This thread just reminds me of an old phrase:

lies, damn lies and statistics

 

It looks like an entirely different world, the world of Mustangs. Even clones, not very well done at all sell for more than original C3s in top condition. The Mach1 was a nice car but wasn't the top of the line for performance. The Boss and Shelbys were top dollar cars in that market. Amazing what people are getting for these cars. Seems I should have dumped the Corvette and kept the Mustang? I had a nice California, rust free, 69 Mach1 with shaker hood, window louvers, spoiler, 4 speed, etc..

http://www.cars-on-line.com/mustang_2.html

A clone would be torn apart and declared garbage in the Corvette world let alone one with the wrong pedigree (no matching numbers, etc). Modified cars as well. There is a definite difference in markets. This market looks more like car guys than antique collectors.

Wonder at times if the reputation for being very **** purists turns people off to the Corvette market.

 

I'll give a hale Mary on that one !!!!!!

 

RUSTANG!!!!

Ford guys love them. I've always been a chevy guy so I hate em. I'd rather have my vette regardless of the value difference but the '69 Mach I was one of their best looking ones.

 

Take your pick!.........muscle or whatever......

 

Another example of what you get for your money with 69 camaro. Man they will be upside down on that car. You can get alot more C3 chrome bumber quality for $17K.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...84.m1423.l2649

 

Fair enough. I started out as a staunch Ford guy, would never consider a GM product until I bought my 77 Trans Am. GM ever since..

BTW: The 77 was a bit of a dog... had a 400 but not nearly as potent as the early models. It was basically a cruiser.

My point is Corvettes are not the top of the heap so far as value goes. There's very little concern for absolute originality (Mustang camp) as there is with Corvettes. A few modifications or even clones seem to be welcome. The community strikes me as more traditional 'car guys' than the Corvette guys who seem to be obsessed with absolute originality and heavy documentation, more antique collector mindsets, only to get a price similar to what appears to be a rather ordinary Mustang which may not be original at all. Parts for Mustangs are much cheaper, not hard to find. To get over $25K for a C3 Corvette takes much more attention to detail, absolute originality, and documentation. Top condition. Has to cost a lot more than what it costs to recondition an old Mustang without concern for originality, etc. Even the NOM Mustangs bring in much more than some 'numbers' Corvettes. NOMs don't seem to matter that much in the Mustang community. Probably more concerned with driving it and having fun than competing with others for most authentic, original, etc.

Bottom line IMO is you choose to own a Corvette for the love of the car, not how fast will it appreciate. I'd have done MUCH better keeping my Mustang over my Corvette. Reason I let the Mustang go was it felt a lot like a Camaro, Firebird, etc.. rather ordinary, didn't handle as the Corvette of that era did. The Corvette is unique, has a very special feel and style.

I think it's a shame the Corvette market is filled with so many who stress the antique collector side over the driver, refusing to see much value in anything but absolute originals with documentation for proof. VERY divided over chrome bumpers vs rubber bumpers, originality vs non originals, even 'correct' in every sense without the covetted 'matching numbers' will be severely put down by some. Wonder if this image is part of what turns off other car people? I'd be curious to hear from other car guys why they don't seem to be interested in Corvettes.

So far as "Rustang" goes, sure are, the reason I went west to buy a California car. All I owned previously from the northeast had half the under carriage rusted away. The cars were no more than 5 or 6 years old at the time.

 

I believe they made almost a quarter million 69 Camaros so it is certainly not a rare car. Certain engine/option combos, yes are somewhat rare. Compared to 69 Corevettes, what maybe 38-39 thousand? So yeah, just on rarity, the CORVETTE should fetch more money. The fact that a CAMARO even comes close on value says something about demand when you consider the HUGE gap in production numbers.

 

Who cares about all of these stats saying my car is worth more than your car. If you want to make money then invest it.

 

I don't think that the market values are based much on production numbers. They are based on market appeal and the 69 camaro appeals to a broader market for some reason - that's one of the reasons that they sold so many. I think that if the vette would have been more reasonably priced sales would have been much higher. Even today though, the 69 camaro is one of the most popular collector cars and has been hot for as long as I can remember - not much to do with how many they made IMO. If they would have made the same number of 69 camaros as vettes, I'd suspect much higher prices for the camaros.

