slammin

For several months I've been "shopping" for a C3., concentrating primarily on 73 and 74s, but considering as new as 77. I'm surprised how many clean looking cars priced below 15K fail to get bids or meet reserve on eBay. Granted many may look a lot better in photos than in person. Craigs list here in Colorado shows similar results. I have seen more than a few very attractive cars, but they are on the other side of the country. Its hard to believe there aren't local buyers for them. In my area clean cars are few and far between.

Wee

I agree...I have been surprised at the low prices and it seems they still don't sale. There was a steel bumper car that was listed here for around 13k and it sold locally for 9k. It needed some work but was a decent driver. I thought I got a killer deal 4 years ago on my 72 at 13,300.

Brian

derekderek

73 and up just don't carry the dollar value that the older cars do. and there are so many bad ones out there still for sale that they're bringing down the value of all of them.

cv67

The old car audience of buyers in general is shrinking as the years go by.
Good if you plan on buying...if you own get your use out of it.

crawfish333

I agree. The problem is buyers are uninformed in a lot of cases. They see 2 cars and not knowing what to look for they seem to be equal. In reality, one of them is a pile of junk hidden underneath a coat of cheap paint and some wax. Then buyers of these "bargains" then come on this forum and lament about the issues they find after purchase. The price of truly solid cars is driven down and selective buyers end up with a steal, while sellers end up losing their rear end on the sale. IMO, it is cheaper to buy a decent car in the first place than it is buy a clunker and bring it back. All of these cars will eventually require work, but if you start with a basket case, it will end up being a money grinder.

If you are a buyer, remember that all that glitters is not gold.

End of rant.

Tonio

In my little region of the country, rubber nose C3's are not a hot commodity/not valued as collectible cars, so their sales are very slow/low prices. Chrome bumper C3's do pretty well though. I'm guessing it's same story across the country.

Bikespace

Have you sat inside a 78-82 C3? You might change your mind about your upper cutoff year, especially with the 79+ clamshell seats. I saw plenty of good looking 73s in my area when I was looking, but I couldn't live with that interior.
I've bought both of my Corvettes off of Craigslist. I never tried eBay, and wouldn't for a car purchase, unless it was just to find the car's seller then work a separate deal. There are sites that let you search all regional Craigslist sites at the same time, if that is helpful to you. How far are you willing to drive? If you find the car you really want, it's not unreasonable to fly there, buy it, and drive it home, assuming it is safe to drive.
Good luck on your search!

slammin

Brian, I know the car you referred to, and talked to the seller. I was shocked by the sales price. Locally there are 2 for sale that I know of. Both Bubba crap wagons. I'm not adverse to a 500 mile trip for the right car. As I watch listings across the country, most go unsold for weeks and weeks. I always talk to a seller before I consider a car. In spite of that I've driven several hours to look at a "clean" car to find everything from a broken windshield to one with coolant in the oil.

Primoz

We (people) are very visual oriented and we on this forum all know that you just can't judge the Corvette just from the pictures.
There are so many "hidden" and specific areas to look at in a Corvette that there is where the real value of a car is.

Priya

I've been predicting a crash in old muscle car prices for many years now.

Fifteen, 20 years or more ago it used to be that if you wanted a powerful car you had to buy an old musclecar from 62-71 ish. When new cars started exceeding the horsepower of the most powerful old musclecars I thought few would see the point in paying the price of a new car for a 1970 version when they could buy a more powerful (now much more powerful) new car for the same price or a little more. I.e. Why would you pay $100k - $200k for an old hemi dodge when for less (sometimes far less) you could get a much more powerful new challenger that gets better gas mileage, runs better and has all kinds of new technology that makes the car much nicer to drive?

Still, I don't see much of a drop in the prices of these old musclecars compared to the crash in prices I've been thinking would be inevitable. Although, nowadays you see old musclecars with newer powertrains bringing as much and sometimes more than all original examples.

redvetracr

why?? because there are still plenty of guys in their 50`s and 60`s who lusted after those cars when they were 15-16-17, they couldn`t afford them then but they can now.

John Ulrich

I feel the market for rubber bumpered C3's is the same now as when I purchased my 27 yrs ago. Prices are the same!!!

mobird

Honestly, without seeing the car in person, it is impossible to say that a car sold for less than it should have. Most of the time when I see a car that is priced below what it should be stay up for sale for a few weeks, I go check it out to find that it is still for sale because everyone who came and saw it in person passed on it because of undisclosed issues.

From what I've seen locally, you can get a basic rubber bumper C3 that runs OK but probably isn't very well maintained for $5-8k. These ones tend to sit forever before selling because they almost all need work to be reliable drivers(tires, bushings, suspension, engine work, brakes, etc...).

