SBR

This car was offered on ebay.com a couple of months ago but wrote it off because of the lack of power brake booster and no detailed pictures. The seller has relisted the car with detailed engine photos and I am starting to think that the car may be authentic after all. I hope that Rowdy Rat shares his thoughts on this one :cheers:

Steve Straus

link?

Smokehouse69

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6168

Holy shiznitz! It looks like it sat in the bottom of a river for 20 years instead of a barn! It might be real, but before I bid more than $200.00 on it, it would have to be verified as a true L88 'vette.

bigvette1

Any guesses on what kind of $$ it would take to restore that thing to make it a real car?

PRNDL

Was this the car with the antenna? i am not the person to judge the authenticity of a mess like that, but i do object to statements such as this:

If an L-88 sold for $640k, surely it was a 67 and not a 68?? What is the highest price paid for a 68 L-88? MJ

Corey_68

Not sure, but easily $100K+ :yesnod:

Mystery Machine

What a neat car to restore...$50K...though???? :eek:

groovyjay

If someone told me to buy that POS for 50K I would just :lol: at them... Real L88 or not that is one big pile of JUNK!!!


[Modified by groovyjay, 7:00 AM 8/11/2003]

Last Ride

It was a '67, and it only had 13 miles on it or something like that.

GDaina

that car's been buggered with.....not the correct gas line

Without any documentation, it will be a stretch if that car gets 65K, restored. Bloomington, 2000, a 69 L-88, very nice car, no docs, sold for 65K.


[Modified by GDaina, 10:50 AM 8/11/2003]

Robert N

The last time the car was offered for sale, there was a fairly involved thread. The seller was unable to offer too many details when I emailed. Inspecting the car seemed to be an issue.

Given my previous emails and statements like these:

"This car shows evidence of fiberglass repair, however the body panels appear to be correct."

"if you want a tank sticker go buy one."

It may be legit, but not on my dime. Seller seems a little put off by people questioning the authenticity of the car for which he himself has no proof.


[Modified by Robert N, 9:27 AM 8/11/2003]

Scooter70

If you had a car that you thought was worth $50k, would you use it to lean your 2x4s up against?? That car would be worth <$1000 if it weren't being touted as an L88 (if it really is one).

mvftw

Did that '69 for $65K have the original motor, I doubt it. IF this car is real (NOM) and got restored, it's got to be worth $150-$250


[Modified by mvftw, 2:18 PM 8/11/2003]

Paul Borowski

The LeMans Blue '68 L-88 roadster that again was out at Bloomington(I forget what it sold for though this year, if it did sell)did sell I believe a few years ago when Bloomington was out at the Interstate Center for like $105,000-and that was with a Bloomington Gold "Bronze" and NOT the ORIGINAL motor.

I am puzzeled on this one though-as bad as it looks, so many things look right. I know, many things DO NOT add up, but what is there looks ""possibly"" BELIEVABLE as a true '68 L-88 convertible, and I'm no expert on L-88's either!!! Sure would love to see the car in person!!!

Robert N

Paul,

Many things are correct and many are not. As a result fo all of the previous discussions, I had several email "conversations" with the seller. All seemed a little vague. While this one could just be a real L88, with as much as is wrong and no documentation, do you take the risk? It could be a costly mistake.

SBR

Bigvette1, my guess would be that it would trake 60K to restore that car to Bloomington Gold specs. Mnjack, the highest prices paid for a 68 L88 that I know of is I believe over 500K for a car that raced at the 24 hours of LeMans. For a street L88 the highest I have seen recently was 135K for a 13K mile conv. This car was nice but the body had been hit and needed some TLC. Paul, the blue 68 you saw at BG sold for 85K and was NOM with no paperwork.


[Modified by SBR, 7:48 PM 8/11/2003]

bigvette1

The only way I could see buying this car would be on a contingency of authentication contract. Otherwise, $50k is at stake. If one bought a true L88 for $50k and put $50k into it and sold it at auction for $125+ then it is a good investment.

BoeingDriver

I'm with Steve (SBR) on this vehicle. I find several aspects of this car (L88?) very intriguing. There are many specific areas of interest when trying to determine authenticity of a L88. Some are well known and others much less so. If I were a player on this particular example, I would personally inspect the car. In the end, although we all realize it can be reproduced, I love lots of documentation. More than anything, I like being able to talk with the original owner. I would not make a judgement on this car, one way or the other, based solely on the eBay ad.

Regards,

Mark Donnally

Rowdy Rat

Steve,

Much better photos this time around, huh? :)

I would agree that there are certainly enough items present that are what I would expect to see on an authentic L-88 to warrant an inspection... If I was interested in purchasing this car.

One item that I find very interesting is the master cylinder. L-88 cars had to be ordered with power brakes (RPO J-50) in conjunction with the heavy duty brakes (RPO J-56). Obviously, the vacuum booster is missing, but the master cylinder is the correct casting number for a power brake optioned Corvette. One other item of note is the proportioning valve (in this case, it is a proportioning valve, not a switch) located below the master cylinder. This was standard fare on 1965-1967 J-56 equipped Corvettes and apparently some early 1968 J-56 cars as well (Solidlifters, if you're out there following along, your hunch was right). This car is a relatively late build... Still something else to add to the file on this one.

Robert,

I remember in the previous thread, you mentioned that the broker said that the transmission had been replaced. What was his basis for that statement?

I'm not surprised at the lack of detailed information... That's what happens when the person who sells a car is a "broker" instead of an "owner".

Jim,

Good move, but the broker will never allow it to happen... I'm wondering if the owner of the car knows what it is being advertised for?

Your best bet is to track the car down... Approach the owner directly. My guess is that much less money will be required to buy it.

Mark,

Excellent advice!

Regards,

LemansBlue68

Quote:
________________________________________ _______________________
"the master cylinder is the correct casting number for a power brake optioned Corvette"
________________________________________ _______________________

My car's only an L36 but it too had a power brake master cylinder and was a manual brake car (I've since added power brakes). There was no indication that the M/C had ever been changed at any point. It was in just as crappy shape as the rest of the braking system and other underhood components, but it was more correct for what it is than that car. My car was a "20+ year stored in a barn special" too but at least the owner kept a cover on it, realizing that being a Corvette it had some value other than to serve as a rat's nest or 2X4 holder. If this one's owner had even some inkling that it's worth something, you'd think he'd have stored it a little more carefully.

I know I'm gonna upset somebody here with this statement but, IT'S ONLY A CORVETTE!!! As enamored as I am with limited production options like L-88, the cost to fake one is far less than to buy one, and fake documentation is becoming just as easy to acquire. To invest big money in a special Corvette is crazy unless it is just something you gotta have (I can relate to that too, though) or has a verifiable owner history. Had GM imbedded the engine option in the serial number or had some kind of factory maintained documentation to verify the build content of each serial number produced, I might feel differently.

I'd rather invest big money in a rotary dial phone manufacturer's stock hoping for rotary dials to come back in vogue, than pay some of the money that's being handed over for many of these cars today.

$60K reserve?????? :lolg: :lolg: :lolg: :lolg: :lolg: :lolg: :lolg: :lolg:

I'd give $6K tops and that's because it does have a big block and it is a convertible.