I just wrapped up about 18k in a 78 after getting it approximately like I want it. I'd be lucky to get 10-12k for it if I were to try and resell it right now.

If I needed 10-12k for something important I'd be a fool not to sell the car for what the market would bring. You cannot circumvent the first law of economics which is supply v demand.

If you really wanna get pizzed, take up salt water fishing. Trick out a boat and use it in the salt for a year and see what kind of hit you take.

Putting a price tag on your passions and hobbies is an excersise in frustration . Sell your toys for what the market says they are worth and move on.

 

i have just recently jumped ship from the camaros to the corvettes, the reason being, price, i cant see paying the prices they want for the crap they have, i have had my 69 Z/28 RS Crossram car since 1978 i restored it and thank god i did it then because i couldnt afford it now, this summer one of the few guys that know i have my car approched me on it and wanted to make me "an insane offer", told him i didnt want to hear it, its not for sale, his reply.. everythig has a price. he made me and offer "i wouldnt refuse".... $150,000 told him to go on ebay and buy one, he said he knows mine is real and wants it, he went to 200,000 no sale, i cant afford to replace it so i wont sell,
We use to laugh at the corvette a#$%$@ at the shows with the high mighty attitudes, most of them have moved and taken over the muscle cars, now they are the muscle car a@#$%#%^ and the ones left in the corvette field are the guys in it for the fun, not the bucks, and without the attitudes. if you are in it for the bucks you are missing the whole reason for PLAING with corvettes or any other car for that matter, it should be something you enjoy not trying to make your retirement with so if the corvettes are cheaper, go buy another and enjoy it, and with the prices down you can buy parts cheaper to upgrade the one you have
sorry if i offended anyone... just my two cents
jamie

 

A Corvette is again one of the most loved and most abused autos in history. Many owners never spend money on the car expecting that because it is a Corvette it should never need anything and then in frustration the car is sold. In most cases with regret as most previous owners what to return to ownership of a Corvette.

It has become recent that we see the increse in mods to the C-3's and a growing interest from younger owners.

Very true; if you can not work on the car yourself you will need alot of cash for a mechanic. The only way any 30 year old car does not need work is if someone has already done it.

As I stated in an earlier reply; I have never lost money on a Corvette and I have never realy made money on one either.

These cars are not for everyone and I can not fault anyone for trying and then just not enjoying

 

I will try to clear this up. If a Corvette doesn't have a chrome bumpers you are right. The Mod SQUAD spent a lot of money on after market stuff. Stove pipe side exhaust, diamond tuck & roll. The 75/81 stock Corvettes stock will not get out of there own way. GM killed the Corvette in those years.No conv. no HP. GM Finley realized in 84 they had to have a performance car.
KEN

 

58 70 to 74 Corvettes

 

Sounds to me like you didn't do your homework.

You bought a 78 that had been sitting for 7 years and proceeded to fix all the issues that needed repair after the period of neglect.

You bought a 78, a car that if taken care of and is in good shape is worth $12 - 15 k.

My guess is you paid around $12k for it, put in another $5k and wonder why it's not worth $20k.

I did some research before I bought mine, found a reasonably priced 68 that was a good driver and didn't need much work. Paid upper teens. Based on what people are looking for on the C3 for sale section I could gain around $5k if I wanted to sell.

Lesson, do your homework, buy the right car in the right condition. They're out there if you look and don't fall in love with the first one you see for sale.

My $0.02, YMMV.

Off soapbox.

 

If you got $200000 for it, why would you replace it with another???
I think there is an old saying"when two fools met"

 

I think that finding the Corvette you want, is like finding the woman you want:

1.You spend a lot of money to get her
2.You soon realize that she is WAY more work than you thought
3.You spend a lot of money keeping her happy knowing full well you can never get it back.

But you have fun along the way.

Kenny Z.

 

I think the steel cars are priced out of the hands of the common man.
A middle class worker has approx. $7-14K to spend on a veh. Now he sits down and asks himself, do I want to spend $10-15K on a steel body car that needs work and another $5K to make it decent/drivable or get a mint condition 75 with a rebuilt 350 putting out 300 horses and start driving immediately. This one fact will bring in more buyers as time goes on and the steel cars goes even further out of reach. Remember the age group buying these cars are 45-55 years old. At 55 you really don't want to crawl around under the car. Time is not on their side.

Dave..

 

Yeah, probably didn't do my homework to well on mine. Must have felt sorry for the old woman. She was actually asking $11.5k, and I got it for almost half her asking price.

