So.... I did a thing

[brownsuger]

Well for my upcoming 60th bday, I got myself an early present.

'78 Silver Anniversary, 5000 original miles. This body style is my fav, a buddy of mine that restores Vettes for a living found it for me

Don't judge me about my messy shop... lol

 

[RitcheyRch]

Nice find and congrats

 

[Hypnautic]

Beautiful.
Always difficult having a low mile car.
You buy it to appreciate it but also need to enjoy it too.

 

[90 Laveycraft]

Sold mine last year, 80,000 miles with original paint.
Nice purchase!!

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I remember looking at those late C3 vettes at the dealer lot with my dad when I was very young.

 

[DLow]

Beautiful.
Always difficult having a low mile car.
You buy it to appreciate it but also need to enjoy it too.

Yes, but if you took a 5k mile car and put 1k on it a year, which is a decent amount, do you think the value would drop much in 10 years because it now has 15k?
I’d get it out of the garage on nice days to worthy shows.

 

[Gelcoater]

Congrats to you!
My wife’s dad had one when we first got together.
Low mileage car, I only saw it once. Kept it? Somewhere not at home.

Showed this to the wife just now, she got a bit misty eyed. In a good way.

 

[RiverDave]

That’s bad ass! Congrats!

 

[PlumLoco]

My father in law had one when I met my "not yet wife". He let her drive it to Norco High often. Sadly he took it to his warehouse in Colton and it just sat and became a mouse house.

 

[Kachina26]

One of my favorite designs.

 

[HocusPocus]

Nice find, great looking car. I have the Pace Car version.

 

[PDQH2O]

Beautiful C3s. It's my favorite Vette style, closely followed by the C2 (1964 - 1967). Mine has 70k original miles and original drivetrain. Most everything else is original, too.

The only downside to having an original car is that you can't very well add a big crate motor or other fun upgrades without affecting value.

 

[rrrr]

Nice looking car.

The downside to the 1978 models was the 350 CI 185 horsepower L48 engine. Those were dark days for performance enthusiasts.

 

[X Hoser]

Yes, but if you took a 5k mile car and put 1k on it a year, which is a decent amount, do you think the value would drop much in 10 years because it now has 15k?
I’d get it out of the garage on nice days to worthy shows.

A friend that owns a C6 Vette said that keeping the miles low on it is like saving a young, beautiful woman for the next guy! Drive it!

 

[spectras only]

Nice looking car.

The downside to the 1978 models was the 350 CI 185 horsepower L48 engine. Those were dark days for performance enthusiasts.

Most were automatic with less value than the manuals My 1980 had the L82 engine , not a lot more power, but had the Gymkhana suspension at least.

 

[boatdoc55]

We had two of them in our club when we lived in Orygun and a gentleman that had two pace cars. We were mostly a C3 club but the wife and I had C3's and C4's and still have a C4.

 

[ka0tyk]

Nice ride! You plan to drive it or keep it a low mileage collector?

 

[brownsuger]

Nice ride! You plan to drive it or keep it a low mileage collector?

A little of both, I plan to drive it (put 100 miles on it yesterday lol) But not crazy miles. The long term plan is to give it to my Daughter (my son has no interest in cars) and keep it in the family

 

[brownsuger]

Nice looking car.

The downside to the 1978 models was the 350 CI 185 horsepower L48 engine. Those were dark days for performance enthusiasts.

Very true, I think my wife's Ford Edge has more horsepower.... The C-3 has always been my favorite body style, and I'm old and don't care to go fast. Just want something cool to drive every now and then....

 

[K-DOG]

It seems there are many here into C3 vettes. My father in law has a 1976 that’s been sitting in his yard for years. Had big plans for it but now he is at the point he wants the room for something else and will let it go cheap. I posted an ad in the classifieds with a bunch more pics.

 

[infield]

https://www.purplewave.com/auction/...e-Passenger_Vehicles-Passenger_Vehicle-Kansas This is for sale 10 miles from my house. I'm kind of tempted. I really didn't want a four speed but how much will it go for?

 

[rush1]

Well for my upcoming 60th bday, I got myself an early present.

'78 Silver Anniversary, 5000 original miles. This body style is my fav, a buddy of mine that restores Vettes for a living found it for me

Don't judge me about my messy shop... lol
View attachment 1072086

I know a guy who bought a bunch of these brand new in 1978 and warehoused all of them ,still has them parked to this day

 

[rrrr]

I know a guy who bought a bunch of these brand new in 1978 and warehoused all of them ,still has them parked to this day

The sad thing about that is they cost around $9,500 in 1978, which is $40,000 in 2021 dollars according to an internet inflation calculator. They are worth just $18,000-$22,000, because it'll take at least half that much again or more to make them drivable, and they'll sell for no more than $30,000.

