1967 corvette convertible (fair price)

All, thanks for taking time to respond to my email. The asking price is $ 45K. Here is more information on the car:

1) FRAME OFF RESTORATION 2) PAINTED ORIGINAL COLOR 3) NO HARD TOP 4) P/S 5) P/B 6) VINYL INTERIOR, NO HEAD REST 7) NO AC, P/W 8) 4 SPEED MANUAL 9) FACTORY SIDE EXHAUST 10) I BELIEVE THE ORIGINAL ENGINE WAS A 327, RED LINE ON TACH LOOKS LIKE 57 11) BODY MODIFICATION, IT HAS A BIG BLOCK HOOD

Thanks, Mark

Reply to
Mark Mathews
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According to Rogers Corvette's trivia ..............................

In late February/early March, 1967, some small blocks received the big block hood due to an manufacturing problem with the small block hood mold. These were not given the hood stripe.

enjoy your new car kickstart

Reply to
Kickstart

The big block hood on the small blocks from the factory is something started by Noland Adams in his book. He found evidence that the factory had a problem with the hood mold and so would substitute big block hoods with no stripe until the problem was solved.

However, there is a vocal group in NCRS that insists no evidence of this actually occurring has been found. The paperwork to do it existed but paperwork doesn't prove that work was actually done. There are many engineering change requests and orders through any year that never actually get implemented by the factory. Don't expect it to be judged nicely, though, as you will need prove it is real, as it is not Typical Factory Production, the main guide of NCRS restoration.

The Corvette that started Noland to look for this or that he used for confirmation is Roy Braatz's blue '67 coupe 194377S112345. (How is that for a number - 12345?)

Roy is the second owner since WAAAAY back and knew the car when new. The big block hood was on it and no evidence of a small block hood ever being mounted exists. If someone changed the hood, evidence of the small block hood mounting would still exist.

The Corvette was recently for sale on eBay at

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Unfortunately, it is the only example that has not been proven to be fake or changed. However, one example doesn't mean they actually did this for a few days. It could have been a COPO request or some other special build that has been long forgotten. That doesn't discount this car as really being a factory big block hood small block. I believe Roy and the car. However, many argue this does not mean others were built. If a few more examples were found, then the emergency change could be verified, but the serial numbers would have to be within a few hundred of Roy's.

Two problems exist as a result:

  1. Many sellers try to say their small block car with the big block hood is original so you will pay more. Not one has been proven true yet except Roy's, and he wasn't trying to sell until this year, yet it was judged years ago.

  1. Any chance of finding a factory big block hood small block car is probably non-existent as those in good enough shape to verify originality have probably been restored to the "correct" configuration, thus eliminating the few examples around. Kind of like the Planet of the Apes (the original) where the navigator had his brain operated on.

So bottom line, did they or did they not build some 1967 Corvette small blocks with the big block hood?

I think they did, but only a few, but I think that finding one of them besides Roy's is probably not going to happen. So don't get your hopes up over a Corvette with a '67 big block hood. Thousands of people put them on because they looked so good.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

What ever ..... just enjoy the car and Fuck NCRS I owned corvettes before there was an NCRS they can call themselves the powers that be for all I care, but cars were made to be driven. enjoyed and IMPROVED Relics belong in museums with mummies and bones

Reply to
Kickstart

Well stated Kickstart! Trailers are for horses, not for cars and certainly not for Vettes.

Reply to
StingRay

A rather "appropriate" remark.

Mark asked for a value of a Corvette he is looking at. You gave him some information from a web site that copied it from a book, which while there is paperwork to say it should happen, only one verified example says it ever did.

Maybe he should buy my rare 1983 Corvette. There is a lot of paperwork that says they were going to build them. We know they only built the pilot cars.

If Mark accepts that small blocks came from the factory with big block hoods, and does not know the information behind such a statement, then he is ill-equipped to deal with sellers who tell him that theirs is one of those "rare big block hooded small block cars" and can con him into either paying too high because it is rare or paying to high because it isn't stock.

