New to the forum, and hopefully soon to Corvette ownership! I live in central VA, and cannot think of a better way to enjoy the roads and scenery than from behind the wheel of one of these beauties. I'd contemplated C8 and almost pulled the trigger but refocused on the classics from my early days, so I'm in search of an early C3, ideally '69 or '70, that is ready to roll. Doesn't have to be show quality, but solid, driveable, and reliable. Cheers to all, I welcome your thoughts.

 

Welcome to the forum! As long as you enjoy the car you get that's the main thing, good luck on your search.

 

Welcome and good luck in your search!

 

Welcome and enjoy the search!

 

Welcome to the forum and best of luck in your C3 search.

Moving this over to C3 General where other C3 owners can give you some thoughts on your quest for a car.

 

Welcome to the C3 Forum...have fun finding a car YOU really like. Keep us updated in this thread.

 

Welcome!
Shop hard. Don’t be afraid to spend extra $$$ up front.

 

It’s a must to read the extremely important inspection steps prior to buying a 50 year old car. Use Google to locate the posts, and then start reading, the more informed you are, the better decision will be made. Welcome.

 

Good advice, all! Am I right to hope that the wild variances in pricing beyond those related to unique or rare drive train configurations will start to make sense?!

 

Welcome Rooney. Best of luck in your quest to find the perfect for you C3.
As per wide variation in price, condition is everything in a 50 year old car. Your going to see wide variation in condition and thusly price.
The cost of a quality paint job alone will blow your mind.
The better educated you are the better off you are. This is not at all like buying a late model used car.
Cars from the 60's and 70's were never intended to last anywhere near this long. They are way, way past their use by date so to speak. So you will find them in a wide variation of condition. And often times sellers think there car is better or more valuable than it truly is.
Buyer beware.

 

Painting a Corvette is very expensive and in most cases something that most of us can’t do. The chrome bumper, manual transmission and convertible cars are more expensive. Prices are normally all over the place, especially if someone has put a sizable amount of money and time into the car. My thinking is the things you can’t repair should already be in good shape before making the purchase ie. Engine, tranny, paint, and any other expensive item. Good luck on your search, and don’t be in a hurry, inspection of a Corvette is paramount before you pull the trigger.

 

Welcome

 

Don't forget to check the classifieds here. Some nice cars from well known and trusted forum members.

 

you have honed in on two great years to look at. middle of restoring my 69. my advice....spend every dollar you can on getting the best specimen you can. every dollar you spend on purchase will save you two on fixing things. let us know when you find it...with pics of course.

 

Welcome. Hope you find a car that you love! I'm sure you will. Early 70's cars are gorgeous.

From a driver's perspective, a nice-looking C5/C6 probably makes the most sense as a car that's reliable and you can drive literally everyday. *Actually* enjoy the heck out of instead of worry about this or that. Esp if you don't have many mechanical skills. You might drive a few C3s and then drive a C5 and see what you think. Most owners love their C3's but ultimately don't drive them a whole lot, maybe 1,200 miles a yr if they're LUCKY. Most seem to put on a few hundred a yr, that's all (sure there are those guys who buck that trend!). But how many chrome bumper C3's do you ever see on the road NOT coming back from a car show?

Whereas you might well drive a C5/C6 Every Single Day in the summer. They're modern, have great performance, good heat and AC..and stereos, about the same cost as a chrome-bumper C3 if not less, easy to insure, free of rattles/vibrations/wind noise/quirks/handling oddities/oil leaks ..aren't going 2200 RPM down the road, not overheating ...and you can easily find people to repair newer Vettes. C6's even kind of look like C3's ..a little. And for the most part, you don't have to fear what other low-life's might do if you go out & park a nice chrome-bumper C3 it in a grocery store or restaurant parking lot. A buddy of mine moved up the foodchain to a C4 then C5 and has landed on a C6 for those reasons. And he loves it. Drives it a lot. Not trying to talk you out of a C3, I love C3's. But since you started out looking at C8's and say you just want to 'enjoy' it, there's the dream and the reality. Just tossing out some things to consider while you are in the Corvette 'hunt'. And if you do buy a C3 try to make sure it is a car you CAN drive often. Maybe something that's been modernized a bit. Best of luck.

Cheers

.

 

Avoid buying from a dealer and personally inspect any likely candidate on a lift to verify its condition. You won’t regret doing it.
Most sellers that are corvette people will understand and perhaps anticipate your request and help facilitate it. Don’t count on it though. If any car looks like new but has rust holes in the frame, walk away. No amount of cosmetics will resolve rot.

 

Welcome to the forum. i am in the process of bringing a 1969 350/350 convertible with a/c and 4 spd back to correct life. in my opinion, if you are looking for a C3, you should make every attempt to get to be able to ride/drive one (or as many as you can) because they are somewhat unique riding vehicles . those that might have had the leaf spring (OEM) replace with a fiberglass mono spring may ride much stiffer and hence feel a bit more uncomfortable (depending on the type of mono spring installed). i found that out with the 69 i'm currently working on. if you are looking for creature comforts (compatible somewhat with today"s technology), you might be better off looking for a later year model of the C5 with it's better ride and options. if you have a friend or relative familiar with the C3 vettes, it would be most helpful. before you get too deeply into a search, you might wish to invest around $20 (on ebay) for a Corvette Black Book. if you don't want one to cover the C7 and C8 models, you can pick them up fairly inexpensively. they will provide you with a tremendous amount of information on years 1953 through the publication date of the one you buy. ask a lot of questions as the members here are very knowledgeable and willing to share that with other members. keep in mind that the 1968 C3 model has a lot of parts unique to only that year. that makes them pricey and often very hard to find.

 

As someone who enjoys the roads of central Virginia, C3s are great fun, and can easily be modified to perform much better than stock.

Be sure to pick an example that doesn't need the hard stuff (paint, and rust). Everything else can be replaced, usually with something better. That includes the transmission, but try to find a running example with a 4-speed to start, so you can start having fun on day 1.

Post #107 in this thread has some of the stuff to look out for.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...orvette-6.html

 

Agreed. And, buy an inexpensive borescope for your phone so you can check the A-pillar and corresponding mounts without removing anything. Same goes for the kickup and trailing arm pockets.

 

I bought my numbers matching rebuilt repainted 69 in 1997 on a total impulse and knew absolutely ZERO about vettes...other than I loved them. I don't regret if for a minute but at this point of my restore I am blown away at how much Bubba raped and pillaged this thing. I not going for NCRS but I DO care about originality. Long story short...by the time I am done I figure I will be $20k into it more than I could ever sell it for....but I am not ever selling so there is that. For me it is a labor of love preserving one specimen of what I view as an American automotive icon.