I see many nice looking vettes from the late 70's to the mid 90's for sale in the $4000 to $6000 range. Why so cheap? are they money pits? Not reliable? Seems like a good way to go for cheap transportation with some flair.
You hit the nail on the head for a cheap kind of cool daily driver, have considered it many times myself (I lean more toward an early C4, though). They are gaining value, so if you're going to do it, now is the time. The main reasons they're so inexpensive is: They have a pretty severe lack of performance for a 'Vette (well under 200 hp for most), and most of the interiors you see will be cracked and have some other issues, as well as a lot of them have been neglected throughout the years as they weren't/aren't considered collector cars. The chassis dates back to the first IRS Vettes, so they ride a little rough, and they squeak and rattle as a general rule. The power steering on them can be troublesome, as it's a hydraulic cylinder and not a steering box like you'd normally see. Parts are easy to get but relatively expensive (it is still a Corvette, after all). One thing I will suggest before you think about buying one: Find one to drive. They're a pretty weird thing to be behind the wheel of. The front fenders jut up way higher than they look like from the outside, and they almost feel like you're sitting on the rear diff. The front of the car seems to rotate around you. I like them, as I said, but I know probably 75% of people don't.
You have to remember that they weren't put together any better than a Caprice of the same year. Everything Lucas said- An L48 automatic Vette had what? 180 horse if that? Dismal performance. They ride like crap and creak like an old row boat. And everything is expensive to fix on them On those cars, you make your money on the buy not the sell. If you do start looking, be advised the chassis tends to rot out just ahead of the rear wheels on the C3's
Been there they are not that good of a car pain in the ass to work on performance ??Just look at the zr 1 fiasco My 2 cents Alain
Junk,.. last corvette made was a 1972 I liked the 80/82's but not real exciting to drive unless built up of course. The 92/96' were good looking cars but junk I'll post a pic of my dad's 82 convertible it was a sharp car back in the day
Who did the conversion on your dads 82? I also had a black 4 speed 68 which had a 82 front end, an 82 rear bumper (which also requires a lot of changes) and an 82 collector series interior. It was fun watching people walk around it then ask what year it was. I like Corvettes, I've had 15 of them, 62 was the oldest and a 92 was the newest, so far. I had a 75 convertible about 3 years ago.
I've driven them, not for everyone like you said. In the 70's I owned a 4 spd 67 vert with a tweaked 427 - now that was fun. The factory side pipes were rotted out (no baffles) and it shook other cars setting off their alarms! Daily driver too - unless it was snowing.
There’s a lot of good deals on C5 and C6’s now as so many have stepped up to the C7. The older ones make a good work car and a good value as it’s a lot of car for the money.
I've been saying this for 5 years now, the best money spent is the mid 90's Vettes, you can pick one up at any of the auctions with really low liles like 25k-50k mi. in the $10-$12k range all day long...And these were $40k cars when new.........I would buy these for teenagers in HS before I would buy most anything else, and make them the coolest kid in school.
A friend of mine did almost the same thing you are talking about except his son was in college. He needed a new car so his dad bought him a red, mid-nineties Corvette. Made him the coolest kid on the campus!
I don't know about you guys but I have a 79 Corvette and it has been tweaked a bit over the years. It is one of the cars that puts a grin on my face that is hard to wipe off when I drive it. Mine has a 383 stroker with just under 400 HP, lots of torque and has been modified with a TKO II 5 speed. Now I agree it is not for everyone, it is too loud, too cramped (which makes it hard to work on too) and very impractical as there is no back seat or trunk for a suitcase or large packages. You have to lower yourself into the cockpit and climb out of it later, not easy as I get older. As a matter of fact, the reason I bought my Buick is because the "Vette is so impractical. I wanted a cruiser with a trunk, a back seat and some comfort as well as a cool and fun factor, that = BUICK. But being a Chevy, there is no end to the aftermarket stuff you can get and they are a lot of fun to drive.
Of all the "Shark" Vettes, I like the later models, like yours Lee, best, with the larger rear glass. I also like whats under that car cover.
