Hi guys, I hope this is the right session for this request.

I'm Italian and I love American cars from my childhood. Now I'm 30 years old, and after studying and working a lot I want my old dreams to come true

My budget is around 25.000 EURO maximum (26.600 USD today), but take in consideration that here a Corvette C3 is a sort of exotic car with a small market... Europe in general has a very different idea of cars than USA, and due to Italian taxes here gasoline costs 1.40€ for litre, sort of 5,30 USD for gallon... It's expensive to travel here with a 5.7 V8.

Said that, I've looked around in my domestic market to find a C3 Vette, chrome bumpers and small block engine with manual gearbox. After searching some days I've finally found a matching-numbers 1973 that costs 25.300€ (negotiable), with a L82 engine and 95k miles.

http://ww3.autoscout24.it/classified/274513495?asrc=st

The owner is nice guy that sended me some other pictures and two videos, here's all I have got at this moment:

ZIP FILE HERE

He said that he has purchased the car in 2012, with this non-original orange paint and some other personalizations. He restored all the non-stock parts with original one directly from USA, and also:

• complete revision
• new fuel pump
• new windshield wiper motors
• fuel tank cleaning
• electric and brake system revision/repair

Currently the car still have some problems with the parking brake, a speedometer issue that he's fixing and to finish the job on the car stereo (some cables to attach) and to reattach the rear emblem (he has the original letters ready).

I'm planning to go to try this car in any case, but every advice would be strongly appreciated because of my lack of experience. You can check the ZIP file I've linked.

Thank you very much for helping me

Cheers!

PS: Please excuse me for my english, I'm trying to do my best!

 

Your English beats my Italian, German, French, Spanish, and Russian all combined.

And it beats the English of many of the American members here.


Parking brakes are frequently an issue because the design has them inside the top hat of the brake rotor behind the axle spindle flange and hard to access. This means they rarely get any maintenance and are often rusted and frozen so they do not move correctly.

Many here ignore it and just do not use them, but laws in Europe are more strict on vehicle inspections generally.


Speedometer issues were more common on the 1963 to 1967 due to the design of the trip odometer put a heavy load on the small gears of the main odometer and they would break.

The '68 and newer used a different design so that part is rare. What is likely is the cable to the transmission needs to be cleaned and lubricated with cable lubricant like dry graphite. It could also have bad gears in the transmission due to the load of the cable with a sharp bend from the transmission. The driven gear is usually nylon and will wear out first to save the drive gear on the output shaft of the transmission. Relatively cheap to replace.

The hood looks like the front edge is a bit high and not aligned. It could simply be the hood is shimmed high. Or it could mean the front had been wrecked and not placed back on correctly.

Looks overall clean, but pictures can be deceiving.

 

Hi P,
I looked at the pictures in the ad and also in the attached ZIP file.
As PR wrote the car looks quite nice in the pictures.
I think the LESS it has been modified the easier it will be for you to maintain and enjoy.
You should urge the seller to get as much of the car into good working order as HE can before YOU buy it. That way you're not starting out with a car that you're unfamiliar with but with a list of things to do.
Even if the car is in good order when you buy it it will likely need continued maintenance which will take some time, skill, and Euros. Are you prepared for that?
You should write again after you see and drive the car giving your impressions and comments and perhaps asking some new questions.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

Hi, many thanks
To Alan: Even if I'm not planning to buy a project car that need a complete restoration, I know that in any case it will be a 40 years old car with lot of mileage that will need a constant care. Of course I've not so much experience in such old cars and engines (I know more of modern Diesel engines), and I know pretty well what to expect: it will be a potentally expensive, time-consuming and sometimes frustrating hobby.
But I can and I want to learn how to mess with that things, and I can rely also on my father that was a passionate of the Italian's golden-age cars of '60 and '70 (do you ever read of the classics Ferrari, Lancia, Alfa Romeo?).

About the Corvette of my post, thanks for sharing your comments. I'll go to try it one of the next weeks and I'll post here my photos and impressions.

 

Hi guys, here I am with some impressions.
I've checked this car past sunday (95k miles on dash, apparently original).

Good news: I've checked frame and birdcage and everything looks good to me. The frame looks pretty intact, and the cage looks cleen with a minimal rust film.
The 4-speed shift smooth and precise, with a good feeling on the clutch.
The engine runs strong without problems, the owner recently rebuild the carburetor and some other things. Body panels looks integer with just some nonalignment of the hoods, because of the old paint job i guess (silver on factory)
Also, the owner has already restored at original factory some things lost in time: steering well, radio and some emblems, except the rear emblem (but he has it ready to mount).
Overall, I've got a good feeling in driving that Vette.

Bad news: The car has front lowered springs. The owner know it (he bought the car with this), but I want to restore the factory springs.
The paint job is not a good work at all. It has some cracks and other defects, and I don't like orange paint. I want it black Definitely need a repaint, maybe after removing the current one.

Others: I've got a strange feeling with steering and brake.
Brakes: despite the car brakes well, my feeling with the brake pedal was hard to push, in some way "gummy" (I don't know how to say it, like pushing a rubber ball?) and with a short stroke. Honestly I don't know if that is normal or if could be something wrong.
Steering: The steering (with Power steering) is soft and don't needs a strong force. I've checked the steering return to center and it appears to work in both left and right, the only thing is that it was not very precise and, some degrees from completely center, it needed a manual correction. Again, I don't know if that is a normal thing or something to fix. I currently drive a Citroen that is very easy and smooth to drive, and maybe is only a matter of practice

Anyway, honestly that was the first time for me to drive a Vette and I've loved it

That's all. Thank you for any suggestion.