I just thought I'd look at historical prices for Corvette
Coupes without any options, all normalized to approximately
1983 dollars. In other words, lets compare apples and apples.
I am doing this using the prices listed in the Corvette
Black Book and the values for the Consumer price index.
The reason I wanted to do this is that I remember hearing
that the prices of the last C3 Corvettes were artificially
raised in anticipation of a much more expensive C4. Recently
there have been quite a few subtle price increases and I
was wondering if this wasn't a slow ramp up in pricing to
lessen any dramatic C6 cost increase.


Corrected Coupe Price = 13,717.5 in 1965
Corrected Coupe Price = 13,381.4 in 1970
Corrected Coupe Price = 12,658.0 in 1975
Corrected Coupe Price = 15,946.6 in 1980
Corrected Coupe Price = 17,886.7 in 1981
Corrected Coupe Price = 18,953.4 in 1982
Corrected Coupe Price = 20,981.7 in 1984
Corrected Coupe Price = 22,679.4 in 1985
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,659.7 in 1986
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,647.0 in 1987
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,927.3 in 1988
Corrected Coupe Price = 25,439.5 in 1989
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,467.5 in 1990
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,828.9 in 1991
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,973.6 in 1992
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,941.2 in 1993
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,416.3 in 1994
Corrected Coupe Price = 24,137.1 in 1995
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,725.3 in 1996
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,361.4 in 1997
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,003.1 in 1998
Corrected Coupe Price = 23,512.0 in 1999
Corrected Coupe Price = 22,923.9 in 2000
Corrected Coupe Price = 22,854.3 in 2001
Corrected Coupe Price = 22,901.1 in 2002


I would conclude several things. The suggestion that there
was a strong price ramp up prior to C4 seems quite plausible
from the data above. Also, the constant dollar cost of an
un-optioned coupe has stayed remarkably fixed for 15 years.
It doesn't look like there is a quiet price escalation
going on in anticipation of C6. In spite of the constant
real-dollar cost of the Corvette, I think the cars are getting
much better. That's progress for you!!!


[Modified by Runge_Kutta, 9:11 PM 3/29/2002]

 

Fascinating. But I wonder if perhaps there's an escalation of other cars in the same time period observed here for Corvette? For example, what happened to the price of a Porsche 911, a Cadillac Seville, a Chevy Impala, a Honda Accord, or a Ford F150 through the 70s and 80s?

And there's a significant jump hidden in the span from 1975 to 1980; year-by-year numbers for that period would be interesting to see.

Do we observe a price-jacking of Corvette, or an industry-wide escalation?

As for finding a ramp-up of C5 prices in preparation for C6, your analysis misses the increases in option package costs. Since relatively few cars ship with base 1SA equipment, I think looking at the 1SB increases is warranted. Do the option package increases follow inflation or exceed it? I suggest this because I suspect that C6 will be equipped where 1SB is today and 1SA "stripped" cars will cease to exist.

I'm guessing that C6 will see a significant price hike as the base model is upgraded with items that are now optional and better-quality interior materials. (I'm not happy about this, but it seems inevitable.) Whether it's a $2,500 bump as I suspect or a $7,500 bump as others suggest the market will bear I don't know, but I think the days of a (corrected) $23,000 coupe are numbered.

.Jinx

 

$56,662 Base Msrp

 

I'm thinking around $50,000 base. I remember the fire sales of the C4 in 95 and 96. You could grab one for just a little over 30K. When the C5 came out you couldn't touch one for under 40K with the dealer markups.

 

That's interesting data. What I'm interested in is why the price went up. It seems that the price went up mostly between 1975 and 1984. This is when the CAFE laws were just comming into effect. They also happened to be some of the highest volume years (despite the apparent price increase). If we consider that all the cars were running on unleaded gas, with cats, which required lower compression ratio (which kills fuel economy) It's easy to see how they would have to raise the price of the cars to either A: meet CAFE requirements with new technology) or B: pay the CAFE fines. We know that they came out with HEI ignition, Fuel Injection, lighter suspension and body components (although late C3 weights were pretty porky) and other fuel saving measures, probably at no small cost. I think perhaps it wasn't a ramp up simply for the purpose of preparing people for the C4. I think that the cost of producing a car went up in this time period. I'd love to see similar data on other cars over this time. I know that average corrected cost of cars has gone up in the past 30 years, and I have a feeling that the change in the vette was simply a reflection of this.

Scott

 

the above posts assume cost plus pricing.
There are other methods.

 

Thanks for the analysis, very cool! Adjusted for the difference in performance, I'd say that the Corvette today is a hell of a deal.

Also, really puts into perspective the investment value of 'vettes, not too good (after inflation).

 

Huh?

 

I think the base price will be in the mid 40s. With the Vert going well over 50.

 

57K??? where the hell did u get that number?
that's WAY too much for a coupe vette.

 

I paid $55K and change for my 2002 Coupe brand new. It was $47K sticker,
$4K for the tags and another $4K for the 100,000 mile warranty, etc. I'm
sure the C6 Coupe will be at least $50K sticker. Whatever the cost, I hope
Chevrolet takes their time with it because I'd like to drive my car for at least
four years without having to anguish over being stuck in a C5 when the better
looking C6's are out. I can just imagine how badly someone who bought a
brand new C4 in '96 must have felt after the C5's exploded on the scene in
'97. I don't want to end up like that, but I know I probably will. Anyway, the
C5's are awesome cars, and they will always be regardless of what the C6's
look like.