I am buying a retirement home and thinking about selling my 72 Corvette to make it easier. I understand that I am going to lose my *** on the deal, but I am try to get an idea about how much I should ask for her. This is not a “for sale” thread; I just want to get an idea on a starting price to ask. The prices I have seen are all over the place, but I have a feeling that my car’s condition is a little above most of the low ball cars. If I cannot get enough to make it worthwhile, I may keep it.

About the car:

It is a 72 Targa blue coupe, which I bought a few years ago from the widowed husband of the original owner. The paint is well.. average for a 47 year old car. It has one quarter size chip on the passenger door. The mileage is about 49K, which I believe is correct and I can support with many years of maintenance records, some of which date back to the 70s. I also have the protect-o-plate. The car is a 350 A/T with working original AC and AM/FM Stereo (not working) radio and working power windows and clock. The cars runs very good. When I bought the car a couple of years back, I had a lot of work done to freshen it up and stop it from leaking oil.

· New oil pan gasket, new main seal, new Dewitt reproduction radiator and most hoses. Cleaned under hood, but did not paint firewall and brackets.

· Reinstall correct shielding and GM reproduction wires and distributor cap.

· Paint engine Chevy orange.

· New U-joints on main drive shaft

· New timing chain and gears.

· New Motor Mounts

· Bought new tires about 2 years ago, but they now have less than 500 miles on them. They are like new.

· New seat covers and cushions.

· New interior carpet and sound reduction insulation.

· New pillar post trim left and right.

· Replaced missing plastic piece around the brake lever.

· Replaced controller so that windshield wiper doors opening would synchronize with wipers.

· Installed an original correct AM/FM Stereo radio, but it is not working. It worked on the bench, but it is not currently working in the car.

· Had original “glamor rings” restored; I.E. all dents removed and new original type clips installed. I have a set of cheap aftermarket rings on the car in order to preserve the orginals.

· Repaired original clock so that it would work (and it does now)

· I have a new Gardner aluminized exhaust system, but I have not yet installed it.

 

Nice car. Low miles and has a good eye. Just my guess here but if you went out with a price of 17K I believe it would sell in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I'd say mid 20's.....$23k

Yes the 'detractors' are A/T + L-48.
Positives are; clean, well cared for with provenance.
Chrome bumper.
A/C

"you are buying the OWNER, not the car!"

Good luck....spring selling season is here!

unkahal

Unka

 

Is it numbers matching....? I would think so from reading your add but not sure and it will make a difference in price to some folks.

Brian

 

Yes, even the A/C is original.

 

Hi Don!

Sorry to see that you are getting out of the C3 business. Oh well, maybe an opportunity to buy another one down the road.

My 2 cents:
*check ebay completed listings using the advanced search for the sold 72 Corvettes, numbers in green.
*check Haggerty, and Mecum to find similar pricings so that you can triangulate a range of prices with ebay
*I like listing on ebay with lots of honest info, lots of photos, with no reserve, at a starting price that is the absolute lowest you would take. So if you guess too low on your starting price, the market will correct that and bid it up. If you guess too high, usually my case, ha, then nobody will bid and so then you relist at a couple k lower again until you find the sweet spot. Seasonal has impacts, but this is spring, best time to sell. I only do US sales, and I offer to cancel the sale after the auction, if the buyer looks at it and decides it was not what they wanted. However buyer pays all shipping. Less risk to buyer means more money to the seller.
*Take it to some Corvette shows and put a for sale sign on it. BRCC has their show April 13 in Plaquemine, proceeds to StJude, maybe 150 Corvettes there, plus other vintage autos.
Good luck and hope this helps and hope to see you guys soon! Good luck on the retirement too!

 

Thanks for the tips Pat,

I have not fully made up my mind about selling the 72 yet. For example if I can only get 17K for it, I will probably just keep it. 20K and I might sell it. I have much more than that in it and I love the car. One issue that may come up is the storage of the car while the transition occurs. We may build on our land (outside of Opelousas) or we may sell our land and buy something already built. The bottom line is that we may have to move into an apartment after we sell our house here and before we move to our new place, in which case I am not sure what I will do with the car in the mean time. Alas, too many decisions to be made. We may be down in couple of week. We are bidding on a foreclosure home (if it has not sold by then) and we may need to do some inspections and the like on the home. If so, maybe we will give ya'll a call and do lunch or dinner one night.

