7t5

Are people serious? 10 grand for a BROWN 1976 with a lot of issues. I would call this a sub-$5,000 car. Am I wrong?

Marketplace – 1976 Chevrolet Corvette · Stingray Coupe 2D | Facebook

Cmurray79

C3 prices are going up. ALL used cars prices are up. I wouldnt say its a $10,000, from reading the ad i’d say its a $7,000 car.

4-vettes

Someone out there might actually like a brown Vette. But not many. Brown,.... well a paint job including door jambs and under hood , etc. well....... The car with Auto trans. 76 model. worthless.

Mr D.

A brown 1976 auto car for sale with the word "rust" in the ad description. Doesn't get any worst than that.

Corey_68

I hope he gets every cent he's asking for it.

Ghost81Sippi

buy low, sell high

GTR1999

That color combo was popular back in the mid 70's. I was a stock boy in a small local grocery store and the owners son bought a new 75 L82 4 spd in the color combo and it looked pretty darn good new. I sure was impressed as a 15 year old kid. The SOB only paid me $1.85 hour but he bought a new vette. Hum, that might be some suppressed anger there I better let it go now.

I have seen a few of these come up for sale, 75-76's, over the past few years. Nothing really special about them but if there's interest they will sell. The last one I looked at was in better shape and was $6000, he would have taken $5000. That was several years ago. These are good cars to build, I doubt they are ever going to reach high dollars as the age group most interested in them is now in their 60's. If the younger guys or gals get into them that will hold the value some. Time will tell.

Torqued Off

It never ceases to amaze me how every Corvette every posted on this forum regarding price......along comes everyone claiming its worth MUCH less. If a guy is asking $10,000......everyone here wants to say its worth $4000.

Eric-

Metallic Brown may not be a popular color, however, I'm a huge fan! A very nice Metallic Brown paint job looks soo good.

leadfoot4

I agree. I recall seeing them on the road, pretty regularly......

Corey_68

Yep... Only car collector fan base that I know of that routinely undervalues worth.... It's usually the opposite.

Corey_68

While I'm not a huge fan of brown, Porsche offers macadamia metallic and looks great in person.

GTR1999

well I think a lot has to do with the age group, the condition, and the buyer.

Back in the mid to late 70's when I was looking for my first vette all the c1 & c2 guys I knew didn't like the c3. I was told many times the vette died in 68. Now there were certainly qc issues with the 68's and for years they were not selling as well as 69-72's. Now they are.

Being in this hobby for 45 years there have been a lot of changes and they continue. However there was always the corvette tax and prices were inflated on cars that simply were not worth it.

Case in point, 40 years ago my buddy saw a 68 black roadster with hardtop at a local garage for sale. The owner took him for a ride and beat the hell out of the car to impress him- which it did. When he asked me about it I went over some of the issues that 68's had and asked just how bad the guy drove the car. He thought at one point he might have caught air with the front tires. It was a wrong motor 350-350 M20 411 pieced car with hooker side pipes against the black paint. Looked sharp but the car was beat to death and market value on lower mileage original 68's then was about $3500-$5000 tops. This guy wanted $7500 and hooked my buddy hard. He didn't listen to anything I said and bought the car. Within the year, really only about 4 months driving- he rebuilt the engine, blew up the M20 which was on it's last leg, and blew up the 411 diff which have weak posi's in them. He went to 456's which made the car very fun on the highway, the few times it was driven off the street.

Point is that car, at that time, in that condition was a $3000 car at best.

As a corvette buyer you need to know what to look for and walk away if things are not right. Having not seen this particular car it is hard to say what it's worth if I was looking to buy. $10k maybe but most likely not unless it is in pretty darn good shape.

However, I am sure there is someone out there that will buy it and the less experience the more they will pay. My buddy spent about $13000 in 1980 money to get his 68 looking and running perfect, only to sell it for $12,000 a year later to a kid who totaled it in a month.

7t5

So what is your opinion in worth? I find it interesting how much people ask for these cars. I see non-running with trashed interiors for $5,000 +.

If that car is 10 grand, then by golly, so is mine. I know my car. I would not pay that for it.

BOOT77

In my opinion it's partly due to age and less RWD cheap options, well cheap is not so cheap these days. Also drifters have taken a liking to the C5 & C6 so the corvette market in general will be rising.

Hope my C4 increases cause I might sell it someday, I got a good deal on it but I put a lot into it as well. No plans of selling my C3 as it was my dads and he bought it new. So C3 prices don't really matter to me and I've done things I'm sure others would frown on as I mod it for my use.

skb40466

"One man's floor is another man's ceiling."

