I'm sorry if I'm the 11,000th new guy on the forum with a what's it worth question. I'm going to look at a 76 tomorrow but it is hard for me to put a number on it. The pictures I've seen look good but the exterior pictures are at about 20 feet so I'll get a better look tomorrow. The interior looks top notch though.

My problem is putting a value on it with it's mods. It has a ZZ383 crate motor about five years old with a five speed transmission and numerous upgrades. The car was maintained and worked on by a professional Corvette shop and the shop owner who's selling it for the car owner has done all the work, has records and of course says it's a fantastic car.

I've looked at Hagerty which seems more conservative and NADA and don't know where this car would fall. Assuming the paint, body and everything the seller claims is true, would this be a #3 car? Would the guide be for a stock car with no mods? I'm looking for a driver so the mods would be what I wanted but he's asking $16000 and don't know if this is right.

Sorry about not posting pictures but there are none I have of the undercarriage or engine and the others are not very telling especially the exterior ones. Thanks for the advice, I hope to find a good one. I'm trying to sell a Datsun 240Z right now and the market for those seems to be all over too.

 

Not only are the guide numbers for stock cars, but they're notoriously higher than real street value.

It may be a beautiful car, but 16K is A LOT of money for nearly any '76.

Try to keep your wits about you when you go look at it.

 

Value is a moot point. Seller is asking $16K. Do you want to pay $16K for this 76?

 

Absolutely correct on all counts... and for a modified '76?? Yikes.

Slow down and look at a lot of cars and get a feel for the market. Remember a lot of these cars are overpriced and modifications, even if you like them, are not something that adds value.

Patience in this market is everything. It's a good time to be a buyer.

 

Its value is exactly what someone is willing to pay whether it is you or someone else. Consider carefully what you want and whether or not you could duplicate your expectations for what a car has as a value. I recently bought a very complete 77 with perfect fiberglass and very drive-able for a whole lot less than that, but I would be hard pressed to turn it into the car you are looking at for anything close to what the 76 you are considering costs now. But that is not what I want it to be, so a value to me is different from what you might think it should be. If you are buying a car that needs nothing but a washing and some occasional driving then that might not be a bad price for you. I wouldn't pay that because I would end up changing something expensive.

 

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I tried posting some pics of it but I guess I'm not allowed.

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...irections.html

 

Keep the rose colored glasses at home. Look hard at the overall cars build quality. Try and pick the car apart, finding out what has been updated and how long ago. As a guide, a stocker 76 that's in drivable condition can be picked up for $6k. It will not be anywhere near immaculate. To get any car to a show car level, much more than $10k will need to be invested. So, keep that in mind and think it through. If its in super condition and what you envision owning, it may be worth the money.

 

I went and looked at the car this morning. It's at a Corvette shop/dealer. He only does Corvette work. The car is in nice shape. The engine bay doesn't "sparkle" but looks pretty good. The interior is great as far as the seats but the carpet is worn and a couple of nicks in the interior trim but I would say overall good, not great.

I didn't drive it. It was in his showroom and I should have asked to drive it before we talked about pricing because he is firm on the 16k. His selling point about this car is the work done to it. He says he has the receipts for it and the previous owner had $62k in it. I assume that was the cost of buying the car too. He described it as soup to nuts done and he may be right.

It has a SS383 motor, Holly 770 carb, Tremec 5 speed trans and 3.73(?) rear end which was done about 5 years ago. Stainless brakes (?) fiberglass leaf springs which he said is the same as the new Corvettes, air, PS, PB, PW and he installed seat heaters.

The body looks good with a nice paint job but not new paint job. I stopped to look at another 76 that the place was asking $16k also on the way home and it definitely didn't seem as good.

Basically, he was friends with the previous owner who passed away and I can understand he wants to do the best he can for the family and he thinks this car is the best I will do in a 76. Now he also knows I will be bringing it to him for service in the future so I doubt he wants to screw me over, he doesn't strike me as that sort of guy anyway.

I didn't really want to go that high but I'm afraid a $10k Corvette will need a lot more work than this one.

 

For $16k, I would expect it to sparkle inside and out. They didn't even bother to replace the carpet?

And I would really like to see that $62k list, I certainly don't see that kind of money in the pics.

 

no matter how much money the owner put in the car, he will never get that amount back out of the car, usually. I just had my 76 repainted, and I knew going in that I would not be selling the car, and would probably not get the cost of painting the car back out of it if I did sell it. So, what I am trying to say is, the car sounds like it is not a restored car, and most 76s are not worth $16k restored. I too would like to know what $62k was spent on this car.

 

This doesn't sound like a 16K car. For that money, the engine compartment should "sparkle", the interior should be mint and the odometer should legitimately read VERY low...just one man's opinion. The car you describe sounds like 10 -12K. Maybe less.

The market hasn't changed that much in the past few years, so I'll cite my own example:

I paid 11K for mine ('80). It had a great, very fresh paint job, 54K on the odometer, was well documented and the interior was totally original and about a 9 out of 10 as far as condition. Other than the paint, it was virtually untouched.

