i have found a numbers correct, totally restored and beautiful '68 roadster with both tops.car has 327/300hp, 4 spd and no air..owner has spent over $32 k on restoration..i have heard that '68 was not a good year..any thoughts on car itself and value..thanks, Beau

 

Bad? becuase of what? yes more expensive than the 69-72 i'll grant you that but their the same friggin car except for some small details. I'd personally shoot for the 69 but the 68 is just as nice just a few hundred $ more to restore.

 

Anyone who recommends to pass on a '68 merely because of the year is clueless. The '68 has many one year only parts that can be difficult to find, they are no better or worse in reliability than any '69-'72 chrome bumper car.

 

There are many parts unique to the '68 but it sounds like you won't have to worry much with that. I'd go for it if the car is as nice as it sounds!

 

Sounds like a nice car. The problem with 68's is they have a lot of one-year only parts so restoration is hard and expensive, but since it is done, you don't have to worry about that. 327's are good revving motors, should be fun. Try the vette buying sites for value. Joe

 

only bad because of first year..guess some problems unique to '68..ie;windshield wipers..car is beautiful and everything works..i can purchase for $20500

 

The 1968 C3 has some unique features that, I think, improve their "collectibility." They were, of course, the first of the C3's. Maybe you could argue that they are the "purest" C3, that subsequent changes were to make the car less expensive to produce, to incorporate smog features, to add "safety" features, to make the car more comfortable..... But the C3 does have some problems, being the first year of the design. I think the windshield wiper system is a frequent source of problems. There are some body fit problems (squeeks)...on my car the hardtop is a really poor fit. Heating problems?As for parts there were really two 1968 Corvettes, the early and the late, but there's only a few parts that distinguish the cars. One neat thing about the 1968 is that it's the only C3 that shares parts from the 1967 C2...the 1968 and 1967 have almost exactly the same suspension. It was the last Corvette with the ignition key in the instrument panel. So really because of the 1968's very unique makeup, it's very likely that it may become one of the more valuable C3's. One mitigating factor that may detract from it's collectibility is it's production numbers. I think there were 22,000 made! (Am I correct?) For instance, I think there were only 5,000 + 1970's made. But on the other hand, even though there were a large number of 1968's made, there doesn't seem to be many around today. I think some of their problems caused a lot of them to gravitate to scrap yards.

If you've got to change to buy a good clean 1968, you'll have a unique car! Almost a one of a kind production year Corvette.

 

Sounds like a great price. Look for rust in the windshield frame and in front of the rear wheels before you buy. Joe

 

And make sure things that should have been replaced/rebuilt have been. This would include the rear end, differential, brakes, suspension, steering, no rust.

 

18,630 convertibles built that year...8735 with extra top...thanks for info...beau

 

Yes, 68s have problems, it's why I have two so I can keep "one" running

 

I bought mine out of texas for 16K with 34,000 miles on it -- after the previous owner bought it for 15K and dumped 11K into it during the year and a half that he had it... while the owner prior to him did not spand a huge amount of money on the car (about 3K in receipts) he did pull the body and restore the frame/suspension.... so that needed no attention.

I did have a small leak where the fiberglass bonded to the cowl... I took it down to bare metal around the windshield frame to make certain that it was clean and found it to be prefect no rust anywhere, not even surface rust -- even found a mint original 1968 dime that someone at the factory placed in as a shim in the winshield... fortunately the car spent its whole life in south texas and never saw much rain...

I have since added another 30K... and still plan to install a keisler overdrive transmission and some other minor items after driving it on the turnpike at decent speed to carlisle a few weeks ago....

Thus 20K sounds like a fantastic price... However as the other guys said.. you should check it over very well to make certain what you are getting.

 

Just saw that a base '68 327/300 'vert went at Barrett Jackson's Los Angeles auction for $31K+. The condition rating was 1-. Not bad for a base model and the fact that the auction prices were down (dare I say, more realistic) compared to BJ's Scottsdale auction.

Go for the '68 deal! 20K sounds like a reasonable price for a base engine driver in good condition. I'd much rather have a '68 in nice condition than another model year in more questionable condition.

 

Sounds like a very nice car. A lot cheaper to buy one all done up than to pour your own money into a full restoration. His loss = your gain!

The more '68's on here, the better, in my opinion!! If for no other reason than to answer the various one year only questions that often come up!

Good luck!

 

Sounds like a nice car. Go for it.

Hans

 

My very first vette was a 1968 Safari Yellow, 2 top conv, 4 spd, 327/300 numbers matching car.

I owned her 8 years - NEVER ONCE let me down. Has been the most reliable Corvette I have owned yet. A great car that I, of course, wish I still had. My wife & I left the church in that car on our wedding day.

I still have my wife btw...

 

If the restoration was good, the so-called problems have been fixed. Other than some initial quality problems, which are long past, there is no big reason to avoid a '68 as far as reliability is concerned.