Why don't you go to Corvettes at Carlisle in a couple weeks? Evaluate cars for yourself? That might be the solution. Put the power back in your hands.

It almost sounds like you're looking for too many guarantees: A guarantee you'll get a really good car for cheap (??), and a guarantee nobody will scam you (no guarantee there either).

 

I am just happy for myself that I appreciate all the model years of the C3 Corvette and not hung up on bumpers, etc. For me, they are so similar, model year to model year, that I would not be waiting for some special deal to come along. I certainly did not. I bought my 77 within a month of when I started looking and was ready financially. I drove it for one season, and then spent 4.5 years restoring it. If I would have spent a year looking for some super special "deal", it would have simply been one lost year of my life without a Corvette. Again...we are all different, we have different values and levels of interest. I can tell you as much as you might hate the shape of that 75 rear bumper......sitting in the driver seat, going down the twisties like I will be doing tomorrow morning....that bumper means nothing. The one cool thing about rear rubber bumpers is how the recessed tail lights mimic the exact shape of the recessed speedo / tach. I love those styling connections that the Chevy designers included in the car. But......in a contest of what is cooler....I do agree the early model rear ends are classic. My 69 convertible project will give me that. Point is, there are things to appreciate in all C3 Corvettes.....and its just a matter of thinking of it like that. I can look at each model year in detail, as I have, and see pluses and minuses with each year. There is no perfect year. Honestly,.....the 77, IMO, has the most best features of all the model years.

For you in Canada, like Last Triumph in England, you certainly have to deal with the fewer options and higher costs, not to mention just getting the car to your house. Adding that to finding a special deal would be very frustrating to me. I would either have to give up, or be way less picky about what I bought. I just would not have patience. Might drive me to just buy a C7......but, obviously that is not an option financially for everyone.

 

It would cost me my entire budget to go there. I'm 3000 miles away, and the border is closed. By the time i got there, IF i could get there... i'd have enough left to buy a used emblem.

I just want a guarantee that a car is THERE to buy when the guy SAYS it is. Or a guarantee that if i trust someone here to go scope out a distant car for me, that they wont snag it out from underneath me. As for the rest... i know the game. I dont expect miracles for my gas-money budget...

 

This is no politics forum.....but I just have to say how much BS it is the the border is closed for you in Canada, and our southern border is WIDE OPEN. Amazing. Enough said about that....not wanting to hijack the thread. I wish it was the other way around so you, and your fellow citizens, could have the benefit of easily coming to US.

 

I forgot about the border being closed.

Well, keep looking if the present car doesn't work out. Let time be your friend. Lot of guys looked all over, and up/down, and suddenly find a car in or near their home town. The biggest concern I would have buying sight unseen, or jumping the gun to quickly, would be getting a car that has excessive windshield frame rot. A lot of sellers don't even know what it is.

My car came from the dry area of central valley CA, the frame is super-clean, but even still, there was plenty of rust in the top windshield channel once I removed the trim. No holes fortunately. But I've looked at some cars where ya could see major rot at the A-pillars and the sellers had no idea. That's a major repair.

Take your time, don't rush the process too much that you end up settling for a real problem car.

Best of luck in your search.

 

Luckily... i have that patience. But man... for a year i've been reading posts about people building, and driving their C3's... i want to play. What could i have done to my car in a year? One thing i have learned about myself... is that i absolutely do NOT compromise. When i say i want a 69 coupe, thats what i want. If i buy a PERFECT 70.... i'll always see those flares, and those eggcrates, and it'll bother me. Doing Mopars, i always got what i wanted... even if it was junk. 70 Challengers was my car. For a broke guy... i've had some nice ones. Those aren't cheap, and there is FAR more to rust on a Mopar than there is on a fiberglass Corvette. I'll drive junk. More people will appreciate a ratty 69 than a perfect 79. Thats just how i am. So... i wont compromise the model... but i'll compromise condition to get it. I'm broke. I have to.


And yeah, that border closing is bullshit. Its not opening soon either. Potato (our prime minister) thinks he's helping. He's not. I wont get into politics either... I bought a 68 AMX 4-speed car just before the border closed. Its been down there almost 2 years now... and if i want it brought up for me, its $1500. I'm not paying that. Not for a car i'm just gonna sell anyways.

 

See the reply just above this one for my thoughts on waiting.

The car that i was thinking ov when i made this thread has been sold. Finally got through to him. Figures. It was a complete, numbers matching 69 427 4-speed car... sitting three decades, punched in FG on every corner, engine out and in parts. $7500 US. It looked hideous... but it was likely rust free, and i can fix anything. Probably no way i could have possibly lost on that deal... but its gone regardless. There was a really nice looking 69 350/350HP 4 speed coupe for sale in OR recently, 12K. Bit over my limit, but same thing... i needed someone to scope it out. Its just as much about getting a feel for the seller too. If i have someone check it out, and the car looks decent, but the seller comes across sketchy as hell... well then, do i want to send that guy money? No.

 

IF you find a Corvette you are interested near the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area......send me a Private Message and I will go look at it for you, get pictures, etc. I do not proclaim to be an expert, but I have completely disassembled and reassembled a C3 Corvette into a fantastic running machine.

I found the 69 convertible below near me in Pittsburgh last October,......it is now COMPLETELY disassembled as the restoration begins. Maybe there is another????

 

Thats funny. The car in question in the original post WAS in Pittsburg. He said he just got a rag for sale too, but i dont want a convertible.

