Lots of reading... its early and I have coffee time, I respect some opinions and advice here.

Well here I go again, I have been looking at picking up a 68-72 convertible. I currently have an impeccable 82 and absolutely love the car but also have a C6 GS auto coupe.
I find the 82 to be the most refined C3 I've ever owned and again love it but having the GS they both fit the "windows up, ac on" cruise around car... I miss having a convertible and would like a low option preferably 4 speed convertible to play with.
I've had some nice C3s over the past few years but keep selling them because they are low mile original cars and I can't bring myself to modify at all... but then I go and buy another low mile original.
I placed a WTB post looking for a 68-72 with possible trade options plus cash on my end but haven't actually posted for sale yet, I don't want to be overpriced... I clearly get bored and move on to another corvette allot but not hurting anyone, I'm enjoying it, having some fun and learning allot... I've kept the GS for years.
I want to be realistic about its worth and looking for some thoughts all around as I will not likely be able to replace this car if I sell it, I will put allot into a 68-72 vert to get even close to this condition, I don't mind doing a full repaint and want to be able to modify a bit with side pipes, wheels etc and make a little more noise... perhaps a car my wife wouldn't want to drive ;-)
This 82 was the best I could find in the nation, its how you would want a babied corvette, purchased almost new by second owner who passed away in 2012, the daughter paid the family off and kept the car, always garaged, babied and maintained... she only added 2k miles since 2012 bringing the true original documented miles to 16.5k, service records and the carfax documents back to Feb 1983.
I also have a professional appraisal she had done to pay the family back in 2012 and was appraised back then at $17,900 with 14,500 miles.

The good and bad... the body and paint are exceptional, all original paint when I got it but i did repaint the front bumper as it just didnt match factory and I didnt like it... painted correct and you would not know its been repainted, it was done right.
I disassembled the car and went over the factory paint with 2000 and a full buff and polish with 2 coats of ceramic, the paint is indoor under the lights show quality, I always get asked at the shows "who did the paint job"
the trim/ embelms etc are all excellent, the glass is all like new with zero chips or wear, the weatherstrip is all original, soft and like new... zoom into pics.















The interior is excellent and all original, not even typical original leather wrinkle, door panels, seats, steering wheel etc all like new, the PO put another set of floor mats over the originals to keep them nice as well as a full carpeted cover in the rear section, the chrome trim paint around dash and console have zero wear, the interior is the nicest I've ever seen.





Engine bay in excellent condition and original, I did add a Corvette Central true dual no cat exhaust, i have all original exhaust that would go with the car in a local sale. The underside is clean and rust free.



The car runs and drives great, starts right up every time, absolutely no battery draw, runs as cool as can be even in Arizona 112 degree weather (does have new radiator) drives great and has the overdrive for nice freeway cruising, sounds good, not a puff of smoke ever, brand new tires 255/60s all around,
The car came with some nice extras... on top of the original tee top bags also has matching red ones, there was also a rear window tint insert... it pops in if you remove rear interior trim and looks like a fully tinted rear window without film over the defrost strips, PO even purchased a new sill trim as the original has a few scuffs... also a car cover.



Ok now the bad..
there is a small blemish in the dash by the glove box door, I can't figure out what happened but daughter said it was like that since they have owned it from almost new.
I am showing the only paint flaw... a small chip that was touched up that you couldnt see unless you truly search for it, only chip in the paint.
power antenna doesn't work but radio comes in great.
Small trans fluid leak, very small, there is a mechanical inspection in the records a few years back documenting a small trans servo cover leak, I purchased new servo cover ring seal just never put it in.
there is a very slight fluctuation in idle at times, doesnt effect anything at all and doesnt do it all the time, sometimes fluctuats between about 550-600 rpms. I replaced valve cover gaskets when I got the car and did a vacuum leak test around intake area and nothing, doesn't effect ide or drive at all so never did anything about it.



appraisal



I am not sure i believe the Hagerty values as I believe they are based more on what people insure for, I also realize this isn't the best time to sell a C3 or any specialty car for that matter, discretionary spending is down.
I was thinking about starting at $22k with a little room to move... is that reasonable, if I post on marketplace im sure everyone will give their low value opinion and say im overpriced so I don't plan on posting on Facebook... I feel thats a good starting point and also feel it would be very hard to find a nicer original 82 in the country.

I have a walk around video and short driving video I will post on the for sale thread when I figure out how to add a video.

 

I'd say $22k is a fair price and I wouldn't hesitate at that given the condition (if I only had a bigger garage ). It should be worth more but I think it would be difficult in today's market. Not enough love for 82's.

I'm with you on the 68-72 convertible as long it has a manual! I've been thinking about replacing my 2014 Camaro SS with one or new a corvette. Kind of crazy how they're in a similar price range but not so much for the later c3's.

 

agreed with today's market... likely not the best time to be thinking of selling but won't be crushed if it didn't sell.
thanks Bill and hope all is well.

 

Id start at $22k but wouldn't go much lower. May take a while. I had an 82 in that color and regretfully my cousin conned me into selling it to him.

 

I have an 82 with a carb...almost every show, cars n coffee type things someone comes up and tell how bad the Xfire was/is and I'm lucky to have it gone.... To many, having the Xfire is like having some movie beauty come up to you and tell you she wants to have your baby--with a big sore on her lip.... Might make it hard for many to come up with the big money....

Real nice car and good luck with the sale..anything over 20 is good, around here I've seen a couple pretty nice CE's go for under that...

60

 

It's a pretty car, I think if you advertise it on the forum it will do over 20k, the fact you owned it is a plus after seeing what you do to your cars.

 

I'll play a contrarian. That is a beautiful C3. You obviously like it a lot. Any way you can keep it and still get a bumper car?

I sold our '17 GS because we were planning on getting an Eray. In the end, we passed on the C8 allocation because the C7 GS was, in our opinion, a MUCH better looking car. Sure wish I had that GS back. I replaced it with a really nice ride of a foreign persuasion, but I miss that GS. If you sell/trade your gorgeous ride, I wonder if you'll end up with seller's remorse? But I get the need for change - we've owned over 150 vehicles.

I wish you well, Paul

 

I get that all the time too and when I tell them I had no issue keeping it running I'd get looks of amazement and disbelief.

 

PM sent

 

It’s a gorgeous car. The red looks liquid inside and out.

Absolutely should start at $22k, cash or trade value, and go from there. BTW, different states have different taxation schedules for private trades, and it can be significant. Find out how your state calculates that before you make a trade deal.

Good luck with the sale and the bumper car purchase.

 

thanks... I originally thought if I had issues I would just do a carb conversion... simple enough and cheaper than an overdrive conversion but it has been a great car with the CFI, great start cold or hot and drives fantastic, frankly better than any other C3 I've owned... done allot of learning on the CFI and more confident now to work on it if I had issues.

 

thank you, frankly I don't think I would have a problem getting the $22k plus on BAT... I haven't been that invested in selling yet, I thought the forum will be a good place to start, can't say im 100% committed

 

thanks so much... fortunately I live in a state that has no sales tax on private sale cars so on my end without going through a dealer I wouldn't have to deal with any sales tax.