Not that there is anything wrong with non-stock, but the market value is not there. We have had this discussion before. Change things from original, price goes down. It may well be a better car, like Bob G's '72 with the hot

327, and I personally have had and like the big block hood on a car, but the market price is less.

Why you decided to make a comment about NCRS and museums, I'm not sure, other than you apparently are not showing the maximum level of knowledge. NCRS actually is one of the few restoration groups that promotes DRIVING the cars. They have road tours, road trips, and they credit points toward judging for the miles driven to the event. I think you mean NCCB (Bloomington Gold) who are mainly trailer queens.

The museum that they did push to start was the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Are you saying that the NCM is a bad idea and we should get rid of or boycott it? I see you have a Tampa Bay Road Runner account. Have you ever been down to the Cunningham Museum in Naples? Too bad it closed, but maybe there are too many anti-museum people down your way.

Granted NCRS can be too anal about a lot of things, from whether there is an "A", "D", or "T" in your valve cover bolts, to the fonts on stamp pad and more. But if you are getting ready to lay out $40,000 to $100,000 and need to know which is the appropriate amount, should he trust the information you give or the information NCRS has accumulated over 31 years AND documented?

As to Stingray jumping in here on this, sounds awful funny attacking an originality group from a guy who on 10/17/05 attacked a 1976 Corvette for being unoriginal with a Daytona kit on it. Seems he doesn't like original or modified.

BTW, I don't belong to NCRS.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

thats all I did

you claiming to have an 83?

the original Mark has never said if he is looking for an investmwnt or a driver

"WE" havent had this conversation because I dont agree with it I dont have my head buried in the sand, I realize there are nuts that think a car is an investment My 79 has a,ot of changes and I drive it, I enjoy it and I have greatly improved or from what the factory made in 79 I think it is worth more than a stock 79

2 different groups same mentality I have been to too many car shows that people in brand new C-5 and now 6's show up with their lawn chairs and super clean never been driven cars with bolt on doodads That does nothing for me The same for older never driven "collectables". I want to see a car that was driven there and has had something done to make it better that before

I was there for the ground breaking cerimony, It's a fine idea and a good thing. I have been to the Cairo museum in Egypt too. Nice place for a mummy

I see he has his views too and is entitled to his tastes

As far as investors are concerned I suppose they have a pirpose

neither do I,but I think you knew that.

I can generally agree with you, but if Mark is coming to a news group for investment advice .......... ? He must be a moron

kickstart

Reply to
Kickstart

Sarcastic comment. However, you look at enough ads, there are people who advertise their '84 model Corvette as a 1983, because they bought it in the '83 model year. It is still an '84 model, though.

"We" meaning this news group.

All cars are an investment - an investment of time, energy, and money. However, most only think in terms of financial investments, and in that case, specifically in one of increasign value. I have not said that.

To many, new cars are a good "investment". They buy a car at $30,000, drive it for 2 or 3 years, then sell for $20,000. Financial investment is a wash - a loss of $20,000. However, in energy and time, they may be very good, since they had a reliable car that they could drive anywhere, coudl trust to run without problems, and trusted to keep their family safe.

Those after a financial investment only are often fooling themselves.

There again, lack of your information on a group surfaces. NCRS gives driving points for driving to a show. Since getting all the correct parts is often impossible, many do drive their cars to the events to gain the driving points to offset the loss of points over missing or incorrect parts.

I don't mean driving from the hotel parking lot, I mean driving from often several states away. Grant, many trailer, but many do drive. When is the last time you drove several states away for a show/event or even out of the country, like many did to Windsor, Canada?

Many look at them as the biggest problem with our hobby. Before all the investors, we had Corvettes ranging $2000 to $8000 or so. Now the prices are much higher. However, some of that would happen regardless. Or the opposite, they would have simply disappeared from the hobby. In cars that investors don't seem to chase, like many older Britsh cars, cars like Bricklin, DeLorean, and others, the price has stayed low. Easy for an enthusiast to buy, however, there is no support market. Where do you buy parts for a Bricklin? Granted, there are special groups, but you may have to search a year to get a part to make your Bricklin run right, but you can buy any part for a Corvette (if you are not after some rare restoration part but only a functional part) the same day and rarely more than a 3 day shipping time.

