A question for all about buying 30 yo car

I have been spending some of my spare time learning about and searching for a 1973 to 1975 Shark.

I have a question for anyone that may have an opinion on this.

How much stock would you put into buying a 30 year old car from the original owner. Any benefits to the value of the car later? One benefit I see is that much of the paper work is still there. It seems to get lost as the car is transferred through 3 or 4 owners.

thanks


Kirk

[Yoda]

Kirk,

You ask a very good question. Here is my take on it..

If you are buying the car to be an original and as original as can be and plan to NCRS the car, then the more original and documentation you have the better.

If you plan to make this an investment Well, from my perspective: I've only made money on 2 Corvettes out of the 9 I've owned. One was a 1954. It was in fair shape when a buddy and I bought it and started a full restoration on it, we had just installed the Blue Flame with a set of side draft carbs and a guy at a Corvette Show offered us three times what we had paid for the car and about twice what we already had in it.. SOLD
The second was a 74 big block that had front end damage and frame damage, we got the frame straightened out and put a used front clip on it and sold it for a couple thousand more than what we paid for it, if we figured in all our time and BEER (back then) we probably broke even

So, it really depends what your intent is. Getting as much documentation on a Corvette is not always the easiest thing in the world to do. You'll read here at CAC about owners trying to trace the history of their cars and previous owners and running into deadends, haveing the documentation is nice, does it make the car worth more ?? I guess in some instances it does, esp. if it is unique to the year e.g. Big Blocks, special options etc..

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts.

Bud

[page62]

I'm with Rare81...he said it all and he said it best.

The only time I'd get in a twist about documentation, etc. is if the car is a really rare one -- and 73-75 aren't years known for their rare models. Not like the '68 L-88 convertible that sold for $125,000 yesterday!

Bottom line: Buy the car in the best overall condition you can find...regardless of provenance. But also realize you're still going to have to do work on it -- that's just the nature of the beast!

[Stallion]

I myself have also given this something thought...if I want original (numbers matching) or just what I can find with a good deal. I came to the conclusion that my Vette will be most nearly a daily driver. And, I'm going to make it as comfortable and user-friendly as possible also, which requires modification/some restoration without stock items.

So I personally am not looking for a totally numbers matching car, but I would like to have the original block in the Vette.

corvetTRacer

You have to look at the overall picture.It can certainly be a plus to have a car that is from the original owner.As far as documentation well if your looking for a older car and they claim the engine has been rebuilt then you probably want to see some written proof of that.
A car that has been passed around and has a murky history makes me a bit nervous.It can still be a good car it just takes more research to be sure of it.
Just depends on the situation.

[Tom Bryant]

If this car is all original and unmolested and you detail it to NCRS standards, having good documentation and knowing the complete owner history can mean maybe as much as 1-2k onto the selling price if the buyer is looking for a NCRS quality car. Maybe more on more valuable or rarer cars.

Tom