Vette People

takia

takia

Member
I am on a new mission and need some help. I am looking at a 1973 Stingray. Here is what the seller has to say:
“Red 454 (price reduced, $13,500)coupe.Auto,air,p/s,p/b,tilt,p/w,p/b,am/fm.77000 miles numbers match. Needs front bumper cover.”
Anyone have any experience with the Vette’s? Obviously, I am not going to pay that, but not sure what a fair figure would be. It is pretty clean except for the bumper cover. I am attaching some photos. This is a long time in the making, and I am trying to fulfill a dream that my Dad and I had. I am a 23 y/o chick that is buying a 454… What’s up with that!?!?!? OK…. I am trying not to get too excited! Any input would be great. Good/ Bad Vette experiences, pricing, etc. I just don’t want to jump in over my head. I have looked for a while, this is just the first thing that was decent.
 
dvs

dvs

Member
P.S., Blue Book lists an 85' between $4,400 and $8,400. However, it IS a stingray...
:D
 
nflnutswif

nflnutswif

Member
I found a few in the greensheets for between $8, - $19,000. just depends on what you want and what you want to pay! 77K is great mileage if it's true. It took us a couple of years to find exactly what we wanted, but got it!
Here it is on the showroom floor!
 
alohami

alohami

Member
Blue Book is a joke! Their values in no way represent the actual value of a vehicle.
No offense to DVS, but you cannot figure the value on a '73 Stingray by using Blue Book's price on a '85. The difference between a '85 and a '73 are night and day!
Using NADA (National Auto Dealer Association) values, which are far more accurate than Blue Book, $13,500 is not a bad price for that car, especially if there are only 77,000 original miles on it and it is well maintained. Here are Nada's values (this is only adding the 454 engine and factory a/c...could be more if there are more options)
Low Retail: $10,193
Average Retail: $19,035
High Retail: $28,823
So you can see there is a wide range of values for classic cars. Just depends on their condition, what has been done to restore and/or soup them up, how much in demand are they, etc. etc. You are not going to find a classic Vette cheap unless it needs a ton of work.
Bottom line, you just have to decide if it is the car for you and what you are willing to pay.
 
tangman99

tangman99

Active Member
You definitely have to evaluate the car for what it is. My cousin had a 1971 with a 454 and it was one bad ride both in power and in ride quality. The old 3rd generation Corvettes were like riding without springs. It does pretty good in the photos though.
Look at the door panels carefully. Door panels can tell you a lot about a car if they are original by what shape they are in. I have a 2002 Corvette that I love. It is a beast and fun to drive.
If you get it, take a lot of time getting used to it. They did not have the best handling back then for that kind of HP up front.
If you really want some good advice from people who know, go check out a Corvette Forum. I belong to Corvetteforum which is very good and has a C3 forum.
Good luck.
 
sweetreef

sweetreef

Active Member
the 454 big block isnt the best i think!!!But they make good boat achors...lol Iam a chevy nut i put a hi performance 396 in my 72 k-5 and its a driveline twisting motor i love it i think its way better than the 454 big block i think in the late 60s when the put the 327 small blocks in the vetts boy them motors can really rap out i have one of them motors in a 1972 chevy vegga gt and its really fast...
 
scubanoah

scubanoah

Member
I sold vettes for a few years. 13,500 aint bad if it is nice as the pics look. miles are good too, make sure they are actual. a good buy on that car would be 10-11 grand.
 
evilss

evilss

Member
i own a '73 vette my self. a very nice car. the one in your pics looks good as well. you have to remebmer that '73 was the last year for the big block in the vette also. the value of my car is more than 13500 and its the stock 350 release. it sounds and looks like a great buy to me.
 
S

starfishjackedme

Guest
stuff a 350 stroked to a 400 with TFS twisted wedge R heads in there!
 
takia

takia

Member
Talked with the dude and I wanted to go see the car this weekend again, just to ver. VIN's, etc. Now he will take no less then 15 for the car! I am just wondering if that is the reason the car has been for sale since last spring?? HMM.... I guess I will just keep looking. Thanks for all of the input!!
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
Ran a 75' with my father, built up a bit. Ok car, handling was like a pickup truck with a drop kit.
A friend had a 98' that drove pretty nice. I'd skip that 70'ish vette and get a newer one. You can get the C5's in the mid 20's used. Much better driver IMO. Or go all out and get the new one's. Seen a lot of those around here lately.
You have to do a LOT to get a seventies vette to do even close to what the ones the last 7 years have done right from the factory. The muscle car thing is alright, but dang, you can hop in a 97', start it up and drive it. No working, paining, bumping, tuning, etc.
JMO.
Did the nostalgic thing, enough with that. Gimme something new that I can drive when I get off work, not leave work to come home to more work.
 
tangman99

tangman99

Active Member

Originally posted by tony detroit
Ran a 75' with my father, built up a bit. Ok car, handling was like a pickup truck with a drop kit.
A friend had a 98' that drove pretty nice. I'd skip that 70'ish vette and get a newer one. You can get the C5's in the mid 20's used. Much better driver IMO. Or go all out and get the new one's. Seen a lot of those around here lately.
You have to do a LOT to get a seventies vette to do even close to what the ones the last 7 years have done right from the factory. The muscle car thing is alright, but dang, you can hop in a 97', start it up and drive it. No working, paining, bumping, tuning, etc.
JMO.
Did the nostalgic thing, enough with that. Gimme something new that I can drive when I get off work, not leave work to come home to more work.
Tony does make a good point. With the release of the C6, the C5s have dropped in price significantly. They were selling 2004 C5's brand new for 12K under MSRP just before the C6 rolled out. That drove value of our C5's way down. The difference in ride quality is like night and day and Tony is right about the performance level. My 2002 C5 runs high 12's with nothing more than a ram air intake and Corsa exhaust with X-pipe. Nothing else at all. For another 8K I can add a head/cam package that the tuner is running 11.19 with in Bradenton Florida.
 
yankeefish

yankeefish

New Member
I love the style of the 70's vette, but like what was mentioned, get a newer one with better suspension, engine, etc. I have a 1996 LT4 and that car SCREAMS down the road. You can also find alot of the C4 with LT1's for about that price now. But if you do want that stlye and going for an older vette, then get him alittle lower on the price.
 
tangman99

tangman99

Active Member
One other thing about the '73 compared to my '02. It won't do 180 mph and get 31 mpg on the highway. (Not at the same time :D)
 
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