I don't know if he was really here for investment advice, but simply pricing information. He said, "I am trying to determine what is a fair price to offer."

In that case, knowing the way the market price goes is important because no one wants to pay too much. Like that 1976 Corvette Daytona. Someone may think it is great, but $20,000 great? Maybe if he makes a few mill a year and $20,000 to him is like $100 to me. But most buyers need to know the market value, how much it is worth, what they can expect to resell, and so on, to make an educated buy on the car. Would you recommend buying a Corvette for $70,000 only to discover it is worth $50,000? Even if he intended to never sell, and drove it daily and never showed it except at Sonic or A&W on Friday night, that would be a foolish move.

And like it or not, the prices of most of these cars are such that price, market value, and originality are all very important to know what to buy and not buy. Even for those not wanting an original car, you need to determine originality because the seller will use originality to make the price higher. Every day on eBay you see people talking about how the car is "rare", an "investment", "easily restored", and "99% original" and so on. Yet the ability to determine originality will let you see that many of these are often very unoriginal, and thus the asking prices are too high.

You are in a lucky place with your '79. They are to an extent like the midyears and solid axles in the early '70s. Prices low, not increasing, and affordable. With no market increases, hot rodding, customizing, and so on affected no price except to occasionally increase it. This left owners to enjoy their cars in any way they wanted. That is pretty much true with the '74 to '89 Corvettes. But the other years, that isn't the case, and this '67 that Mark is looking at is about the peak of the cars that must be checked very, very well to keep from overspending.

Of course, he could be full of smoke and simply trying to get info for his intended investment.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

Tom, you are what is commonly referred to as a selective or poor listener. Or perhaps you just have a short memory/attention span. I wasn't attacking an originality group whatsoever. I reposted my latest post for your benefit. It reads "Trailers are for horses, not for cars and certainly not for Vettes". Now Tom. just where was I "attacking an originality group" in that statement?? Are you implying that original cars must be trailered??? If you've ever been to any major show, you'd know that many custom vehicles are also trailered, not just originals!?

Now as for calling me "a guy who on 10/17/05 attacked a 1976 Corvette for being unoriginal with a Daytona kit on it.", you are way off base on that comment. First of all I wasn't "attacking a 1976 Corvette for being unoriginal". I was merely commenting on what I considered an absolutely horrible hack job. Let me quote those comments as well, to refresh your apparent poor memory:

"I was just surfing the web and came across the attached abomination. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, IMHO, this car would rank amongst the most gawd-awful and overpriced cars I have ever seen.

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"

Now Tom, you may note that I commented that everyone is entitled to their opinion and I stated that in my humble opinion this car would rank amongst the most gawd-awful and overpriced cars I have ever seen. Since you never joined that thread Tom, it occurs to me that perhaps you thought that the Daytona kit car was a thing of beauty and were offended by my comments in that thread. Although, if you think it was, you really should have another look. Gosh, I hope that wasn't your car!

In any event, Tom, neither of my comments were contradictory and I stand behind both of my comments:

1) That '76 "IMHO, . . . would rank amongst the most gawd-awful and overpriced cars I have ever seen." 2) "Trailers are for horses, not for cars and certainly not for Vettes."
Reply to
StingRay

"Pontificating Tom in Missouri" wrote on ad nauseum in message news:j0O8f.1700$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

Tom, you have said a great deal of nothing in your lengthy response to Kickstart. In a nutshell, "market value" of anything is the price that a willing seller is willing to sell for and a willing buyer is willing to pay at any given point in time. Period! Your opinion of market value is simply that - your opinion. Your opinion and a buck will buy you a cheap cup of coffee. ;-) Mid-year Vettes are a perfect example of vehicles with wide market values. Your opinion of value and my opinion of value mean nothing, unless we are the buyer or seller and a sale is consumated. We have all seen mid-years sell at auction for far more than we thought they were worth, but Tom, they sold for market value at the time and day they sold. End of discussion.

