Big Lebowski

rjacobs

The value of them is high... They are nice cars, but when you can buy a 96 6 speed car with LT4 and Z51 for 10-13k depending on miles and condition, and BASICALLY have the same car, unless you have some crazy reason, desire, dream, etc... to own a GS, its a tough buy at the prices people are asking. The GS is cool and all, but for what amounts to a paint job you are paying a 20k dollar premium. Only you can answer if its worth it to you.

To answer you question though, a low mile GS, with red interior and Z51, which had 86 produced, would garner 35-40k would be my guess. I have perused a FEW of them over the past month when I was looking for a 96 CE. The cars are out there, but the prices are high.

billschroeder5842

I have always been dumbfounded on how the value of these cars seem to be climbing,

If you are a driver, find a clean 96 with a LT4 and you essentially have the same car for half the price.

Big Lebowski

cv67

Wouldnt pay over 20s....its still a C4. Opinions will vary.
You have to really want one, if youre shopping for value you can pick up a low mi C5Z for that.

Big Lebowski

Thank you. No, not about "bang for the buck" and I agree. Its more about the 96 GS specifically.

bac22

That's like saying you wouldn't pay extra for a 63 split window because it's still a C2...

OH THREE Z

i would need a better idea of "very low miles." low miles in the GS world differ from the majority of the rest of the C4 world. I have just a tick over 23k on mine and feel like its maybe on the low end of average. Low mile to me means less than 10k

I have had my GS for about 5 years and i feel the market has been pretty flat since i purchased mine.

Mine is a red gut z51 coupe. Im the second owner and its in very very good condition. I feel like the market for it would be $28-30k. Its funny as i have a base LT4 with 34k miles as well and the GS feels 100% more solid than the base car and drives like new. The LT4 feels 22 years old.

I suggest checking out mecums infonet. you can search all of the 96 corvettes (most are GS's) that have sold at auction over the past few years. remember that the sale price does not include the buyers and sellers premium which i believe is 10% on both ends.

There were 86 red gut Z51's made. I feel like its the one to own as the verts never did much for me and the fx3 can be expensive to fix/maintain...

If you pull the trigger welcome to our exclusive club!

OH THREE Z

no one is selling a low mile pristine Z51 LT4 for 10-13

Finding a pristine, low mile Z51 LT4 isnt easy.

Big Lebowski

Thanks for the advice on Mecum, and I agree. Even Haggerty shows a pretty flat market over the last 5 years.

B17Crew

For reference, here’s a link to the Grand Sport Registry’s ”values.” Plots go back as far as 2011.
Link: http://www.grandsportregistry.com/96...96GSValues.pdf

B17Crew

GS982

I just sold my GS Coupe, Black Guts, Base Suspension with 53,XXX miles for $22,500. You would think under 2,500 miles a year would be a low mileage car, but in the world of the GS, I think 20K is about average. I had the car for 2 years and put a couple thousand trouble free miles on it. It drove like a new car, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would because of the body flex with the targa off. If you like open air motoring, I would suggest going with a vert or find a second hand targa truss bar.

For an ultra low mile coupe with red guts, I think you will be well into the $30K range. As long as the car has been maintained and not abused, I would not rule out a higher mile car (30K-60K). I would imagine they might even have fewer gremlins lurking than car 22 year old car that has only seen 5K miles or so.

Also, IMO I don't think these cars will ever draw big money. Everyone bought them to put them away on shelf as to not devalue them. Too many low mine pristine cars in the market. Some of the high dollar cars $35K+ that are currently for sale were for sale over 2 years ago when I was looking for mine. Anyway, I had to buy my GS to scratch that itch and it had to be a GS, but as others have said, if you want the car for the driving experience, go find a nice LT4 car for half the money.

cv67

Hear what youre saying but its not a 63 split window. It takes a die hard to pay big money for one

OP what is "low miles"

Some call 50k lo miles, others say less than 10k is low mile big difference.

JrRifleCoach

The car is a true automotive collectable. To date the only Corvette series to be VIN serialized 1-1000
But you already know this for a fact.

pacoW

I was just at Carlisle last week. One of the things I go there for is the corral (vettes for sale), and I make note of asking prices (not selling prices). While I did not see any '96 GS's, there were 3 C4 ZR1's for sale, 91, 93, and a 95. If I remember correctly the 93 had less than 30K and they were asking $28k. the other 2 were 60k and 80k miles (don't remember which year was what mileage) and they were asking low $20k. This is definitely a "bump" up in price from last year. Also notable, corral was "empty" compared to last year ('17), a lot less vettes for sale overall. I did go on fri last year & this year. Weather last 2 years was perfect. So like any other generation of vettes, the ultra rare & rare values take off first, then the base models start to see the value increase 5-8yrs later IMO.

Paul Workman

Excellent example. UNIQUE does count - proves BLING = more than ZING!

cv67

Guess you gotta be in love with one...how they are worth more than a lower mi ZR-1? Theres unique.
The GS is a Vin and a couple striped theres nothing special about them.They look cool and all but drive the same as any LT4 car

Bet these (vettes period) going the way of the dinosaur, er musclecar.

Who is lining up to buy them, the millenial at Starbucks posting on Twitter? Dont think so
Watch for prices to drop.....my a body is worth about half what it was 3-4 yrs ago if that much.
On internet land much more but that isnt real life

bb62

Not sure what you are saying. My 95 ZR-1 is also serialized from 1-448. So it has a smaller set of vin numbers. If you are says it is the only Corvette serialized to the number "1000", then yes you are correct.

JrRifleCoach

That is the first time I've heard of this.
What is the story? 1-448 consecutive ZR1s down the production line to end the model option?
A quick check of the ZR1 registry didn't mention any limited/serialized production runs.
The GS was intentionally produced as a limited "special serialized" production run. Not just to finish off an inventory of parts.

http://www.grandsportregistry.com/96_specs.htm#VIN

bb62

The last three years of ZR-1 production was limited to 448 cars per year. All had their own production numbers serialized. From the 96 GS link you just sent to me: "The only other production Corvette up to this time to have had a unique VIN sequence was the 1990-1995 ZR-1." The last years of ZR-1 production were not to "finish off an inventory of parts". Had that been the case, they would not have redesigned the engine for more power for the final 3 years. If anything, one could argue that the entire GS run was a way to "finish off an inventory of parts" given that the entire C4 platform was going away.