 

Some things to understand. Muscle and pony cars were more of the typical performance vehicle and that can be seen in production numbers. This results in more people associating memories with these cars, so people aren't trying to just buy the cars, but an attempt to relive the past. These cars were metal, cheaper, family cars, beaters, etc, so many are now lost to rust, crusher, etc. Another thing to consider is base brands usually are more popular and sell for more compared to higher scale brands. What's more popular, a 57 Chevy or 57 Pontiac? Of course neither is better than a 57 Corvette.

Also many people don't even consider a Vette because they know it is a better car, and thus think the price will reflect that.

Granted I like muscle and pony cars too and would love a Cuda, GTO, Superbird, etc.

 

They couldn't give them away back then. They had to be 500 built in order to race in nascar. I had a '69 ford torino tallegda had a 428 sjc engine bought in '70 $1500.

 

Your comparing apples to oranges with those two cars.
the HEMI already had a reputation and any car with one would bring lots-o-money for the time.

but we are not talking brand new.

 

You could get hemi cudas and challengers for $5K or less in the mid-70's during the gas crisis. I've heard it from a few people including my father. I've also heard of superbirds and daytonas sitting at dealerships for many months and sold and slashed prices because they were so odd for the time.

 

Camaros, novas, and chevelles go for way more money than C3's. A midyear is a whole different story.

I wanted a 67 nova or chevelle, but they are VERY expensive!

 

That's what I'm seeing. Mustangs as well.

 

http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/...-superbird.htm

Base list for a Daytona/Superbird was $4300 and dealers DISCOUNTED THEM to get rid of them as their "styling" was over the top. As a used car during the gas crisis of '74 they sold them for half that or less.

Tim, you have to be a young pup who didn't grow up in the 60-70's. I bought my first car in 1973. A '57 Chevy Belair 2 door w/a 283 3 spd. on the floor and a '67 Camaro console covering the hole. Paid $600 for it and the paint was good. Spent $600 at Honest Charlie's mail order speed shop and sold it a year later for....you guessed it, $600. Care to guess what it might be worth now? It wasn't until the 80's that collectability of muscle/sports cars caught on. Before that it was all about Auburns, Cords and Dusenbergs. Hot Rods, Muscle Cars, Sports Cars=Used Cars. Nothing more.

 

Surely pre war hot rods had some collectors in the 70s.

 

Still do. The advent of fiberglass reproductions of cars like the 34 Ford 5 window coupe made the price of a good steel bodied 34 go through the roof. Go to a street rod show and the cars that bring the actual big money are the original steel models. The Chevy steels even more so since they used inferior steel and more wood thus quicker rot and less around. A guy here in town has a beautiful 34 5 window street rod with a tag that says "steel34"....

 

There are lots of highly collectible years out there - and as a general rule as cassic cars get older they become more rare (particularly in really good condition) and the value goes up.

A 1969 base Corvette in excellent condition can easily get $40,000 and a convertible 350 can get $50,000. There are car's out there that get a lot more - but not the 69 Camaro or Chevelle.

The mistake people often make is to compare a particularly collectible car to ALL C3s, and generally they'll pick a cheaper year for the comparison. They'll say, 'You can get $70,000 for a 69 Camaro Z28 RS - C3s don't come anywhere near that so obviously Corvettes are cheap!'

Well - that's true that a 1969 Camaro Z28 RS can go for as much as $70,000 if it's in good enough condition - and that's more than the base 69 Corvette. But the 69 Z28 RS isn't exactly the base model Camaro.

The Corvette L88 from 1969 can go as high as $500,000. That's not the aluminum block L88 either. The aluminum block L88 is rare enough it'll only sell at auction and it's anyone's guess how much it is worth. Same with the L88 coupe. It's the convertible that sells for 'only' $500,000.

Ironically the base convertible is worth more than the base coupe (the base coupe only 'only' going for about $40,000).

Some C3s are pretty valuable. Others - not so much. But in all cases the Corvette is relatively valuable compared to other similar models of the same year. Sometimes something else is worth more in a particular year - but usually not.