You also commented that "All cars are an investment - an investment of time, energy, and money. However, most only think in terms of financial investments, and in that case, specifically in one of increasign value. I have not said that."

Tom, all cars are indeed an investment and in most cases a poor one. They are an investment principally because you exchange one asset (cash) for another (car). If you accept that a car is an investment, then you must accept that by its nature, it is a "financial" investment. Your other hogwash about it being "an investment of time, energy," is one of those catch-all phrases that could be used with any investment. It takes time and energy to buy equities on the stock market too. So what! Quit your pontificating and come on back to earth Tom! *lol* Vehicles are generally a poor financial investment as measured by ROI, ROE and they are certainly subject to heavy depreciation the moment you drive off the lot.

Reply to
StingRay

Gosh Tom..... The last time I drove one of my cars to an event....was TODAY.... Drove out of Maryland... Cut Thru West Virginia, then proceeded to rack up miles on the Skyline Drive In Virginia........ (would you believe there was SNOW on the ground, and some of the overlooks had been plowed.. Roads were dry however....

150 Corvettes took the drive...

BTW I drove the 72 ...with the top up...unusual but what the hell as you know my Corvette left the factory with the top up .. so I was just doing my part ..for the restoration crowd....of course the hood was close so nobody could see the 327 under the hood... LOL

I used to belong to the NCRS...and honestly I respect what they do and what they believe in... ANYWAY

The reason for the post is to thank CORVETTE ENTHUSIAST Magazine...and is editor, Andy Bolig, for paying off the Park Service when they came up with a 94 Dollar Permit Charge for the group of Corvettes to drive down the road.... ON TOP of the 10 bucks a car charge they hit us for at the Toll Booth...

Seriously "drive" has been a regular Charity "run" for a number of years and this year the "run" donated a pickup truck full of toys and over 1500 dollars in cash for Toys for Tots..

Score at least $ 3000 for the kids...

The US Park Service got 1500 bucks in tolls from the drivers ..(no problem with that ) but they also got 94 bucks extra for the permit and for the life of me and others we have no clue what the permit was for... Well maybe we overtaxed the "Confort Stations" at some of the overlooks... .

Final Score..... KIDS $3000 US PARK SERVICE $ 1594 .

OH WELL... a lot of Corvette Drivers got some quality "seat" time today ... and the leaves were colorful....

Jim Strathern (spelling) has organized this run..for a long time and since he lives in Penna... he racked up more States and Miles then I did... Thanks Jim !

Bob G.

Reply to
Bob G.

Well I didnt cross any state lines but managed to hit 4 car shows around central FL and rack up 400 miles today

Its not a price thing , its an enjoyment thing ..... understand yet? I also have an 01 convertible with 105k miles, looking to get an 06 pretty soon and put lots of miles on it too. My girlfriend drives it to work every day, she loves it . I have a 57 Chevy sedan delivery , modern interior and not quite stock running gear, I drive it at least once a week, same as the 79. They are all worth something money wise, but that is not why I have them, they are fun as shit to drive, keep clean and looking good. I also have a few Harleys but we don't have to touch on that I'm sure you wouldn't understand them either.

Enjoy your portfolio Mark

Reply to
Kickstart

Sorry........ not Mark ....... Tom

Reply to
Kickstart

Isn't that the point? If you drive as part of NCRS, NCOA, NCCC, or as an individual, then that fullfulls your demand that cars be driven and enjoyed, doesn't it?

So why single out NCRS to make a derogatory comment about them for doing something you do - drive and enjoy their cars.?

You didn't quote the whole paragraph. I said

"This left owners to enjoy their cars in any way they wanted. That is pretty much true with the '74 to '89 Corvettes. But the other years, that isn't the case, and this '67 that Mark is looking at is about the peak of the cars that must be checked very, very well to keep from overspending."

So with a '74 to '89, you can do whatever you feel like to enjoy the car. Paint it any color. Modify the body. Drop a 383 or 406 in it. Whatever. Nothing hurts the value, and probalby helps as it makes them better.

That is what Corvettes were about once upon a time, and what they were supposed to be about. Buy it, drive it, build it, drive faster.

