I bought a 1971 LS5 roadster/hardtop in October 1975 from the original owner with 27,000 miles and it currently has 55,000 miles. Original Brands Hatch green paint, original dark green interior, and original white soft-top. 454 365 HP, 4 speed, air conditioning, power steering, tilt telescopic wheel, owners manual, original owners protect o plate, copy of original title, original spare tire, and the original build sheet (quite aged). The hard top is from a ’68 or 69 model year and was painted to match the car. The A/C compressor was replaced and I kept the old one, and in 2000 I installed all 4 stainless steel sleeved brake calipers and a new master cylinder. The hardtop has been on the car for most of it’s 35 years and has really saved the interior, even though it has always been garaged.
When I built my current home in 1986, I included a third garage bay with it’s own door to keep (hide) the vette in…very few people even know that I own this car. I very rarely drive the car, even though I keep it insured and tagged. The last few times I drove it, people would approach me about buying it and sometimes even followed me home, my wife doesn’t like that part.
I have been retired for 4 years and have considered selling it. I looked on eBay and found that prices really vary on ‘71’s. If someone should ask me about selling the car, what would the price range be?
Probably about 15k. Who do I write the check out to? This is my birth year and would love to have this car. I've owned a couple C5's and now looking at C3's. That sir, is the perfect C3. Good luck with the sale and I'd be interested to see what others say it should go for.
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'07 Corvette Coupe
'99 Corvette Convertible
'94 Lingenfelter Supercharged Coupe
'95 Corvette Convertible
'05 Red Viper SRT10
97 Blue/White Viper GTS
'91 GMC Syclone
'05 Triple Black C6 (sold)
Twin Turbo C5 9.97 1/4 mile (sold)
Dodge Viper RT/10 (sold)
'00 Torch Red Coupe (sold)
'99 Torch Red HardTop (sold)
'96 Black Coupe (sold)
'92 Black on Black (sold)
'85 Black on Black (sold)
I'll make some assumptions based on your description of your car. It
sounds like a mostly original car in excellent condition.Value is less if I have made incorrect assumptions.
Assuming the frame is really clean;assuming the original paint (or repaint?) is really nice;assuming the interior is worn no worse than
expected for 55k pampered miles;assuming you have replaced only the parts mentioned (other than normal maintainance items).I think it
would sell pretty quickly around $30k. If you didn't mind dealing with a
lot of tire-kickers and weren't in a hurry to sell, it would eventually
find a new home for $35-40K. Corvette dealers would be asking $40k-50
and maybe some will pay that much. If you don't really want to sell the car,when people ask about buying it, ask $50k. If they want it bad enough to pay that much, then you might have a tough decision to make. If you don't have to/want to sell now, it will continue to appreciate in value. Why not keep it and drive it more. JMHO.
John
I'll make some assumptions based on your description of your car. It
sounds like a mostly original car in excellent condition.Value is less if I have made incorrect assumptions.
Assuming the frame is really clean;assuming the original paint (or repaint?) is really nice;assuming the interior is worn no worse than
expected for 55k pampered miles;assuming you have replaced only the parts mentioned (other than normal maintainance items).I think it
would sell pretty quickly around $30k. If you didn't mind dealing with a
lot of tire-kickers and weren't in a hurry to sell, it would eventually
find a new home for $35-40K. Corvette dealers would be asking $40k-50
and maybe some will pay that much. If you don't really want to sell the car,when people ask about buying it, ask $50k. If they want it bad enough to pay that much, then you might have a tough decision to make. If you don't have to/want to sell now, it will continue to appreciate in value. Why not keep it and drive it more. JMHO.
John
Thanks John,
I know it's hard to put a price on something you can't see, and most people would probably find it hard to believe that it is "all original". I described the car as best as I could. The seats, seat belts, carpet, dash, and door panels look very much like they did when I bought the car in 1975.
The car has never been smoked in, the paint is the original factory paint, which means that you can see the factory flaws and stress cracks and aged paint. It stills shines very nice and definitely turns heads. I know that the mileage is correct and it is a matching numbers car. Non original items are Stainless Steel sleeved brake calipers, pads, master cylinder, alternator, water pump, power steering pump, shocks,
belts, plastic rear window in soft-top, exhaust system, and radiator core (original tanks).
Yes, I might keep it another 10 years. I was hesitant when I bought this big block, but they have certainly gone up in value.
Thanks again,
Dave
Last edited by 71 Green 454; 06-03-2006 at 11:02 PM.
Well, I'm trying to get to that point. I seem to get cold feet when someone approaches me or asks me if want to sell it. I'm gathering information right now to see what kind of price I may ask for it when I decide to sell. I don't want to sound like I'm leading someone on, but I've owned it so long it's like part of the family.
When I bought the car I didn't plan on keeping it this long. I have never advertised to sell the car and I may have a hard time parting with it.
Thanks for your interest,
Dave
Last edited by 71 Green 454; 06-03-2006 at 09:34 PM.
Well, I'm trying to get to that point. I seem to get cold feet when someone approaches me or asks me if want to sell it. I'm gathering information right now to see what kind of price I may ask for it when I decide to sell. I don't want to sound like I'm leading someone on, but I've owned it so long it's like part of the family.
When I bought the car I didn't plan on keeping it this long. I have never advertised to sell the car and I may have a hard time parting with it.
Thanks for your interest,
Dave
so what you do, at the risk of pissing people off - but who cares? - is you put the car up for sale and ask $55k, which is not an off the wall high price, but maybe a healthy upper end of the range type price.
considering the ppwk described, BB vert, low documented mileage, and what has been mentioned so far.... I would not sell below 40K...above that, its tough to price w/o an inspection....the higher the price the fewer the buyers. Sounds like you can wait it out.....not a bad position to be in...
All true, but a car is worth what one is willing to pay for it, nothing more. A lot of people ask these high prices, but the cars sit. Just look at this FS section, for instance. Bottom line, there's an asking price, an offer, and if the car sells for that, that's what it was worth. If the offer is lower than the owner is willing to sell it for, then he keeps it.
The January 2006 isssue of Corvette Magazine says it is worth about $40,000. The low mileage may make it worth more. I have seen similar Convertibles advertized from $55,000 to $61,000.
cmb13 whay you say is very true.BUT there are people on this forum who want a 35k vette for 16.5.From my personal experience of trying to sell 2 higher priced vettes on here,this may not be the place to sell for the simple reason that people want stuff for nothing. and another thing is people commenting on these cars when they dont know $hit from shinola.That is JMHO....JERRY
Just keep it and have fun!!!!!!!
Ive had mine for more than 20 years...and have had all kinds of crazy offers...like $89k back in 1991...actually it was something like...40k cash and another car...came up to 89k.
Would I sell.....who knows....It seems like the car is now part of me. Would I sell part of me.....nope....so there we go
Enjoy,
Larry
Corvette Store
What's my '71 LS5 Conv. worth?
This is my birth year and would love to have this car. I've owned a couple C5's and now looking at C3's. That sir, is the perfect C3.
Good luck with the sale and I'd be interested to see what others say it should go for.
maybe even closer to 45 grand due to the low documented mileage. Now finding someone to pay that will be another story.