My late father always reminded me of that observation with cars and women.

OLE442

They’re worth only what someone is willing to pay for them..... just like all collectibles!

TedH

If both engine and transmission are rebuilt items and all other repairs can be confirmed, I would say it is a $10K car with receipts. Wash, wax and buff that paint and it may look even better. Suspension refresh can be a $1,000 add plus more $$$ if you have to have the complete trailing arms rebuilt (bearing assemblies and trailing arms).

vettebuyer6369

While its way overpriced, the concept of a Corvette seller asking for way more than a car is worth didn’t start recently.

Torqued Off

For me, any C3 Corvette I would buy is simply a starting point to turn it in to what I want. So obviously, it would be nice to buy something as cheap as possible. For others, I guess the idea is you buy a C3 Corvette for the money you can come up with and feel the car is worth, and then believe that now all you do is put gas and oil in it and drive it. I think that is unrealistic.

The reason why I disagree with many on this forum, who claim cars are worth much less than being advertised for has to do with the total cost of buying a car, how long you want to wait.....and what choices are available. When I started looking in the Pittsburgh area for a C3, I found two cars. One a 73 that had serious rust issues in the frame, with some real bubba repairs. The second was the one I bought. So, over time, I am sure others would have popped up in Craigslist, local news, and whatever.

But, in reality, if you pass on a car, like this one the OP mentions, because you think its $5000 too high......what do you do next? Wait? How long? And if you find a car, 300 miles away from where you live,.....is it FREE to go see it? And if you do decide to buy it,....how do you get it back the 300 miles to your house? Do you stay in motels? Do you rent a trailer? How much does all that cost? And how many times are you going to do this to find this fantasy car?

And....the idea of "waiting" for the right deal. Our forum member Last Triumph, who lives in Europe, shopped for quite awhile, and had lots of forum members helping him in the US to look at cars. He finally found a later model C3, which he bought, but initially it was not the model year he was looking for. I am not saying he settled,....but it sounded like he settled. Granted......being out of the US is a huge hurdle. But even for us here in the states, if you are passing on a car because its $3000 higher than these "experts" here on this forum say the car is worth......make sure you don't pass to only spend $2000 on gasoline, trailer rental, hotels, and food to buy the "special deal" you get on a car 300 miles from your house. AND, if you wait a year to find this "special deal".....you lived without a Corvette for a year. For some, that is irrelevant.....for me, I waited over 40 years from when I really wanted a Corvette till I finally could afford one......waiting longer to find this "special deal" was not acceptable to me. I found my 77 in the local area, it had 63,000 actual miles on it, was never restored......and I paid $9000 for it ten years ago and didn't blink an eye doing it. Had to finance it. I have no regrets. It was a great starting point for which I completed a total body off restoration. For some here, I paid too much. For me.....it was irrelevant. It was local, it was a good car, and I wanted it. If I spent $3000 more than I should have......so what.

So....my final conclusion is that buying a C3 Corvette for $5000 or $10,000 is all within acceptable range. Not much difference in my book. If I liked this brown 76 Corvette, and it was a good "starting point" for me, I would pay the $10,000, or $9,000 as an offer........rather than wait around for some immaculate imaginary perfect car, right down the street. But then again.....I am rather passionate / obsessed with my toys......they mean alot to me, and make my life better. Money does not. And for those who buy these cars as some casual, weekend, once a month pastime.....or for those that believe (fantasy) that they are an investment.......I guess my way of thinking makes no sense. I see many people who own cars and motorcycles, and they are parked 99% of the time......I wouldn't waste my time if that is all I did with the car. I have already driven my 77 over 4000 miles this summer. It makes a difference how involved you are. When you are as passionate and involved in hobbies as I am.....money is secondary. And I am not a rich guy, but I spend the money I have where it matters the most.

In October of last year, I decided to restore another Corvette and found a 69 Convertible project 40 miles from my house. I bought it for a number most would say is TOO MUCH on this forum....for a car that needs MAJOR work........but since then, I have NEVER found another 69 Convertible project available ANYWHERE on Ebay, BAT, etc......that would have been a better choice. So while others were WAITING.....I have owned it for nine months, and in the process of rebuilding. I have no regrets, and will never have regrets,.for buying it. These imaginary "special deals" are fantasy when the TOTAL cost is included.....or you are just lucky. I don't count on luck.