You can do anything you want to any Corvette for that matter, but would you really buy an original '67 and drop a 406 with nitrous or tub it or something similar?

Did you buy or build your '57? If you built it, you understand how you invest your time and energy to get what you enjoy. How do you feel when someone talks about how straight the body is, especially if you spent ten weeks straightening sheet metal? The hours of painting and sanding are repaid when someone comes up and says "Man, it is like a mirror! The paint is ten miles deep!"

You also understand how in a row of '57s, the value of each is different. One may have had the body stripped bare, all rust repaired, the chassis blasted and put back together, all new parts on the suspension, and so on.

Another may have the cancer in the body hidden with bondo and fresh bc/cc.

A third may have a great body but the chassis is 48 years old.

Obviously, you know what to look for and how to tell the better car. In this example, that should be easy, but you no doubt know more specifics if you built yours. The way the suspension is mounted. The type of motor mounting and transmission mounting. Where the rust pockets are and how to tell if they were fixed right. Places where people take short cuts or spend an extra

40 hours to get that one part right. And while the differences may be obvious to you, they are not to those who have never done this.

You've probably looked at old Chevies and said the guy is out of his mind asking that kind of money with this type of crappy work.

The same is true with a '67, except heightened 10 fold. Instead of a wide spread of these three to get prices from $4000 to $30,000, with a '67 you are dealing with a few numbers or a few parts that can determine if the car is worth $175,000 or $50,000. Even on the small blocks, he could easily be in a spread of $25,000 to $60,000.

That is one expensive mistake to make.

I bet it would be really hard to enjoy that '57 if suddenly you lost $20,000 over it.

I see it all the time in Corvettes. People buy what they think is fair, then discover they overpaid by $10 or $20,000. I've seen some recently get raked for those $50,000 mistakes. There was guy at Barrett Jackson that bought a

435 hp for $150,000 or more in January. The serial matched a '67 in an ad 3 years ago which was an original small block and different color. I bet he enjoys that car to no end, knowing he just got stuck for $100,000. I know B-J bought him some drinks, but did he get dinner for the screwing he got?

Paying too much takes a lot of fun out of it.

If it didn't, Dad would have bought that '64 from that lady last spring.

Harleys? I understand them. As the sticker said a long time ago,

$15,000 and 15 miles don't make you a biker.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

At what I have been paid to give opinions on "market value" of some Corvettes have bought a lot more than a cup of coffee. Let's say the last trip with a buyer was at 49,000 ft and cruising at 498 mph. And we didn't go through no stinking TSA.

Ain't no 757.

You have obviously not built one from the ground up. Your time and energy can eclipse the money easily.

I agree. And they are even a worse investment if you pay too much to start with.

The whole point was so Mark wouldn't start off even deeper in the hole than he will anyway.

Reply to
Tom in Missouri

now I see why you can't have a conversation with out equating to $ ..... this is your job Sorry I was not familiar with your profession before trying to converse about what cars and hobbies mean to their enthusiasts

kickstart

Reply to
Kickstart

Damn guy's I think he got his answer or at least you scared him out of the group, Good going children................

Reply to
ZÿRiX

Snip

In the case of the '64 it was an easy choice and in that situation she has tried more than once to set the value. She has even come back to me and ask if I would "dress it up and get it on the road" so it would have a better value. It's still a nice '64 that has sit in a garage for 25 years with a bad paint job. Nothing debatable because she is the second owner in '65 with a ton of parts that have been replaced and all of the paper to go with it. At the time I lived in another state one block from her and she liked my '64 coupe that I sold but she wanted and got a convertible. My guess is that it will come out of the garage and one of the Corvette jockeys will get it and it will get a BJ. It has never been on the market and the unknown serial number has become more valuable than the vehicle. Sad, but it's the reason that "buyer beware" is reason for this thread.

Reply to
Dad

I always liked the bar in the Lear 35 better than the 25, but the 25 was faster.

Reply to
Dad

Sort of like your first ride in the passenger seat. Like my Dad in his first and last ride with me in a Corvette and he was a fast driver on a first name basis with a number of State Police.

Reply to
Dad

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