I looked at others that were much better preserved in the 10k range and found the owners were coming way down (almost 1/3 their asking price) in a couple cases. I think they were moving on with new chapters in their lives.

Maybe its that time of the year. Maybe its the economy. Maybe the wife. Global warming? Whatever. People are dealing them. Good buyers market.

So, this one I own I get to fix up the way I want.

Again, the local vette mechanic warned me that I could spend $45-60k on these cars, and in the end these 75-81's are still only worth 8-12k.
He says you want a museum piece? Buy a 60's vette. So I got in cheap. With some work I do and some the mechanic does...hopefully it doesn't put me in the poor house. But its running good now. Just in time for the snow flakes to start hitting the ground.

I don't think you buy for the investment. You buy for the fun. Very emotional purchase for me. Hopefully if I ever sell it, its not out of desparation but other reasons. Let's hope that's true for all.

 

And you loose more money when when you get rid of her

 

I would not believe that the chrome bumper cars are exempt from abuse. I've been around corvettes too long and have had a couple chrome bumper cars along with plastic.

The majority of Corvettes have been abused in some way. All generations have had things done to them that would make most cringe. That is what makes the one that was never abused so much more valuable.

 

My friend you just compared apples to oranges - my 95 Vette also gets 30 mpg on the Highway and 25 mpg in mixed driving. You would need to compare you 74 to OTHER 74's before you start complaining about teh gas mileage. Let's face it the BIG 3 didn't give a darn about fuel economy until the government made them.

 

YOU need a lesson in history - look across the board at most US cars built by the Big 3 between 1974 and 1983. There were new environmental regulations and hwy speed restrictions (remember interstate speeds of only 55?), that the BIG 3 did not plan well for - oh they knew this was coming but they stuck their heads in the sand and nothing in the R&D department to keep HP UP and SMOG output DOWN. Hence you had them choke the power out of their engines in order to meet the environmental regulations.

GM finally didn't realize anything by 1984 - it took them that long to develope an engine with fuel injection and enough computer management hardware to regulate a 350 to develope SOME of the horsepower they lost under normal asperation (carburator).

 

Where are you looking at the value of a 70 vette being worth only $7500.00?
I know most of you don't use NADA as a basis for value - but they are used by plenty of people - otherwise they would be out of business. Run the figures yourselves with all the correct options. I think the 70 vette is worth a bit more then just $7500.00 as quoted.

 

Screw asking what it's worth. They will have to kill me before I sell my car. I am going to drive this thing till my death, and then it will go to my kid, who had BETTER like cars, lol.

 

You sir, are a god-damned genius! That is by far the most relevant, intelligent, truthful peice of writing I have ever read in my entire life...

 

I agree, friend, I did compare apples to oranges. But wasn't one of the original posts about how young kids aren't buying old Corvettes? My dad bought our '74 for $5,000 back in the early nineties. When I got old enough to drive, I started driving the car, and I restored it as time and money allowed. Our overall investment now? Try around $15-16k, easily.

My Z28, on the other hand, I bought for $6200 in 2003. I drove the car through college and never had a moment's trouble out of it. Whereas I had to dump money into the Vette just to keep it on the road, the only money I ever spent on the Z was for maintenance.

You see the dilemma then, right? On the one hand, I had a '74 Vette that I loved (well, still do love) dearly, but it was an absolute money pit and broke constantly. The Z28 was reliable, blew the doors off the Vette, and was affordable. No wonder kids don't want old cars, particularly Corvettes.

Believe me, I'm NOT an old car basher by any means. I currently own the '74 Vette, '95 Z28, '65 Mustang coupe, '65 Mustang convertible, '66 Mustang coupe, '66 Mustang GT coupe, an '87 GT, a '91 GT convertible, and a '94 convertible.
http://ngcsu.facebook.com/album.php?...d8&id=51103192

My point is this: Weather and circumstances permitting, I'd willingly chose to drive any of my old cars over the new ones. BUT I can honestly understand why many kids don't share that passion.

 

I have a hard time believing that the Camaro values of last year will hold up as we head toward a recession. And I don't think they will zoom back up there, except for the "1 of 1" fully-documented, low-mile, original cars.

I don't intend to sell it and I know that I can't afford to replace my '69 black L71 roadster, but I would seriously consider offers at 2x to 4x restored cost.

my opinion,

Steve

 

the key to what i was saying is that i have had this car since high school and with all the fake Z/28's out there, how do you replace it knowing that even a documented Z can be faked, and what kind of a fool would i be to pay 150.000 for one, not me so i wont sell because my wife would spend the money and i would not have the cash or the car. lol jamie