grampi50

I think it'll be a few decades before we go into a post petroleum era...

Lexybird

I didn’t buy my c5 for the next guy ! Invest in your personal happiness and just drive the dang thing

johnson-rod

In 50 or 60 years people will be taking the C5 body and mounting it on their C16 chassis.

My beautiful plastic-fantastic lover.

number44

Ok Glum, Some company will make after market electronics. If theres money to be made - It will be made

grampi50

That's just it, only if there's money to be made. Look at the EBCM for example. There's certainly a market for them, but apparently there's more cost in making them available than there are profits to be made by selling them or we'd already be able to buy aftermarket units...

STALION

Highly doubtful...Maybe some Z06 or FRC's but plain jane C5's will increase very, very little unless it is some extraordinary RPO code, such as gold paint, purple, and not excluding some of the anniversary editions.

jjc508520

At Carlisle - I had more than one mention to me that my non-Z06 '00 FRC might be worth hanging onto

grantv

If you keep it 100% stock, have very low miles, all in crazy mint condition... nah, I still doubt it. Mod it, drive it as you see fit.
As for the OP, same notes. I can't imagine a '97 fetching any special price unless its a rare option car, and then still...
You want a car to collect; get at least a vert, better yet a Z.

jackthelad

The only brand where the prices are pretty much guaranteed to go up is Ferrari. Others may go up due to rarity - when they are about 40-50 years old. C5's aren't rare, and in 40 years time they will all be sidelined due to lack of replacement electronics.

If you want a long term collectable, get an "analog" car, where the aftermarket can supply the parts to keep it running.

friou

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think C5's will ever be a high buck collector car. It happens though, hemi cars, orginal 2 seat cobras etc. Mostly I think of C5's as an incredible performance bargain that is to be enjoyed in the here and now. On the other hand, in the recent past I saw a write up on a '70(?) Cuda or Challenger, hemi I believe, that was well into six figures. Very, very, very few made in its color. I mean, what guy buys a hemi cuda/challenger that is pink? But there you go, no one wanted one at the time but now, becuase of that god awful color, a highly prized and valuable collector car. Go figure!

Cjunkie

my thought is you’ve started your Thanksgiving boozing to early.

roadbike56

The market place has already spoken on the C5. The winner is the 2004 Z06 Commemorative Edition. Prices on low and mid mileage examples has already started to escalate. One rolled off at Mecum not too long ago. My best recollection is it did pretty well. I saw one example on autotrader.com asking well over $30K, probably won't get it, but I'd bet it will bring over $25K.

JALLEN4

There have been dozens of low mileage Z06's of all years sell for more than $25,000 in the last year. Several have exceeded $30,000.

Verrückt ZR1

I sold my '04Z in March for $27k. 12k miles, Torch Red/Mod Red combo. Nearly flawless. The only C5's I can see dipping into the 30's would be low mileage CE Z16's, and ULTRA low mileage late model cars. Asking prices are always wishful thinking.

ArmchairArchitect

Correction: Not plastic, it's fiberglass. Resin is used to bond the fiberglass together. Same way you wouldn't call a carbon-fiber car or part "plastic" just because resin is used to hold together carbon fiber as well.

JR-01

Not all wrong. What do you think polyester resin is? It's a plastic resin used to support and mold the fibers in fiberglass. "Plastic" covers a lot of materials.

Fcar 98

In the spring of this year, a good friend. Bought an 01Z 12000 miles 20 grand. Went to upstate NY to get it.

JALLEN4

I actually paid more than that for a 4,000 mile 2002 Z06 last year. There have been documented cases on the forum reporting asking prices of over $30,000 for low mileage cars that were then reported sold. If you search the various auctions, there have been Z06's selling for the big dollars documented.

I would agree that the '04 Z car would lead the pack and ultra low mileage Z's of all years are very close. Of course this is going to be true for some time to come as there are a number of these cars in existence. They are though by the reports of the experts starting to appreciate. It is going to take a long time to work through these low mileage cars and even much longer before people start thinking about restoring a lesser
car.

I can remember buying nearly 10 year old split windows for around $3,000. There were a number of '65,'66,'67's out there with low miles and short dollars. The thought was they were nice cars but there were too many of them to be really collectible. Then ,suddenly, they were! Very similar to air cooled 911's of today. Nobody thought they were ever going to be valuable because there were too many of them but maybe a Turbo would be. Try to buy one today.

radar502

And I have one Yea , I have a standing offer of $25,000 from a club member ,its will never be for sale wile I am around but nice to know other people see some value in it .

grasshopper645

This basically sums it up nicely, especially the '97 and '98's which are the worst by far in terms of discontinued parts availability.