C3 Corvette Auction Has Us Wondering: Are Values Going Up?
As a bidding war breaks out over this late model C3 Corvette, we’re left wondering: Why?
Here at Corvette Forum, we obviously love all things Corvette. However, we aren’t afraid to look back to Corvettes past and appreciate how far they have come. That’s why the bidding prices over this 1977 Corvette have us completely baffled.
This late model C3 has a collection of undesirable options and choice, many of which are a result of increasingly stringent emissions laws prevalent at the time, as well as that whole 1970s energy crisis thing. Large displacement, powerful engines gave way to smaller, theoretically more efficient ones, even in America’s V8 sports car, the Corvette.
This particular ‘Vette is packing a 350 cubic-inch L48 V8, which produces a whopping 180 horsepower, and is paired to a rather tame 3-speed automatic transmission. Other options that are decidedly of its era are the T-top roof, luggage rack and trailer towing package. The 1970s were a turbulent time, indeed.
We hate to continually rag on a car, but this Corvette is hurting. The exterior is pretty straight, but the Dark Red paintwork seems to have seen better days. The theme continues under the hood where that smog-era L48 looks largely untouched, despite the seller claiming several recent maintenance items being done. Sadly, the interior is even worse off, with sun faded plastics, torn leather items and notable mystery stains.
Naturally, you could imagine our surprise seeing that, despite the rough condition and general poor spec of the car, the bidding is moving on along just fine. The 64,000 mile odometer is low for its age, but far from collector/desirable status. We are at a loss here, unless there is a market correction happening for the C3 Corvette, as at least one person in the office suspects. Are C3 prices only going to rise from here?
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