Scared to pull the trigger, but will be a first time C3 Vette owner within 48 hours
 

My favorite cars have always been the C3 Stingrays. Always. I'm not an enthusiast by any means, but I've always been a lover. My earliest memory is of bring enamored by those long, sexy, hoods. My Mom's 69 Vette (black, T-Tops, black leather interior is how she always described it) was stolen while I was in the womb.

I pipeline and passed a little Vette dealer in a tiny PA town. Dude had like 15 of them (various models, plus some Chevelle's and fastback Stangs).

I suddenly realized out of the blue that I'm at a point in life that I could actually make my oldest goal a reality.

So I'm about to pull the trigger on a 71 base model 4 speed manual with 85k miles. My only concern is I'm paying too much. When I steeled myself for an argument with my wife and told her about it, and she said, "I think you should buy it," I knew I was doomed.

These suckers are hard to price, though. This model and motor go anywhere from 5k to 35k(?). I got him down to 19.5k. About to head over to the C3 section and see if those old pros can give this young (ish) neophyte some guidance.

Read a lot about them on this forum last night, and look forward to starting the journey of boosting it up 100hp or so after driving it for a season or two.

Glad to be here. Will be a paying lifetime member soon after purchase.
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Welcome to the forum and best of luck getting that C3. It’s nice to be able to realize a long time dream.

Welcome!
Please post some pics once you have your dream car. :thumbs:

Welcome and good luck with your purchase!

Welcome to the forum!!! :thumbs:

Fingers crossed purchase goes smoothly! :D

Its a great year to own, good luck :steering:

Welcome.

Pretty easy to work on. Fun cruisers.

Welcome and good luck with your search!

Welcome to the CF! :cheers:

Can't go wrong with a chrome bumpered sting ray....68-72 will always hold there value.....As far as horsepower,If your motor is solid, no burning oil and what not, you can always go with headers,intake,carb,cam,heads.....Many of those parts if you can't afford new are pretty easy to come by in the parts section....

Welcome to the forum!

Dreams Maybe Dashed
 

Well I sent all the pertinent information to a Corvette enthusiast I know in OK. He's one of those guys who has had 8 of them, the most expensive being around 100k.

He said the '71 350, 270 goes for 12k to 15k all day. Here's a link of the one I was looking at:

​​​​https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1056434/1971-chevrolet-corvette-for-sale-in-mount-union-pennsylvania-17066

What do you guys think? Way overpriced? There's no frame rust and the suspension looks good. Interior is not immaculate but very clean. As far as I know the numbers are all matching.

I've yet to drive it, but don't want to fall more in love if it's a bad investment. I'm already feeling very heart broken.

Welcome to the forums!

ps. stay calm and shop on :thumbs:

pss. don't forget to check this out also.......
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ale-wanted-56/

12-15K all day? I have been a C-3 owner for the past 20 years, a 76 and presently a 73 vert.....A nice 71 will go for more than 12-15K believe me.....I have seen nice ones advertised for over 20K....Chrome bumpered vettes will bring in nice money providing they are in nice shape.....

The one your looking at does in fact look nice on the outside....The engine and engine compartment does look tired......Tough to judge by photos but you may be able to negotiate and tell the seller about the engine and engine compartment.....

If your not comfortable with the price you negotiated don't sweat it,somebody else may feel the same way and pass on the car as well...

Just went on the website to view the dealership....Dude, check out the 91 ZR-1 they have advertised.....I own a 91 Z and the price there asking for it is very good.....Car has an aftermarket exhaust system on it and it is the right color blk/ blk like mine.....

Not knocking the 71 but the Z has much more performance and it qualifies for classic ins....I bought mine stock years ago .....Since than I sunk about 11,000 into the motor...Now it has around 530 horsepower ......

Take it for a ride, it can't hurt and its 3,000 dollars less than the 71......Ironic thing is, these cars were 65,000 dollars new....

Love those years (all actually) part of why i bought my c7 was similar lines to the c3, anyway drive the car, pounce on the brakes, get it on a lift and tap on everything, I live in Pa so if car is native to Pa could be some rust, most vettes are cared for but I do have a more money then brains buddy whose a bit older who back in the day bought a new vette for a winter ride so he didn't trash his testarossa, killed me I worked so hard to get my C4 and I took good care of mine (still have it actually) and he trashed his.. So while hidden rust should be unlikely best to make sure. You could always set up a PPI (pre purchase inspection) to have it gone through, typically an outside inspector in PA would charge 200-300 bucks, maybe 400 if he has a bit of travel. Not pocket change, but cheaper then finding out you got rust, bad trans etc. Plus A PPI would be the emtotion equalizer.... good luck!!

Welcome :thumbs: