Thanks sooo much. I see... So it appears these we stamped individually you're thinking?

TMU

That stamp pad is a might funky looking. Nice catch on the build date disparity.

72and86

Thanks, John. Care to elaborate on your findings? Im not up on production dates, date codes and such...
Steve

PS-Note in the registry link above (response #5 from ddawson) , the pic of the Trim Tag reads "34- trim plate seems fake now". That kinda had me confused.

Alan 71

Hi Steve,
There were/are various reasons the vin derivative could end up with individual characters/digits being stamped in the pad.
The appearance/condition of this pad is just one thing along with a host of other things that need to be looked at to determine just what this car was and presently is.
'Pretty' is nice, but it's certainly not enough reason to part with $48k.
There's a lot of homework that needs to be done when considering a car like this.
There's certainly a price at which this car is a wise purchase, but the buyer needs to be aware of what the car is in order to determine a good price for it.
Regards,
Alan

joewill

you can trade some condition points for originality points. A very very good condition car from a price standpoint will make up for a lack of certainty in the originality issues to a good degree. an absolutely original car in this condition can be argued to be worth 55K.

most 68's were convertibles ( all the early ones were) so it is not really rare. That trim tag does show some hanky panky that perhaps may be prevalent thruout the car. The tach red line is another issue. so who know if the gauges have been swapped out, therefor the odometer too...

if you have originality requirements then watch out.. hire a knowledgeable inspector and perhaps prepare ahead of time what the car may be worth to you if the inspector tells you it is alot less condition or alot less original than you expect.

JC68

Steve

With this one it's pretty simple. According to GM records a 1968 Corvette with vin sequence number 213 would have been built in mid September 1967. The car in question has a trim tag that has a body build date of D13 which is November 13, 1967. You can't have a car built 2 months before the body that goes on it was made.

Most likely the trim tag was taken from a later car and put on this one because the owner wanted a Corvette Bronze car as called out by the replacement but incorrect date trim tag.

The car has been restored for show purposes, in this world matching number parts and date codes don't matter. If you just want a car that looks nice to drive, it will suit that bill. If you want something that is also as originally built by Chevrolet, this is not the car to buy.

John

midigike

Corvette bronze is a neat color, approximately 3,300+ were painted this shade, I would not hesitate thinking about this car. As pointed out by some of the forum members there are some issues with mix matched parts, but owning a 68, I know parts are sometimes hard to come by. The amount of work done by the pictures looks good, and would cost a small fortune to duplicate it say with a nice quality driver then restoring yourself. I feel anything more than 40k is to much, but I feel with the work done and the condition from the pictures 35-40k would be right.

72and86

Then there's this one thats very similar:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191657681417?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT