So yesterday I looked at and once again passed on the 8th rubber bumper C3 I was interested in. I posted a few weeks ago about bad repaints, and this one had it too and it was one of the better ones, but a/c broken, lights would not go up, door panels probably needed replaced, and probably too many aftermarket parts for my liking.

Anyway, most I’ve looked at were lower actual miles (under 50k). I may look at one this weekend that checks out good per pictures and after talking to the owner (had it for six years). Totally stock ‘76 with 85,000 miles. Question is, for a 70s vehicle, is that a lot? Cars now will go 300k easily (my Accord has 200k on it), but I remember as a kid (I’m 50 now) there seemed to be a rule of thumb that cars were done at 100,000 miles.

If it had been maintained, lot of life left? Or getting close to rebuild time?

Thanks!! Jeff

 

End of life is near but don't let that stop you from buying. For a few grand more you can put in a crate engine. Everything on these cars wears over time and will require repair/rebuild/replacement. It's the cost of owning 50 year old cars. If you are mechanically inclined, most repairs can be done on your own. I buy tools vice paying someone else for labour and do repairs myself. Sense of accomplishment goes with it. Good luck on your search.

 

If the car is maintained and well cared for, it will last a very long time. I spoke to an original owner of a C2 (1965-66?) Corvette at the Corvetttes at Carlisle event years ago that had over 500,000 miles on the car. He had all kinds of photos and dates to prove the mileage. Can't tell you how many times the engine, tranny, brakes, differential might have been rebuilt but it was on the original body and it was a one-owner car. Guy was from Florida and drove the car to Carlisle, pulling a small trailer. -pretty amazing. He was a retired astronaut and obviously very mechanical himself or knew people who could take care of mechanical issues for him. 100,000 miles for that guy was barely broken in.

 

80k for a carbed engine isnt exactly fresh, most were done by 100. Many went much longer all depends how good of tune it was kept in
If it runs fine dont worry about it. Its been together many yrs so...(if most really have)...I have a hard time trusting most mileage claims from old cars as cables busted, guys disconnected or turned them back all the time. Go by appearance and how it feels.if it were me ignore what the odometer says

 

It also really depends on how the car was used. Short trips hurt the older carbureted engines. As an apprentice mechanic back in the seventies, I saw engines finished at 80,000. But, we also had a customer with a late sixties Chrysler New Yorker with a 440 who was a commercial real estate developer. He put hundreds of miles per week on it, always fairly long drives, changed the oil regularly, and that car, with over 160,000 on it ran like a charm.
If it's been well maintained and heated up regularly, I don't thing 150,000-200,000 is problem. I put about 165,000 on a six cylinder Nova, and the only reason I got rid of it was the next big bump I hit, I was going to be sitting on the pavement.

 

Hey Jeff, I remember growing up, my dad always sold his trucks when they hit 50K miles. 100K was HIGH mileage for sure. We put a new crate engine in our ‘72 coupe last year. It had appx 87K miles on the odo when we bought it in 2018. It was worn out. She was one “red line” run away from a thrown rod or a spun bearing.

I’m sure the new engine will outlive me because we’ll maintain it properly and drive it on highway cruises primarily. It ‘s not going back and forth in bumper to bumper traffic like many of these cars did back when they were daily commuter cars.

Best of luck with your search!

 

Just to add a little to what everyone else has said, yes, that's a lot of miles on a car from that era (even assuming it's the "correct" mileage). But as others have said, it depends on how well the motor was maintained. Unfortunately, it's impossible for you to know how this, or the previous owner(s), took care of the car. When I bought my '73, I went in to the transaction with the expectation that I would have to rebuild the motor, independent of what I heard or saw. My advice would be for you to make the same assumption, especially when considering your budget. I looked for over 2 years before I found the right car. I would expect when you do, you'll know it. Good luck!

 

Well if you buy a one owner C3 corvette that was bought brand new in 1970 and the original owner only put 1,000 miles a year on the car it would have 50,000 miles on the odometer . Who would only put 1,000 miles on a year ? lets say 2,000 miles , WOW!!!!!!! that's 100,000 miles. Do the math, if a car has low milage it sat for years which isn't good either. So something closer to actual high milage might be a better by. What ever you buy it's still a 40 -50 year old car. It will need maintenance , maybe major repair or replacement but that is part of owning any old car. Unless your willing to do the work or PAY!!!! for someone to do the upkeep buy a new Corvette , It'l have the perfect paint, color of your choice and you will know exactly what maintenance was done.

 

Once a car gets to be 50 years old, the least of your concerns is mileage. Engines and drivetrain parts and durable and easily repaired or replaced. Most rubber parts will be most likely shot regardless of mileage. Your biggest concern is rust, and possibly poor fiberglass repair.

 

40 year old cars that claim to have less than 50K miles on them are ALL in museums or they are phonies!!. Anyone can claim to have such a vehicle.

The truth is that 100K miles is not the end of a Chevy V8 engine...IF it has been properly maintained. And, if a 100K+ mile engine has a complete rebuild, is it not back to 0 miles on the odometer? Let's get real on our expectations for a driver-quality 40+ year-old car.

P.S. My engine is original to the car, has had one full rebuild and another head & gasket rebuild, and now has 216K miles on it. .040" over pistons with NO ridge at the top of the cylinders when the last head-job was done at 212K miles. Doesn't smoke, still runs strong, doesn't use oil. BUT it gets fresh oil change with full synthetic every year (1-3k miles) and filter changes twice yearly. Overkill on the maintenance? How much is flawless operation worth to YOUR engine? (About an extra $50 per year......)

 

Except for paint, it sounds like most of the problems you are seeing in the less than perfect cars are easy to fix. At least I thought so with my cars. Are you looking for a specific collectors car (with vinyl bumpers) in mint, stock condition, or just a fun car to drive? If the car is on the road now, being enjoyed and maintained, it probably won't be for sale. If it is, you are likely to find it up for adoption on this Forum, or at an estate sale on Craigslist, or already marked up and being flipped by a dealer. If it is an abandoned project in a garage, it will likely need everything, but nothing is too hard, except for paint and rust.

If you can find a car with a solid birdcage and good paint (even a repaint), would that be sufficient? Originality is nice and all, but you can have car that is better than new if you are willing to make a few changes and improvements.

I have 59K on one, and 117K on the other. If something breaks, I fix it. If I blow an (original) engine, that'll be an excuse for a rebuild, or an LS swap!

 

I remember your post about "bad paint" and now it's high mileage.
I assume you're still looking cars under $10k.
Let's say you get a car for less than $10k and you repaint it, overhaul the engine, and other things get fixed. Would you sell it for what you paid for it? Would you sell it for less than $10k?
I think you need to reset your price limit in line with your expectations.
And don't compare a 40-50 year old sports car with your newer technology car - apples and oranges.....

 

I’ve increased my budget above $10k, so I’m hoping that will add some nicer cars to my search (rubber bumper, 74-77).

Basically what I’ve seen (looked at eight so far) was a) runs good, seems solid, but terrible paint, etc...b) decent to good paint, but way too many other issues. “C” would be my question in this post - I may make the drive to see it - decent paint, doesn’t need much at all, nice driver, but high miles.

I redid the interior on my ‘84 before I sold it (so that doesn’t scare me) and am mechanically inclined, but don’t want to have to work on something I just bought right off the bat.

 

I think the issue with you finding a good car is your search is not wide enough.Are you only looking at cars within 50 miles of your home? That may be really limiting you.

My good friend has a small classic car collection and I've helped him find a few cars, we look all over the U.S.
He's bought two cars from forum members here, did you start a WTB thread on this forum?

BTW - the best cars do come out of Kentucky....Bowling Green!

 

 

This. At 50 years old mileage doesn’t mean anything at all. Heck at 30 years old, mileage doesn’t mean anything at all. The only thing that matters at that age is condition.

 

Back in the day I'd always seemed to drive cars waaayy past the age when most people said cars were typically 'worn out', like the 200k + mi range. I'd get like 250-300k miles out of them before replacing. And over the years I'd never had an engine wear out or fail. I would get on any problems right away and be proactive about maintenance. I exclusively used Citgo regular dino oil since 82 even to this day just b/c it was the cheapest oil at our Farm & Barm. Changed about every 5k miles too ...back when everyone said 3500 mi.

If you find a car you like and it's not rattling all over and feels tight compared to others you've looked at, I wouldn't be afraid to buy it. Engine rebuild is a piece of cake compared to a lot of other fixes such as a complete interior re-do which can be a lot more work (for some).

 

TO 7T1vette there are numerous C3s out there with less than 50,000 miles that are documented.

 

In the 50's, 60's and 70's, cars lasted a lot longer than 100K miles. Just about every car when it was traded in, got "clocked". Everybody rolled back odometers. A car traded in with 60K miles on it, went on the used car lot showing 30K. The next time it was traded, it might have shown 70 or 80K, and went out on the lot with 50. This was standard proceedure, and every dealer did it. I knew a couple people who made a nice living, clocking used cars for dealers. Back then, most cars that died at 100K miles, in reality probably had twice as many miles on them, or more!

As far as old Corvettes with high miles, there are a few things to consider.

First, Corvettes were no different than any other car. A lot of used Corvettes have had their odometers rolled back over the years. Second, even if they haven't been rolled back, there's a good chance that the odometer is on it's second time around, on many of those under 50K cars. It wasn't until much later, that automakers went to 7 digit odometers. On 77 and newer cars with cruise control, it was real easy to reach under the hood and disconnect the speedometer cable from the cruise transducer from time to time, to keep the mileage down. I had friends who did it, including one who did it as soon as he bought his car.

I'm not saying that there aren't legitimate low miles cars out there, because there are. I have an 81 I bought new, that has 44K on it, about 30K of it put on the first three years we owned it, when it was my wife's daily driver. My point is, don't base you decision on how many miles the car's showing. Don't be taken in by a car that's "showing" low miles, and don't pass up a car in good condition, just because it has 100K on it. How a car has been taken care of, is much more important than whet the odometer says.

 

Dear 7T1Vette...Sorry brother,(or nephew!) I'm calling BS....untrue statement; 40 year old cars that claim to have less than 50K miles on them are ALL in museums or they are phonies!!. Anyone can claim to have such a vehicle.

I own TWO. 1969 L-46 with 36k...owned it for 43 years. 51 years old....not in Museum, in my GARAGE
1982 Collectors Edition bought it with UNDER 17k...now has 19.5k I'm the second owner, documented up the wazzoo. 38 years old.

Here in AZ there are HUNDREDS or super low mile cars salted away. We call them 'Sun City' cars, named after the retirement village out west. I see them all the time. last week was a 1979 10th anniversary Trans-Am=16k miles...you ain't buying that for $8k!!!!!!!

I'm sure that you're not calling your Uncle Hal a phony! LOL.

The nutmeat here is our esteemed poster is trying to buy a cheap car.....that simple. You will not find a 'cheap' Corvette C-3 with 30k on it.....even the most delusional seller would not part with it for 'almost no money'

Cheers UNK.