Put a roof on that and a stick inside and it'd be perfect for me... in any condition.

If you find a car under 7K, let me know.

 

The U-Haul trailer is a great Vette hauler.

Sometimes you just have to pull the trigger and hope for the best and trust your inner gut feelings. A complete numbers matching 69 427 4-speed car sitting three decades, punched in FG on every corner, engine out and in parts for $7500 would have been one of those.

It can be tough buying from long distance, went through this when I bought my current 73. Had a great conversation with the 2nd owner and no red flags, lots of pictures etc. I still needed to do the "trust but verify" thing as the car was a 12 hr drive away so I hit the road for a round robin and came home with a clean 73 on a rented U-Haul trailer. It took me longer to get the U-Haul trailer than to inspect the car.

Every car buy is different based on condition and location, some I needed to see and other's I bought sight unseen. That 69 427 you came across would have been a buy sight unseen if enough good information was provided.

 

Lets put it this way... the ad went up Jul 15th. When i finally got through to the guy he was kinda shocked i was asking about it. Guessing it sold the first day, and thats been a dead ad for two months. Hardly shocking. If it were live, i'd already be working on it.

I'm looking at a 69 coupe, 350/ auto, but its been modified to look like a 73 (and painted red) for some reason. Good job, and done for aesthetic purposes, not to repair an accident. The car is waaaay up North ov me. Luckily, its not advertised anywhere. Been sitting on it for many months now... Its a good looking (in pics), solid, running driving no-hit, no-rust car, and for 9500Cdn. Its just got that god damned automatic that i do not want. In light ov all this 'snaking' going on, it seems a great deal. Probably a car i could insure and drive with a few hours work. I just need to get to it and buy it. My car has a very weak clutch in it and i'm not going to fix it (car is for sale), so i need to find a ride. AND IT WOULD SEEM... thats not the easiest thing to do...

 

I went to Carlisle in 2013 kinda on accident as I was calling on a client in Lititz. It was much more than I expected. I had been to Bloomington several times but this was much larger. I ended up buying my 74 vert with 5,000 original miles there and driving it home to St. Louis as our car would not haul a trailer. Still have the vert and would like to go back to Carlisle some day but getting older.

 

Are you watching for sale here?
its easy to see who is selling and review the posts..
seems whoever stole your car was on here? I would trust many on here with a history over a year or 2..call them out if youhave facts

this seems like a great deal…semi project

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...l48-in-ct.html

 

Great car i'm sure, but thats a hundred miles away from everything i want in a Corvette. Its also too much for me. 10K turns into 15K by the time i own it.

As for the for sale section... yeah, every day. The car i got snaked on was partially disassembled, engine, trans, interior was out. All that guy has to do is jam it all back in, spend a few hours on that frame section, and he could advertise it for 18K here. Its gone.

 

Let's review:
You've spent a year or two looking for a good safe snake-less deal.
You want a daily driver that you can race.
You want to own/drive it for less than $10,000/$7000 would be even better.
You know it would cost 50% more to buy a car and have it transported.

Maybe you should find a car visually inspect YOURSELF that YOU can tow on a trailer:
...with a legal Title
...with the ability to Insure it
...with a decent birdcage
...with a decent body
...WITHOUT an engine or transmission.

YOU repair any frame rust-through....
YOU build an engine-transmission YOUR way...
YOU......etc....etc....etc.

YOU just eliminated the Snakes.....
You just got a car with no hidden $1,000 surprises....
AND..I would bet you could do in less than than 6 months.

 

Thats the end-goal, yes. I wont be racing anytime soon, even if i get a running/driving car. Gotta make sure its safe-ish... first.

Drive for less than 10K (Cdn), is also the goal... but i will fudge this goal and put off driving it a bit for a cooler car. Understand... i'm ONLY basing my expectations off ov what i've seen here, on FB, and locally. What i want has been done for that much, or less... and many times. But... if i can get an actual 69 4-speed car with no guts that blows my budget, i will. It'll be cheaper in the long run. Sure, i could just go buy one ov many 75-77 automatics kicking around for cheap... but then i'm swapping front clips, rear clips, repairing rust, swapping ALL the aesthetics, tossing the drivetrain, swapping everything. That adds up to far more than just buying what i want in the long run. I mean... i could have that NOW... and get to work, but man... how much work do i want to do?

To do what you suggest, i have to buy a car from my province. That SEVERELY narrows my options. Even shopping Canada-wide narrows my options to far less than you have. I'll be waiting forever to buy locally. Basically... you want me to eliminate the snakes by buying garbage. Thats... uh, certainly an option. But no. Why do I get the garbage?

I have a couple contenders still in the mix, either a bit too much, or too far, but they're in Canada at least. We'll see. Sure would be nice if something local popped up though...

 

It is far better to regret the car you passed on or missed out on six months ago then to regret the piece of **** in your garage that you had no damn business buying six months ago.

 

Trust but verify

 

She was right, thats been my experience. Even the "good" ones are full of it, want something from you or cant be counted on.
I trust my pet, the sun rises and Ill kick off one day thats.

 

"To do what you suggest, i have to buy a car from my province. That SEVERELY narrows my options. Even shopping Canada-wide narrows my options to far less than you have. I'll be waiting forever to buy locally. Basically... you want me to eliminate the snakes by buying garbage. Thats... uh, certainly an option. But no. Why do I get the garbage?"

No. I want you to realize the situation you are in...."One man's trash................"