I have not been around here in a while due to the sale of my 72. I just got word of a Pace car for sale. L48 automatic with 15K miles. Owner says it is in mint condition and has been stored properly. Florida car and no it has not been in a flood. He wants 30K for the car. Sounds reasonable but what is the going rate for these now. I know you can look it up and that is what the book says but what is reality on these.

 

"SharkRacer" sold one on BaT a while back. You could look and see what that went for. He no longer checks in here so far as I know.

 

Just looked on BAT and some really low mile Pace cars sold for 35 to 39 but these are showroom condition ones. I guess 30 is not bad if this is what he says it is but it is still a 45 year old car that will need a lot. Its been sitting for quite a while. I have done some of these cars that sat and some can be almost a full on resto.

 

Hagerty's July '23 numbers on a '78 PC L48...
#2 excellent condition...$32,600. This is a show winner ready to go.
#3 good...$21,100.
Subtract 8% for the automatic..

 

L-82 and 4-speed I could see that money but no $30 for the car in question. It may be worth the money but not to me.

 

Do you have any pictures?

 

At least you already know how to manual swap it.

 

The least desirable combination. I'm thinking more like 25K. I agree you will need to go through it also. Besides time there will most likely be some surprise money issues.

 

The sins of storage for 45 years without attention and care lie in the chassis! Look for leaks! Oil, power steering, tranny, differential and most important of all...brakes! Just buying a brake system without installation could run $1k.

 

I agree with everyone above. At best a 25K car but it will need a god amount of work to make it road worthy. Only picture.I saw was a rear corner shot with the cover peeled back slightly. I would ask for more if it was priced more in line. I think I’ll pass on this. As usual the owner sees these high prices but that is not exactly what he has.

 

A friend of mine picked up an L-48 automatic with CB radio, 78 Pace Car here in Haddonfield in July, and sold it at Corvette Carlisle in August. The odometer "showed" 6500 miles, but looking it over I felt in reality it probably had a few thousand more miles on it. It was pretty common for Pace Car, and other Corvette owners to (easily) disconnect the speedometer cable at the cruise transducer to keep the mileage down! It still had the original GT Radials on it slowing limited wear, and all the labels, ink stamps, inspection stickers, etc were still under the hood, though it was obvious from the dust and dirt the engine had never been detailed. The original power antenna had been replaced with a GM service replacement one (the original one was included), and my friend replaced the rear "Y" pipe because the original was rusted through at the low point where it goes under the rear end. It still had the original 78 dated "Blue" glass tops, a big plus because correct 78 glass tops are hard to find and expensive. The Pace Car logos and lettering were in the original GM package, not installed on the doors etc (which is preferable in my opinion). The paint, stripes, interior, everything else on the car appeared to be pretty much original. The car drove great and was tight and rattle free, there were just some little things that didn't look like a 6000 mile car to me.

My friend bought the car cheap ($18,000) with the intention of flipping it, but after driving it he almost changed his mind and kept it. He went high with the asking price at Carlisle, at $30,000, figuring if he got close he'd take the money and run, otherwise he'd bring it back home and enjoy it for a while. There was only one other Pace Car we saw at Carlisle this year, a similar L-48 automatic with 12000 miles on it and an asking price of $28000. It was cleaner under the hood, but it was also obvious the car had had some restoration and detailing done to it, so the mileage might have been suspect on it too. Saturday afternoon, with the car loaded on the trailer and ready to head home, two guys came by and offered him $24000 for the Pace Car. He thought about it for a minute and took the money, making a quick $6000. Could he have gotten a little more for it if he'd sat on it for a little while, taken it to an auction or maybe detailed it some, probably, but he's been a Chevrolet salesman since 1976, so he's use to turning cars over.

You have to remember that on all those stupid price guides, the prices are usually inflated by both the commission involved, and often the "excitement" of an auction. Real world private sale are a different story.

Good to see you back here!

 

Thanks for the reply. That is a real world story.