I had some work to do, but nothing major. It's a funny coincidence, but mine was for sale for 16K as well. It was for sale for 16K for a loooong time too.

The price is high because the car is exciting and targeting someone just like you...an excited buyer. Look around and you'll see that for that money, you have lots of choices. While you're looking, the seller will probably get sane (like mine did) and lower the price.

Have you looked underneath this car at all to assess chassis condition, etc.?

If you look carefully at this car and decide that you must have it, offer him 10 grand. He'll act like he's going to pass out, but you have to start somewhere. The worst that can happen is that you don't get the car and you wind up with one of the other million of them out there.

 

I Would buy it for the 16K. There is value in having the history and having a car that was done right and having the guy that did the work to stand behind it and ready to help you as needed.

As mentioned already you can buy a 76 for much less but it would take way more in money and time than what this car costs DONE now to have the same car.

Maybe try to get a partial trade for your Nissan?

 

He wouldn't take a trade I'm sure. He's a total Corvette guy, had several in his shop having service that I saw. He seems like he'd wait a while for a buyer, he's not even advertising this one like the others he has for sale maybe out of respect for the widow? Not sure. He has my info and if he wants to drop the price I'm sure he would let me know. I have a feeling the car is what he's representing, a sound mechanical car and although I haven't seen it on a lift, probably as good as any as far as the body. He said it came from FL.

I guess I'll just check out a few on Craigslist I see, wait and see how my Z sale goes and see if he contacts me.

I do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions!

 

Put the Z on Craigslist and say you would trade for a corvette +/- cash on either side. You never know what will come up.

 

I would ask also how much work are you willing or able to do on the vette you do decide on. If you don't want to or can't do at least some of the work yourself then the shop charges can add up fast.
Also, what do you want to do with the car? How reliable do you want it to be?
If you could pick any year, what would it be? Would you rather have the purity of a numbers matching car, or trade that off if you found one with more power and better mileage with upgraded motor ad tranny?
Convertible, or t top? How long are you planning on keeping it.
The reason I ask is when you look at any corvette, see how it fits what you want. Unless you are buying it as in investment then the only relevant value is what is worth to you now. Unless you plan on selling it in a few years, then that is different. If you don't want to work on it, then it is worth paying a little more up front.
In the example of the car you showed. IF that is exactly the car you would have chosen, and you like the motor tranny combo, and if you don't want to do the work on it then it might be an okay deal. I am assuming from the total of the receipts that everything from the steering to the trailing arms has been rebuilt and it is solid underneath. (You would need to find that out for sure but I would hope so for what he charged)
There are some nice cars that are good deals that can be found on the for sale section of this forum. Sadly some are being let go for far less then they are worth.
Keep us posted and good luck.

 

Ok a base Vette at 6K, then you get:
new 383 cost about 3k+
5 speed 2k+
new interior 2k+
3:73 rear 1k+
trailing arms 1k
Many of us have paid this much and more to make the Vette the way we like.

Can you look at the 62k in receipts and see where the money went?

Enjoy your search.

 

62k ???!!! c'mon, the guy's full of s*#$. how can you trust anything else he tells you ? i paid 6800 bucks for my 76 survivor and i will have another 10 or 11k into it, realistically i could only hope to get 12 for it. 76's just aren't that special.

 

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. Good points.

As to what I'm looking for and willing to do, it has to do a lot with what I've done with the 240Z I'm selling now that I bought in 2008. I didn't plan on doing a rebuild and I'm not a mechanic so I paid for a lot of work at a Datsun shop to the tune of about $10k over the last 4 or 5 years. I don't want to do that again so I want a very reliable car and I believe this car may fit that bill. I also don't want a numbers matching car and actually want a rebuilt/modded engine since I want more HP out of a 70s car than was stock.

The problem I have with the price on the car is I think the interior and engine bay is ok but should be better for $16k and that's probably over book value. I look at it as putting $100,000 in improvements in my house. I may enjoy living in the house more with the improvements but I don't expect the next buyer to overpay the market value just because I want more money for the improvements. Market value is still market value and I just feel it's too much based on condition.

I want to be able to get into a car at a good price so that if life circumstances change and I need to sell it I won't take a bath which I'll probably do on my Z. I don't really mind too bad about that as I knew I'd never get that money out of the Z, I just am not of a mind to do it again.

If the car had a better interior and it was a little more of a head turner I could see paying the price on the car but I know I'll want to put money towards making the interior better.

It may work out. He may have it sitting in his showroom this fall thinking I'm going to have to store it over the winter and service it in the spring so maybe I'll call that guy and see if he'll buy it.

 

Really need to see a lot more pictures to see all of the mods, but theoretically, if the PO went thru a complete frame off, it might be worth the $16k.

I'm just saying, assuming that the shop really does have $62k in reciepts, what all was done to the car? There are stories all the time here about people who go crazy, and spend crazy amounts of money that they know they will never get back, because they love thier cars. Maybe this is one.

OP - it would be GREAT if we could see some more pictures of the car, particularly the engine bay, and front and rear suspension components.