75 Corvette selling advice

I have a 75 corvette convertible that is not in very good shape, but it is a rare color (light bright green). It was running up until last year, when the power steering cylinder rod broke (leaving a small hole in the frame where it is supposed to be attached), and it hasnt been driven since. The engine was rebuilt about 3 years ago and the numbers no longer match, but I still have the matching engine block, it has a scratch in one of the cylinders but it could be sleaved to get it back working. The body of the car needs work along with the interior. Both bumpers have disentigrated. I have no time or money to put into it and I want to sell it, but I have no clue what it would be worth or how to go about selling it. Does anyone have any advice?

Reply to
hannah
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Don't mean to be cruel, because it's hard to comment on a car one hasn't seen, but... Some things on older Corvettes are rare because they were little-known options that only people plugged-in at Chevy knew about (like special powerplants or suspensions known only to professionals in the racing industry), some were rare because normal buyers straining to afford a new Corvette just couldn't justify the additional cost (like fuel injection & air conditioning) or felt the option would detract from street driving (like 4:55 differentials & side pipes), and some years are especially appealing (57, 63, 67). ...but some things are rare because they just weren't appealing, (like radio delete); I suspect your color is in the last category, and probably still is. Your Corvette sounds as though it's barely more than a parts car at this point, it even has to be hauled away due to the steering problem, and it would cost a buyer upwards of $20K to restore it, so your best bet may be to offer it up to the highest bidder on eBay. Watch eBay sales for awhile to see what similar cars are bringing, and set your expectations accordingly.

Reply to
WayneC

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Rare Colors were generally the least popular (that is UGLY) But a quick check shows that the Steel Blue was the rarest 75 Color Try selling it as the last of the C3 Convertibles instead of its color..IF you are pushing "rare"...

From your description of the car it is really a parts car or a long term project car to be rebuilt...NOT RESTORED Rebuilding costs could easily top 15K Restoration costs would be 2 to 3 times that...

Put another way... I own a 72 Convertible A 76 Coupe And a 79 Coupe. . None of them need anything mechanically or cosmetically but I still could drop a grand into each IF I wanted too.

I could walk out to the garage now, dust any of them off, spent 30 minutes with a detailing spray, drive them to enter them in a Corvette Show and do well....if not win my class ...

IF I Put a 4 Sale sign on all three ..and sold all 3 I would be lucky (and surprised) if I could deposit

40 Grand in the bank this evening.....

My guess on its worth as it is now to someone like me who just enjoys rebuilding cars for relaxation as a hobby...and as a to keep me out of bars is $2,000 tops...

Bob G.

64 72 & 98 Rag Tops 76 & 79 Coupes
Reply to
Bob G.

As others have said, you are in the roughest spot to be with a Corvette. The year is against you, the condition is against you, and the market is against you.

You already know, I'm sure, the costs needed:

  1. Bumpers - 0
  2. Interior - 0-00
  3. Paint - 00 - 00
  4. Engine rebuild - 00

You can see this could be $15,000 in costs and it would be only halfway to being a really nice car, since you still need to rebuild the chassis to be up to the rest of the car. While the chassis parts won't cost that much, the labor will kill you.

Here's a link to what yours has the potential:

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Here is a link to those selling on ebay now:

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Here's a link to those that sold on ebay:
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Realistically, to get the prices of some of these cars, you would need to restore it. So figure $20,000 on the low and $30,000 very likely. Now what could you sell it for restored? Obviously, this makes the initial investment very, very low, which isn't what you want to hear.

The best bet is put it on eBay and see what you get, or take it to a Corvette show/swap meet or larger Chevy meet, like any of the Super Chevy weekends.

Realistically, you can buy decent rubber bumper cars in the $6000 - $10,000 range, so even on the cheap (cheap paint and interior and bumpers), you are putting it in the $4000 range as a high price and likely to be less.

Rare color is not going to do much for you, unlike midyears. Rare colors in them simply reduces the potential market to a much lower number of buyers. Light colors seem to sell worse. There is nothing like a good looking black or dark blue to get people to notice, along with a deep red.

A guy I know of is trying to sell his '79 light blue. He is having a terrible time and it is a really nice car. He had it on ebay a few months ago and it only went to around $4000.

Good luck.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

Market: For this car, geography is everything. Can't really tell whether you are in Florida, South Dakota or near Hearne TX. Just for chuckles and grins, let's assume Hearne. That makes your 'parts car' market Austin or Houston. Your 'project car' market is closer. Perhaps someone in Waco, maybe Austin. (An Austin techie who wants to bend wrenches for a change.) It's difficult to drive 100 miles each way to see a car that you can't drive unless there are some real motivators.

Sounds like you don't need a tax write-off but if you did, a quick donation to a Austin or Houston charity might be an option if you can get a good FMV appraisal. (Tougher now than three years ago but, if the appraiser considered the core value of the two blocks, the individual body panels, less wrecking costs, etc. etc.) You might have $6-8K of fair market value here and might be able to achieve a tax saving of more than you can get for the whole car. (emphasize, "might")

Price: Last month I put on my coveralls and helped a friend consider a black '75 convertible. Sharp paint, good frame, no rust, excellent/new top, good trim and seals, fair-to-good interior--needed perhaps $ 500 on the interior and another $ 500 in the front end. The asking price was $

8,500. There have been no takers and the car is now advertised at $6,995. I'd guess it will go for $ 6,500 tops. Running C3s with problems, particularly paint, advertise at $ 2K in the SoCal market. I think you've seen honest estimates from this group and $ 1500 to 2000 in the mid-Texas market might be about right.

Suggested Strategy:

  1. Define the car's build completely. Engine, transmission, gearing, options etc. Have all this ready to send/fax/email to anyone who calls.

  1. Post pics on that website of yours. Exterior and details.

  2. Advertise it as a project car within 75 miles of where you live (Waco ?). Then, advertise as a parts car in Austin and perhaps Houston. Try a couple of Saturday papers between now and mid-April.

  1. Contact Corvette clubs: Sam Houston, Mid-Texas (Austin) and Waco--google for the 'Con-Tex' in those clubs. Ask for a "courtesy announcement" for the car. Provide a link to the photo website.

  2. Offer to charity.

  1. Offer to a salvage yard.

HTH & best of luck. I'm outta here!

Reply to
PJ

Heres someone looking for a 68-74 vette which i read recently ; it may be worth you contacting him :

Looking for a 68-74 - Automotive Forums .com Car Chat Address:

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Reply to
dave

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