 

Ok and good luck to you. Holler when you get down this way! All the best!

 

How is the undercarriage, need bushings etc?
I don tthink auto is a detractor, plenty of guys that like them. Usually buyers for a car like yours know what it is and as said (a smart buyer) will buy the owner.
Id rather know what Im getting even if it doesnt check all the option boxes over lipstick on a pig. Once you buy its all yours

Good luck, with working ac 20k may just be a reality. No rule for what anything may sell for out there, if I really like the way a car is done Ill pay whatever it takes to get it.

 

The car steers and rides as it should, but the rubber parts have not yet been replaced. The shocks are not stock, but I do not know when they were replaced.

 

I've been looking at C3's for a while now... in fact, when I finally found my C3 recently it was the third time in my life I've looked for a good one (posted in another thread). I lost interest twice for rusted out junk with very high price tags. Anyway, my very, very unprofessional opinion is that you should be able to hold out for $20 on that car. Not being able to see the undercarriage or suspension, etc makes it hard, but a 72 in the shape yours appears to be in should get that. My C3 has the L48 and I do not care, it moves out enough for me. And, I sought out an automatic - I do not like shifting at my age. So, there ARE people looking for cars like yours. In fact, I have a disease (also posted in other threads...) - I see all kinds of cars, yours included, that I would like to buy, wish it were for sale when I was looking. I'd have considered 20 for it!

 

Ask for $20K....see what you can get. My main question is: What are you going to do for 'fun' in retirement if you sell that 'puppy'???

Suggestion: Keep the car... Get a job at Wal-Mart to make up the $$$.

 

For whatever its worth--- I've been shopping for a chrome bumper C3 lately and had it narrowed down to two base engine 1972 Coupes. I even started a thread recently as I was having a hard time making a decision between them. Some commented in that thread those cars were priced too high (those 1972 coupes ranged in price from the very low twenties to the high twenties.) But I question that as my search seemed to indicate otherwise after looking at several.

At least in my neck of the woods, (Arizona) you can't get a decent chrome bumper C3 unless you're ready to step up to the twenties. The big block cars can go into the thirties and some close to 40K. Yes, you can get cheaper ones but they've been trashed, need paint or are rusty ones that someones brought here from another state. To get an nice original one like the original poster's car is hard to find under $20K. At least that's my observations since I've been looking the last few months. I have, however, been trying to stay local so I'm sure there's regional differences.

 

Up north in salt country, mid to upper 20s. down south I would say low 20s.

Good luck, she looks great

 

$23,000

If you're not interested in selling the car for less than $20k then the asking price is simple to determine.

 

AZ to Texas? a 200 buck flight to see it and a 6 or 700 buck ship home?

 

By me in/around the Chicago area this would be a 25-30 car easy. If all the structural checks out and it is clean and running nicely, small issues- it's near 50 flipping years old- no problem
Sometimes they do become a hassle to care for.
Maintenance, driving time, life.
I would not sell it.
Find another means to help with the other purchase.
I work with a guy who had a 69 blue/blue car and it was spotless. The car was clean as all heck, bought it from the original owner. It ran ok, needed all the suspension gone through front to back. He sold it to buy a HD and has regretted the decision since.
I let him drive mine from time to time..
Says he misses looking at it the most!

I wish a bought those wheels...

 

I am in good shape in retirement, no need for a Wal-Mart job. Right now I live in Fort Worth but I am retiring in Louisiana. I have a house in Fort Worth with significant equity, but I am buying another house before I sell the one I have. I still work right now. I have been exploring ways to raise cash to fund the new house so it will be ready when I do retire. I am essentially "borrowing" money from myself to get this done. Even if I were to sell the car, I would buy another "toy" when the whole retirement move is done. I also have a 2016 Corvette convertible that I tour in which is a "fun" car. In reality, it sounds like it may not be a good idea to sell my old car, but I am still thinking...

I believe it will be easy to be retired, but getting that way is not.

 

if you are going to "lose your ***" in the sale, and you would more than likely buy another toy later, why not just keep this?

got a friend or family with a garage? you just stash it away until everything with the move is settled and then worry about getting it to your new home

 

It would be tempting if there weren't always plenty to buy here in Arizona. My philosophy is that's $1K that is better put into a car bought locally.