There's a 1976 model with 2,400 miles on BAT, current bid is $18,000. It has cracks in the urethane bumper covers, a common occurrence in unrestored 1970s GM vehicles. I would think your friend's Corvettes have the same problem.

2,400-Mile 1976 Chevrolet Corvette

Bid for the chance to own a 2,400-Mile 1976 Chevrolet Corvette at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #61,048.

bringatrailer.com

The 1978 pace car models sold for $13,600, which is $57,700 in 2021 dollars. In 2021, an Indy 500 pace car model with 14 miles that still had the plastic shipping seat covers and a MSO sold at a Mecum for $46,200. Another with 19 miles sold for $55,000. Those are unicorns. Another 2021 Mecum auction sold one with 9,500 miles for $27,500.

I'm a bit mystified by these prices. There were 6,500 pace cars sold, and at the end of the day, they're 220 HP cars with nothing special except two tone paint and a decal package. I suppose it makes sense to Corvette collectors, but remember, their 1978 sale price was $57,700 in 2021 dollars. No one has made money by storing a C3 for decades.

Those that owned those cars with 14 and 19 miles paid for 43 years of storage fees. If all they did was start the engine a few times a year, it didn't warm up enough to burn off the water produced by the combustion of gasoline, and that water worked on corroding engine parts for more than four decades. Several of the cylinders had intake or exhaust valves open to the atmosphere all that time. Rubber and plastic parts degraded. It would cost thousands of dollars to make the cars roadworthy.

Cars made in the 1970s were manufactured with planned obsolescence built in. Anticorrosion body treatments like zinc coating and primer dipping didn't exist. Chassis parts had a two mil black paint applied that disappeared after a year or two. Most brake, suspension, and driveline parts were untreated steel.

Unlike today's aluminized steel exhaust systems, the exhaust pipes and mufflers from that era had no rust protection, and depending on storage conditions, it's not unusual for them to be rusted out and require replacement.

Another issue with stored GM vehicles is the orange engine paint. After 43 years of storage, the paint will have almost completely flaked off.

Of course, these problems are present in all cars stored for years. I wouldn't buy one, even if I was a collector of the marque. A restored vehicle with recent and replaced parts and drivetrain makes more sense, at least to me.

 

[rush1]

The sad thing about that is they cost around $9,500 in 1978, which is $40,000 in 2021 dollars according to an internet inflation calculator. They are worth just $18,000-$22,000, because it'll take at least half that much again or more to make them drivable, and they'll sell for no more than $30,000.

There's a 1976 model with 2,400 miles on BAT, current bid is $18,000. It has cracks in the urethane bumper covers, a common occurrence in unrestored 1970s GM vehicles. I would think your friend's Corvettes have the same problem.

2,400-Mile 1976 Chevrolet Corvette

Bid for the chance to own a 2,400-Mile 1976 Chevrolet Corvette at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #61,048.

bringatrailer.com

The 1978 pace car models sold for $13,600, which is $57,700 in 2021 dollars. In 2021, an Indy 500 pace car model with 14 miles that still had the plastic shipping seat covers and a MSO sold at a Mecum for $46,200. Another with 19 miles sold for $55,000. Those are unicorns. Another 2021 Mecum auction sold one with 9,500 miles for $27,500.

I'm a bit mystified by these prices. There were 6,500 pace cars sold, and at the end of the day, they're 220 HP cars with nothing special except two tone paint and a decal package. I suppose it makes sense to Corvette collectors, but remember, their 1978 sale price was $57,700 in 2021 dollars. No one has made money by storing a C3 for decades.

Those that owned those cars with 14 and 19 miles paid for 43 years of storage fees. If all they did was start the engine a few times a year, it didn't warm up enough to burn off the water produced by the combustion of gasoline, and that water worked on corroding engine parts for more than four decades. Several of the cylinders had intake or exhaust valves open to the atmosphere all that time. Rubber and plastic parts degraded. It would cost thousands of dollars to make the cars roadworthy.

Cars made in the 1970s were manufactured with planned obsolescence built in. Anticorrosion body treatments like zinc coating and primer dipping didn't exist. Chassis parts had a two mil black paint applied that disappeared after a year or two. Most brake, suspension, and driveline parts were untreated steel.

Unlike today's aluminized steel exhaust systems, the exhaust pipes and mufflers from that era had no rust protection, and depending on storage conditions, it's not unusual for them to be rusted out and require replacement.

Another issue with stored GM vehicles is the orange engine paint. After 43 years of storage, the paint will have almost completely flaked off.

Of course, these problems are present in all cars stored for years. I wouldn't buy one, even if I was a collector of the marque. A restored vehicle with recent and replaced parts and drivetrain makes more sense, at least to

We all laughed at him when he did it because we said those pace cars were never going to be worth anything, amazingly a friend of mine looked at the cars at the end of last year and he said they were still in amazingly new condition still sitting on jack stands inside his climate controlled warehouse