A C

I was just browsing through Collector Car Trader online and was astonished at the asking prices for most of the cars there. I would love to have a 69 Camaro, Chevelle, or Nova to go with my Vette (someday), so just for fun, I looked up Lemans Blue cars of each make. Out of all three of those cars, there was one Camaro for around 12K, and all of the rest of them were over 22K. There are apparently no regular 69 Camaros left. They are all either RS/SS, RS, SS, or Z28's (half of all 69 Camaros must have been Z28s :confused: ). There is no way I could get 20K for my Vette, and even if it was perfect, 20K would be a high price for it. I have noticed that a lot of other big 3 muscle cars are more money than our Vettes as well, depending on which car. Why the big price difference? Are these all better cars? Less of them available? :confused:

AC



[Modified by A C, 11:54 PM 2/28/2003]

MotorHead

Now that you mention it there most likely is more 25-30 years old Vettes around than any one make of the old muscle cars. The value of a an older car usually is most infuenced by how rare it is more than any other factor.

There was a thread a few weeks ago where someone mentioned the fact that every older muscle car he sees seems to be an SS or RS etc. Badges are a cheap way to make a rare car. :D

A C

That kills me too. Here I was looking to see a plain jane 350 Camaro for about 10K....fat chance! They are all COPO's or Yenkos or Z28's. :lol:

AC

PROSOUTH

I made this same statement just the other day, I just don't understand it either. :confused:

I have a nice '78 El Camino SS that I am almost finished with. My buddy told me the other day that I wouldn't get to keep it because somebody would offer me a nice Corvette for it on trade. He's probably right. :yesnod: Somebody will probably offer and I will probably accept!!!!!

:lol: Jim :iagree:

TD-Machines

I like ones that read. Z/28 AUTO :lol: :lol:

Guru_4_hire

I think it has to do with those are the cars that they had as younger people and are on a nostalgia trip as people start retiring

My dad wants a 61 galaxy convertible


[Modified by Guru_4_hire, 11:53 PM 2/28/2003]

Double_0_7

Cuz they don't know what they're missin'. :jester

LAvetteman

Only certain era of those cars are desirable. All vettes are :cool: . So the certain era cars are sky high because they are in short supply, IMO.

SizzleChest

supply and demand - that's all there is to it.

Cali,68,L-79

that was me who posted " Everyone's a SS/RS/GT" so I guess I should put on L-88 badges on my 77. :D

I see the prices going up across the board just not non-Vettes. Yesterday saw in the od car trader only one 77 under 10K, max was 18K. BUT REMEMEBR THAT'S THE ASKING PRICE WHILE THE CLOSING COST IS WAY LOWER.

AlwaysWave

:iagree: you got it.

90 droptop

They ask what they THINK the cars are worth, reality sets in when you keep watching those ads for the same cars, the price slowly starts to come down.

Only the "real" documented cars in restored condition are bringing good money. If you want one, show up with CASH.....

blackLS1

Try finding a original 69 Z28 that still has the DZ302.I'm still dreaming.

Larry B.

Well there are a few legit reasons... Steel bodies rust and/or got crunched beyond repair. Some are actually "uni-body" construction. So the survival rate is low, for really nice examples. Also they are "bigger more practical cars". They were cheaper when new so they got a lot more abuse early on. I think you can find old muscle cars cheaper in poor shape. It is the prime examples that bring big $$.. Average vs. Average I think Corvette's are priced higher.

Roadster71

In my experience given two cars of equal condition the vette would be worth more. There probably were more camero's and chevelles made in one year than all the years of the corvette combined. :yesnod:

Bobchad

That's probably true. I wouldn't be surprised if more of the Vette's are still around. Parts are everywhere, unlike these other cars. My buddy has two 455, or was it 454, TA's and is afraid to drive them. Somebody smashes into the side of his car and destroys a body panel he can't find it other than in a junk yard. We have the luxery of these parts till being available which keeps more of them on the road.

71coupe

When you look at the quanity built - like 200,000 camaros/novas, etc, I'll take the Vette. I would trade it quickly for a '70 Cuda or Challenger w/440 + 6 pack however.

sammyb

You know when there is a question about car value, I just can't keep my pie-hole shut. But you've noticed a very interesting aspect of the collector car market.

Rarity is just one criteria of collectibility. In actuality, small production can hurt a model's overally value. Looking at historical market trends, the most valuable cars are exotics (racing Ferraris, pre-war Alfas etc.) and low-production performance option packages on very HIGH production cars, such as COPO Camaros and Hemi 'Cudas.

There's a reason that Chevys are more valuable than their lower production GM platform mates. Take the case of a 1956 Chevy Bel Air. There's no doubt that a 56 Buick Special was a better car...it was more expensive, more luxurious, and offered similar performance. It was and currently is much rarer, but worth less than half of the Chevy. Why? Because collector car values are determined by popularity. The more people who had the car in the day, or who had a father, neighbor, cousin, friend etc... with the car when new, the more there are to buy the car years later for nostalgia.

There is also another thing that hurts the C3: most people look at them as 20 year old cars, rather than 35 year old cars. Since they ran until '82, it hurt collectability. As for Camaros, they stopped in '69 with the desirable body style.

My buddy and I were having the same conversation yesterday. He owns a '68 Camaro convertible and about three years ago sold his '68 Vette. We were talking about him buying another '68 Camaro to have until his convertible is restored, and we discussed that because Camaros are REALLY popular again, the Vette is cheaper. A '68 Vette can be bought for $5,000-$7000 around here, and a 327 auto '68 Camaro sold in a matter of hours yesterday here for $6,995.

My guess is that as the Corvette C6 is released in late 2004 with 420hp, and then the ZO6 being released in 2005 with 525 hp, you'll see nostalgia for the early C3s, and since a)Corvettes will be hot again, and b)it will have been enough years since '82 and c)the economy should be starting to come out of the toilet by then, the values will pick up.

Sam

R1234

My brother in law just sold his 69 convertible camaro with the z11 code number. Which I believe is the small block pace car version. The white one with orange strips. He had owned owned it for about 22 years. It's been sitting in his parents garage for at least 15 years. The car had been turned into a hotrod, non original motor, car in primer, rust in quarter panels and in need of a complete restore. He had purchased a few original parts over the years meaning to one day put it back together. He had bought a GM front clip. He got $8000 dollars for it. He offered it to me about 5 years ago for $3500.

Alwyn678

As someone already said it is all supply and demand.