Is it a Baldwin Motion car? Need help!!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
From: Naperville il
Is it a Baldwin Motion car? Need help!!
I have a 1973 corvette coupe, wearing 90% of its original paint, 454 car, built heads, side exhaust, white painted backend with a stripe up the top middle to the nose. It has two stickers on the windshield both from New York. One of the stickers is dated 1975, the other is WOLO auto alarm. A few ISKY stickers too.. I bought the car early this year, and after I purchased the car I asked the previous owner when he decided to paint it like a Baldwin Motion car. He said I bought it that way back in the mid 70's. He said it had aluminum staggered wheels, and a really small mesh air cleaner. The wheels are gone, and so is the air cleaner and valve covers.
Anyway, I was curious if there is a "Motion" registry, or some way to tell if its real. If it didn't have the NY stickers, I would think that it was a made up car, which it still can be. Thanks for any help!
"the exterior is orange, tan interior, auto., all original factory body with faded paint.
Last edited by CQQL58; Aug 28, 2014 at 10:14 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,100
Likes: 801
From: Massapequa Park NY
Anything is possible but that paint job is not there typical paint scheme. It's similar but most paint stripes they did were pretty consistent. I have never seen one with a white stripe outlined in black and the shape of the stripe is not typical.
If you want to get a definitive answer you can send Joel Rosen $1500 (maybe more now) and he can look up what records he has of his cars.
If you want to get a definitive answer you can send Joel Rosen $1500 (maybe more now) and he can look up what records he has of his cars.
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Team Owner
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 31,497
Likes: 1,313
From: Huntsville AL
This topic has come up on many forums lately.
There are two pieces of possible information to keep in mind. I am not saying either one is correct, just that this has been mentioned on other forums, and more than once
Point one is that there may not be any information related to Motion cars in existence.
Point two is that, for the "right" price, just about any car that comes close could be "declared" a Motion car.
I have never seen any of the actual paperwork that verifies a car as a Motion car, other than a signed certificate stating that car such and such is a Motion car.
Caveat Emptor.
There are two pieces of possible information to keep in mind. I am not saying either one is correct, just that this has been mentioned on other forums, and more than once
Point one is that there may not be any information related to Motion cars in existence.
Point two is that, for the "right" price, just about any car that comes close could be "declared" a Motion car.
I have never seen any of the actual paperwork that verifies a car as a Motion car, other than a signed certificate stating that car such and such is a Motion car.
Caveat Emptor.
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 53,981
Likes: 6,207
From: About 1100 miles from where I call home.
Yeah just remember, when we had these cars in the 70s, the Motion thing was pretty popular. A lot of us had a Motion catalog (still got mine) and we were buying L88 hoods, getting Motion-looking paint jobs, buying side pipes, etc. The car very well may have a look similar to a Motion car thats been on there for decades, but it was a popular style then.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 20
Likes: 1
From: Naperville il
I appreciate all the responses on the corvette! When I purchased the car the previous owner didn't mention anything about the stripes on it, or the side exhaust. This car was sitting in a garage untouched since the early 80's. I paid $5000.00 for the car, and put on complete brand new brakes, new radiator, new relined gas tank, carburator, and many misc things to the car. I even repainted the front bumper. The hood is flat, the headlights (need adjusting from a 2 mph bump in garage, stuck up) are stock like the rest of the body. Frame is rock solid. I would believe that the car is not a Baldwin, but quite a few people mentioned the stickers, and told me you have nothing to lose to see if it was real. It has been at a mechanics shop since February. Losing interest fast in this car, I will post this in the for sale section later today.. Sorry, but $1500.00 is a little steep to pay to find out information on this car. I will take some front end pictures later today. Thanks again everyone! https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s/biggrin5.gif
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,330
Likes: 6
From: Long Island NY
Anything is possible but that paint job is not there typical paint scheme. It's similar but most paint stripes they did were pretty consistent. I have never seen one with a white stripe outlined in black and the shape of the stripe is not typical.
If you want to get a definitive answer you can send Joel Rosen $1500 (maybe more now) and he can look up what records he has of his cars.
If you want to get a definitive answer you can send Joel Rosen $1500 (maybe more now) and he can look up what records he has of his cars.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 15,892
Likes: 42
I appreciate all the responses on the corvette! When I purchased the car the previous owner didn't mention anything about the stripes on it, or the side exhaust. This car was sitting in a garage untouched since the early 80's. I paid $5000.00 for the car, and put on complete brand new brakes, new radiator, new relined gas tank, carburator, and many misc things to the car. I even repainted the front bumper. The hood is flat, the headlights (need adjusting from a 2 mph bump in garage, stuck up) are stock like the rest of the body. Frame is rock solid. I would believe that the car is not a Baldwin, but quite a few people mentioned the stickers, and told me you have nothing to lose to see if it was real. It has been at a mechanics shop since February. Losing interest fast in this car, I will post this in the for sale section later today.. Sorry, but $1500.00 is a little steep to pay to find out information on this car. I will take some front end pictures later today. Thanks again everyone! https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s/biggrin5.gif
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 170
Likes: 2
From: Alice Texas
That sounds more like a "leave me alone, I am not interested in the car you just bought" fee. With all the clones around, I can only imagine the number of people that call looking for documentation on the valuable/rare garage find they came across.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,802
Likes: 241
From: Niles, MI
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 14,935
Likes: 3,343
From: NYC NY
Yeah just remember, when we had these cars in the 70s, the Motion thing was pretty popular. A lot of us had a Motion catalog (still got mine) and we were buying L88 hoods, getting Motion-looking paint jobs, buying side pipes, etc. The car very well may have a look similar to a Motion car thats been on there for decades, but it was a popular style then.
and I still have mine too. 