You can get a well maintained rubber bumper car that I would call "driver quality" where the owner kept up with routine maintenance and there are no glaring mechanical issues and you could hop in and drive it around reliably, but probably not perfect paint or interior for $7-10k. These seem to sell fairly quickly, depending on the how well maintained they were, because most people shopping for a C3 are expecting to pay in that price range so they are getting a good running car for their money.

There are a number of non-running or horribly running rusty C3s that I see go up for sale for anywhere from $1500 to 5,000 (why people think that they will get $5k for a rusted out rubber bumper car, I will never know).

Personally, I feel I did ok when I got mine a few years ago. In hindsight however, the guys on this forum are correct: you are better off spending more on a better car rather than spending less on a car that needs work. I got a really good deal on my 79 4-speed thankfully. It ran well enough that I drove it the 200 mile drive home that night. Interior was rough and carb badly needed to be tuned. Over the last couple years, I've put thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into working on it. But I don't see that as a waste, I enjoy working on it (most of the time) and although SOME of the money spent was maintenance items (brakes, shocks, springs, bushings, etc...) alot of it was me CHOOSING to spend money on go-faster parts.

The long and the short: buy the best car you can afford. Little parts will nickle and dime you to get it in the condition you want.

Primoz

Now that is spot on!

The13Bats

Lots of great opinions in this one,
Gets my mind engaged, but no, i find flaws in "buy the best c3 you can afford"
Its a short sighted blanket idea,
In my case in 09 i "could" have afforded any c3 i wanted,

however,

I sure didnt want a stock restoration nor some other guys dream come true in a resto mod and now for sale,
Nope, i wanted "my" perfect c3 and nothing could be a bigger waste to me than paying for something i dont need or will use, of course that has to be a trade off to feel i got my moneys worth.

So i bought the car i wanted knowing i would mod it,
Is it the cheapest route? For me sure it is.

I really do not want to be labled some elistist taco but im drifting away from my mindset all c3s are the same and being forced to place 68 to 72s into their own grouping,
And things like this example are why im changing my view this way,

A guy buys a project 74 to 82 because he wants a Corvette of course he has a favorite year, color, engine etc but lets say he jumps on a 75 to 77 and does a ground up rebuild,
Some work himself some hired out, the car is finished and he has a blast driving it,

But grinding on his back burner was his dream car lets say a 68 427 4 speed convertible,

Hes got many times invested in his 75 to 77 car what he could ever hope to fetch but his investment total would have bought a super nice 68 427 car he really wanted so now he has to get his investment back driving the car that isnt what he wants,
I dont blame him for being buttchapped.

Across the board chromies are more sought after and get better prices faster than plastic bumper cars in comparible condition,
So is the market soft?
I dont believe so, its just the dollar buys more post 73 c3.

I kind of doubt too many 74 to 82s for under 10k dont need basically a restoration in that, the final investment is far more uoside down than if that was invested in a chromie.

Hemi John

Funny story regarding corvettes and there sellers... I saw a '68 390hp 427 convertible on ebay. It was advertised as "All numbers matching". Asking very good $ considering condition of car. I looked through all the photos of the car and they had a picture of the casting # of the block. "289" casting which was a '72 up 454 block. I emailed the seller to enlighten them. There response was "I'll look into it"! A few days go by and I glance on ebay again, same wording, numbers matching, BUT, now the picture of the blocks casting number is removed!! LMAO!! Some people suck.

Buyers beware, especially on ebay!!

Priya

I agree. Buying the best Corvette you can afford might be a good idea for most people but if you're looking for something the factory didn't build (paint, interior colour, etc.) you could be a lot better off buying a cheap project car. I paid top dollar for my 79 because it was in really nice shape but now I'm customizing the body, changing interior and exterior colour, putting in different transmission and motor. Most of the stuff I paid top dollar for is being removed and replaced with other stuff. I'd have been several thousand ahead to buy a project car and do to it what I'm doing to my 79 now - it wouldn't cost any more money.

ajrothm

Unless its a factory big block or LT1 car, or some kind of 1 owner survivor car, none of them bring crap for money.... I mean a 69' 350/350hp 4 spd convertible car is a $20k car...
C3s are not good "investment" cars, but they are GREAT cars to build/restore and have fun with.

Stingre'

Exactly, I got mine cheap, built it for me and now its done and FUN !

billcarson

i bought my '76 to occupy my mind after a divorce and enjoyed all the repairs and the challenges associated with it.not sure if anyone today would do the same to drive their values up.poor quality parts have surly taken a toll also.i guess it will be part of my estate.