I just put a deposit on a 68 L89 Coupe. Original paint, interior, wheels etc... Shows 47,000 miles on the odo. It has a CE warranty replacement block but has the original heads, exhaust manifolds, intake and carbs. Car is silver with gunmetal interior. Car has never been wrecked and the interior is in excellent condition. Here are a few pics. I'm going to pick it up next weekend. Mike

 

Nice find, whats the story on the car? Did you find it driving around or did someone tell you about it?

And the only thing I can find in my barn is horses and horse ****.

Very nice!

 

Neat! Need more info. Looks nicer than sitting many years.

 

Way to go !! Tri-power....curious..what tires are on the vette?I had looked at a 68 that had been sitting...but yours is in better shape..

 

Let the spending begin!!!!!!!

 

keep us posted on the spit 'n polish part...

 

Just curious, are you sure that is a 68 vette, I see the Stingray chrome logo on the fender. As far as I know that appeared in 69. I have a 68 and I know mine did not come with the Stingray chrome logo. I think Stingray was dropped from the Corvette in 68.

 

The doors are, cant see where the B.U. lights are but there are 4 red lenses for the tailights, no pix's of the interior,, yep, I 'd bet it is indeed a '68. Peace,,,Moosie

 

How much was it? Looks like some restoration is due.

 

Looks like it's sitting high or is that an optical illusion? Nice find .. Hope you got a deal.

 

Great find

 

JACKPOT!

 

Some guys added the Stingray emblem..but note also the gill inserts....definately a 69 item..

 

Well here's the story. My friend called me on Friday and told me about a classified ad in the paper. 68 Corvette survivor. L89, one of 624 built. $35000. I got the number from my friend and called the guy. He had owned the car for 3 years and bought it from the widow of a guy who bought it in 1984. The guy I'm buying it from just got married and his wife is taking her 3 grandchildren and they need a bigger house so the Corvette must go. Anyway, I asked my buddy to go look at the car that night and he said he couldn't because it was snowing and he didn't want to get out in the snow and ice with his truck fearing icy conditions. He fessed up later that he was actually too drunk to go look at it. He made an appointment to look at the car on Saturday morning and was told to call the owner at 7:00 AM. When he called him at 7:00 he already had a guy there looking at the car. I asked him to get over there as soon as he could before it was gone and he called me at 8:00 and was there looking at the car. He described the car and I told him to give him a deposit check for the asking price. I made a reservation on Southwest and was up there at 6:00 PM. We went the next morning to look at the car and I really liked what I saw. The owner told me that he had about 30 calls on the car and 5 guys who left their phone numbers saying that they would take the car if the deal fell through. One guy offered him SEVERAL thousand dollars more than the asking price to get him to throw our deal in the trash can but he wouldn't do it. The fact that the owner is sticking to his guns makes me believe everything that he has told me about the car. Now about the car. The rear end is sitting a little high in the rear. The previous owner had huge tires on it and had raised the rear a little to get the tires to clear. The car has the fender emblems, sidepipes and the louver trim like the 69. I was told that GM kept this car for 3 years and used it as a show car or demonstrator. They must have put the sidepipes and emblems on it to make it look like a 69. Who knows, I am going to do what I can to document this. The sidepipes are in bad enough shape to be original. GM then auctioned the car off. I'm not sure what I want to do with the car yet. When I get it home I am going to look it over real good and see what is missing. I probably need to get a good C3 NCRS judge down to look at the car and give me some ideas. I really want to paint it but I think I need to get a bunch of people to look at it first before I touch it because it is a survivor. I think if you show up at an NCRS event or some other show with a freshly restored car and nobody has seen the car before, without any documentation it would be thought of as just another fake big block. I'll get some more pictures this weekend after I get the car home. Thanks, Mike

 

Wow...hope you don't get hosed on this one...good luck...

 

$35K is a lot of money - looks like it needs at total resto. Maybe the rarity, etc... will make it worth it. Hope so Mine is in similar condition but just a '69 350/350hp and not so rare, I could have bought 4 or 5 of mine for that kind of money
Good luck, hope you hit the jackpot! Maybe we'll see this one at Barrett Jackson in a year or two???

 

We're not that bad! Where do you live and we can suggest some NCRS contacts but I think you're on the right track in regards to approaching any restoration endeavors with caution. See what you got than decide where you want to take it. Nice find.

 

Definately a 68, the story is there were a large numebr of people who supposedly addes the side vent trim, sidepipes and stingray emblem in 69 becase they were cool, or could make the car look brand new, or whatever. but the push button door openers are a dead giveaway along with the tail lights.

great find if the story is true, hope the research bears out!!!!


Tim

 

The car isn't as bad as it looks. It is the original paint so of course it will have to be painted. The engine runs great and has been rebuilt balanced and bluprinted and transmission overhauled. I have done a few frame off restorations and can do all the work including the paint so the cost for the restoration will be minimal. The interior is very nice and probably will need nothing but carpet. My thoughts initially are to pull off the sidepipes, side emblems and louver trim. Then strip it and paint it put redlines on it and drive and enjoy it for a while until I get the time to pull the body off and do it right and make it into a trailer queen. I live on Houston and plan on going to the Corvette Chevy Expo here in a couple weeks to try and get some NCRS contacts. I would really appreciate some NCRS contact names in the area. Thanks, Mike

 

I'm confused with the term "survivor", I thought that ment it will a low mile almost 99% original car (with exeption of belts, hose etc)? Or a survivor thats a "barn find" that has usually one owner or at least one owner for a long time (almost since new).

Thats a scary thought of buying a supposidly low mile car that has been through several owners and modified along the way for that kind of cash......especially without documentation and having to take the current owners word for it. $35,000 and word of mouth is taking a big risk.

#1 rule when buying a Corvette, don't buy on impulse. I can tell by the last post that it appears you did. Honestly, there "could" have been a guy that was ready to pay $$$ above the asking price if the seller stopped the deal with you or You may have been the only one that looked at it...again you have to take the sellers word for it.

Whether it's true or not, it's a common practice in the auto selling industry to say "well, I already had this many people look at it today".....it encourages impulse buying.

If the owner could provide documentation or you aren't 100% sure of the 1 in 624 built claim...I would have passed. I'm not keen on early C3 numbers or value but It's going to need a complete resto, and $35,000 already plunked down is a bad thing in your favor if you ever decide to resell.

Hopefully what he told you was true and as long as your happy with the deal and car thats all that matters.