I bought a 1973 Corvette Coupe it had the roof cut off. Pervious owner was converting it into a convertible. Which i will show some photos of later. The value i saw was that the entire frame was redone with invoices and copy of checks from the pervious owner bought New brake lines, pads, calibers, bushings, motor and tranny mounts, new seats, wheels, Hub caps, rebuild the engine and tranny, on and on. Theres binders of money and proof.

I bought a orginal back end of a Convertible with a new top and installed it from the factory seams. Then took the entire car down to the gel coat. Did all bodywork "correctly" primered the entire car 3 times and blocked it everytime finishing with a sealer, 3 hands of it. The finishing product is my profile picture. I know it lost value when i continued in converting it into a convertible. All seams are factory placement and we even used the same color primer the factory did. No one would have ever been able to tell but i am not in that business. I wanted it for myself and being a Collision Consultant i did it right. Unfortunatley, this vehicle is a lot heavier then i thought and i would be damaging the vehicle more then doing it good by stripping some weight off in order to join the SCCA and hope to hang with some big dogs.

How much value did i lose and what do you guys think the over all value is?

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I really appreciate the help...

 

No one will be able to tell until they take a look at the VIN #. Coupes and Verts had different numbers

 

i decoded the vin and found nothing special, 350 4 speed, with A/C. odo shows 89k since motor was pulled and rebuild. Clean Title, i will go through the bin and look for all these details.

 

Check out this website:
http://corvettec3.ca/vin.htm

On the fourth to fifth digits, your car will have the numbers 37.
A real convertible will have the numbers 67.

75% of most buyers won't know this, and will probably overlook it, BUT I bet they will be super mad when they find out (if you dont tell them) that the car was at first a coupe. With that being said, you should disclose up front that the car has been modded.

As for value gained/lost that is up to the buyer. You should find someone who does not care about originality.

 

I don't think you lost anything, that looks great!

 

Hi TG,
If the rest of the car, (chassis, running gear, interior, fit and finish), is as nice as it looks like the body work is, I'd think a person looking for a 73 convertible would be willing to pay a few thousand dollars less for yours than he would for a car that began life as a convertible.
Maybe some interior, engine compartment, and chassis pictures would help people come up with a figure for YOUR car.
Regards,
Alan

 

As mentioned, 75% of the folks looking for a nice C3 will not know...or care...about the VIN designation difference. Of course, you will not be able to garner any "premium" in value for the car being "factory CORRECT". But, the car is still a valuable item, given the excellent condition you gave it.

If you decide to sell it, you need to disclose that this car was built as a 'coupe', and how it became a convertible. That way, there is no question about your intent when you sell it.

 

I Appricate all your guys experience with corvettes as I had sold my 1965 mustang fastback and purchase this one. I have been a corvette owner for about 1 yr and excited about joining the SCCA with my new project. If you guys ever have a question about paint or body work, shot me a message. It seems I will finish it 100% and put it in some car shows and show the quality.

PS. I definitely will disclose the story behind the car and will never take advantage of someone, as I have had that done to me and left a bad taste in my mouth. "still"

Thanks again!

I will average the price of some Convertibles and price mine a couple of thousands off the price.

Wish me luck!

 

I can't tell you what it's worth but I definitely like what you did with it. I like the color and paint scheme. Good Job

 

I agree that there's a lot of prospective buyers who won't know enough to check the VIN. I do not agree that these same buyers will not care.

Its very, very possible that someone could buy the car without knowing, and therefore you would likely sell it for more that way. However, when they find out its very likely they could become pretty angry. I really think when the time comes to sell, you should be upfront and not misrepresent that car out of intentional omission.

Dollar wise, Alan is probably about right. As in most customs, someone will look at the car as being worth a percentage less than a real convertible and go from there. Personally, I would take the deduction off a coupe price, not a convertible price. Its a modified coupe. Its a typical modified/stock argument. Many buyers who are smart enough to check the VIN would not buy the car for any price, but there are many buyers, especially in this price range that aren't savvy enough or just dont care enough if the car suits them at a certain price.

You didnt mention if the numbers match. Another calculation I guess. I dont think the only deduction could be convertible price minus a few thousand if you ignore the engine.

You will get it sold, but as long as you dont misrepresent it as you say, you should be fine.

 

I think at the end once they see the collectors quality paint bodywork and document history
It will find the right customer. Now a days I see custom industry of muscle cars out grow the original factory vehicles for two reasons.
1. There isn't enough big block original corvettes or mustang fastbacks with matching numbers to restore. They have all been restored and priced correcty at auto auctions. It is a dieing trend of buying barn yard finds and restoring. Unfortunately.

2.I hate walking around car shows and seeing expensive restoration, horribly done and takes years. A couple of reasons I decided to present a corvette cleaner than any other converible out there mechcanicly and cosmiticly correct. For 75% the cost and 10 times better looking "upclose".

I think it will sell it self when people look at the work that was been done and unless there planing to tow it to a museum. This would be a great find.

 

There is NO reason to 'discount' the price of your car because of its history/background. Price it according to the condition of the car compared to other similar cars. Then disclose to potential buyers how it "came to be a convertible". The rest is just negotiating a final price.

Note: I would NOT include that info in any ad about the car...simply because many would just bypass it as a possible "Franken-car" [pieced-together cr@p]. Once they see the car and its condition and also find out the history, most of them will not care one iota.

 

I agree.The car looks great do not undersell it.Tell the truth about the car ,sell to the value.The right person will buy it .

 

I agree , why discount the price at all?
As long as you disclose to the potential buyer the history of the car there's no reason that buyer shouldn't pay what it is worth.

 

You missed an important item in the VIN. Coupes are coded 37; convertibles are coded 67. Your "convertible" has a coupe VIN. The fifth character of your VIN is a code for the original engine installed.

Nice work on the conversion.

 

if the car is as you say, great condition, well done, with only the VIN to give it away.. then I would definitely pay near the same price as a true (vin) convertible in the same condition.

all these replies are not answering your question. you asked how much value did you lose by the conversion. I think you actually gained value by converting it vs. building it back as a coupe. Convertibles will always sell for more than coupes, given the same condition. you did not ask if the value now is equivalent to a true convertible. it isn't, but i think it is more than a coupe. especially since the 73-75 convertibles were becoming more rare.