You can't put a price tag on fun.

When the fun stops, that's when you quit.

 

Oh yeah, that's why I bought one restored vs. attempting to do it myself or paying to have it done.

I paid around $20k for it (matching numbers 427/390 and had a total body-off from 1994-1996) which was on the high side back then for 68's in general, but not for a restored one. I bought it in 01, the cost of the same restoration would have been well more than $30k in 2001 dollars, plus the price of whatever basket-case car I bought.

I made that mistake once before, with my first vette... bought an 81 for $4,500 and thought I was getting a deal. About $17,000 later it was finally the way I wanted it. I've had that car since 1999 and I still probably couldn't sell it for what I have in it.

So yeah, unless you're a shop with the buying power to get rock bottom prices on parts and have all of the tools and physical space required to do every aspect of the restoration in your own shop, including painting the damn thing, yes, question your sanity.

 

I you have it to spend and don't realy care about wrenching then buying a finished car is the less expensive way to go.

If you just want to build it your self and you just can't plop it all down at once then building by piece for yourself is the way to go. Just don't get the idea that your going to recoop your cost any time soon. Just do it for You and enjoy what you have done.

If you have to pay to get things done then you better have deep pockets and not think about what your pulling out.

 

I never total up my invoices. I have two hobbies: my corvettes and fishing. And I will give up fishing before I give up my corvettes. I like to work on them and my wife likes to ride in them. We're just south of 60 years and so this is a pasttime the two of us can enjoy for (hopefully) several years to come.

As we speak I am piling up parts and plans for when decent weather permits work in the garage.

I look forward to working on the old girl ( the car, that is), and I agree with some of the others: it is good therapy for me.

See my signature..................

 

I will get more grins per mile driving my freshly restored ride than swinging a stick at a small ball.
Flying would be a blast (Reno Air Races) but its way out of my price range

 

ouch

 

I actually did. Damn Dog!

 

rebuilding my 70 didn't cost me a dime! cut my kids' inheritance a hell of a lot, though!
jeff

 

 

As I get older (soon to be 36) and live through life's learning lessons I've come to agree, enjoy your life now. There may be no tomorrow and you can't take your money with you. I see guys throw their money away gambling, chasing women, drinking, fishing, hunting, or even working 6 days a week to pay for homes or toys that they cannot afford. I'm just glad I have the time and the money to enjoy my Vette and the common sense to not throw it away. As I spend more on this toy than it is worth, at least I still have something at the end of the day that I can enjoy tomorrow if I'm still here, or pass on to my son for his enjoyment if I'm not. I also think the waves, thumbs up, and all the attention people give that old car are priceless. In my eyes, I am keeping alive a piece of history that has given owners before me enjoyment as well as myself and my family. I think that's pretty sane.

 

Ouch!
I kinda like the cartoonish blown Corvettes!
Maybe it's just me?

 

I actually have stopped adding up the money that i put into the vette, but i still keep all the receipts.

The way i see it, kids my age spend their money and time doing crazy things (Video games, Partying, Gambling Etc.)

Ill have a nice C3 to show for my money spent

 

Hobbies cost money. Habits are expensive. Give up one, get another.....
My vette is my bad habit. At $5 a pack for smokes, and since I don't smoke, I figure I am saving big money that I can re-direct to my vette habit

 

I think of it this way, she is the most beautiful piece of machinery made in my lifetime and deserves every dime I can put into her to keep her in her absolute best condition. Plus my kids love her and will one day own her. I promised this car she found a "forever home" and I know she is happy. So, I put the very few invoices in my file cabinet and consider myself one of the "lucky ones" to share the experience of a C3.

 

Yep, I've questioned it, but I've only been through the process with my '70 Nova SS. After swallowing that one, I'm in no place to have anything done to the 'Vette.

 

You guys dont know what a stack of receipts looks like until you have owned an old Porsche.
POS souped up VW, never again.

 

Well, having a vette in Europe is more or less the same as owning a Porsche in the US I guess

 

Here's my take; I just finished doing my taxes and I have some good figures.

*I take my family of 4 out to eat twice a week @ $40.00+ per outing. *We usually order pizza once a week @ $20+ per order.
*My wife and I go out at least once a month @ $60+, (movie, show, dancing, etc).
* My teenage kids go out at least once a week where I kick in money @ $20+ per child.
*We go on a couple of trips each year that ends up costing a few thousand dollars, (went to Disney World for a week this past year @ $4000.00+).

That's almost $10K in just pure entertainment per year. No return on the money and you can't sell it for anything. It's just for the pure enjoyment.

This not counting all the junk food we buy in a year, (candy, chips, soda), or the silly stuff we buy, (like video games, music CD's, fad diet products, etc.), or the over the top gift spending, (Christmas gifts for EVERYONE, Valentines gifts, Birthday gifts, etc). Again, all just for pure entertainment purposes. No return on the money and nothing that can be realisticly be re-sold.

We buy a new car every few years that depreciates several thousand dollars, (when usually our old car would have been just fine, we just wanted the newer model to keep up with the Jone's).

If you're a golfer you spend $100 per week on your hobby. If you build and fly model airplanes, you spend a couple hundred per month. If you are a hunter / fisherman, you spend thousands a year on trips and equipment. If you are a sports fan, you spend thousands a year on game tickets and travel expenses.

When you take a hard look at ALL the thousands of dollars the average American family spends on pure entertaiment, the few we spend on our Vetts seems trivial.

If you're buying a C3 Vette as an investment, you're barking up the wrong tree, at least right now. However, if you're buying one for the pure entertainment value,...it doesn't matter.