I had a '79 (225 hp 4-speed) and absolutely loved it except for the 3.78 rear axle ratio. I first changed it to 3.36, then 3.08; the 350 was a torquer so the 3.08 worked fine and by the time I was done swapping differentials (four times) I had picked up 7 mpg at no significant degradation of performance. When I bought it I had it's then owner put it on ramps so I could get under it to inspect the frame. The underpinnings were fine and I made the guy an offer. He asked if I wanted to drive it. I said that I would if it would make him happy, but I had heard it run and it made it out of the garage under it's own power. There were a few things to fix - the headlight vacuum system had been overhauled, but if the headlights don't work properly it can be a money pit and a PIA. The only reason that I don't still have it is that I was polishing it in the driveway one day, and a guy stopped in and made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. One of the few cars on which I made money. I guess that I'm weird, but the C-3s are my favorites.
I'm a fan of the late C4 corvettes. I worked for a short time at a dealership and did all corvettes and F bodies. I owned a 90 and a 96 vette. The C4 to get IMO is a 95 or 96. If you get a manual trans car get a 96 as all of the 96 M6 cars had the LT4 engine and it was a one year only option. Mild cam, headers and gears had mine running bottom 12s at 116mph, still knocking down mid/upper 20s MPG. By the end of the C4 run GM had worked out the bugs and these were some of the most reliable and well built cars. The early C4s were plagued with gremlins but could be made ok, the L98 is visually a great looking engine but in its best form it only made 250hp (350trq). The LT1/4 got better with the later versions, even the much maligned opti spark distributor system. There is a pretty simple fix for them and to be honest, replacing a $300 part every 50k miles or few years is not that big a deal. The manual trans was great IMO, it was a ZF6 from 1989 to 1996. Early versions were rated at 450 ft lb of trq so plenty tough. They changed to a less straight cut gear around 93 to make them run quieter. The later ones were rated at 400 ft lbs of trq. Does that story sound familiar? Manual trans cars also came with a Dana44 rear and the autos got a Dana36. Theres a lot more to it but that's the short version.
After 1972 the steel bumper Corvettes were gone. 1974-1982 are probably the most undesirable Corvette years. Lackluster performance and crappy quality builds were their downfall. That seems to be why they are as cheap as they are today. Corvette has definitely made a comeback with the C5,C6 and the C7, especially the ZO6 and ZR1. They are still not without problems, especially the 2014-2017 ZO6s that have over heating issues and valve guide issues. GM has turned their backs on the owners of these cars and refuse to warrantee dropped valves and blown motors blaming owners for misuse of the vehicle. GM now has quite a few class action lawsuits brought against them by unhappy owners. The owners can't even sell these ZO6s because it's out there and buyers are steering clear. I have owned quite a few steel bumper corvettes and only left the Corvette hobby because of the morons that I had to put up with. Fat wallet guys who knew absolutely nothing about what they owned. It was customary to wave at another Corvette guy as you drove by, they'd wave and keep on going if you were stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire. Not so with the Buick crowd. The only bargain I've seen performance wise and value wise recently is a low mileage 2009-2013 ZR1. New they were over $125,000, quite expensive at the time. I bought my 3200 mile one owner 2010 ZR1 for half that price a few months ago and am thrilled with what that car is capable of. Yes, the Corvette crowd has not changed and I piss them off when I bring my souped up Grand National to their cruise ins.
This is true, if you were to look at the headlight vacuum system on these cars no one would buy one. Miles of hose lines. However, the vacuum components can now be replaced with electric motors, eliminating the headaches common to this model. You might want to look for another one, John.
I think they are great to look at but not enjoyable to ride in. I went for a ride in a early 70's vette with a friend and after 30 minutes I could not wait to get out of the thing. We had to drive over some rail road tracks on the way home and after 45 years I can remember the pain in my spine when we hit those tracks. That said, I still think they are cool and wouldn't mind having one but I doubt I would drive it much.
I went to Road Atlanta for ‘the Mitty’ last weekend, and I can see how a person could want to dive into it. There was a class for almost anything, and there’s a lot of value in a Corvette as a starter. I must say, the unmuffled back straight roar of the four (two C3s, a roadster and a fixed roof, a gen 2 roadster, and a gen 1 roadster) that won their class Sunday was something to behold. The c3s looked sinister and slayed the 911s.
