Nice 1976 Corvette.

[Argent 88]

It's been sitting outside of a vehicle repair , tow  shop for a long time now out in the elements. I finally stopped by and asked about it. The owner said yeah he would sell it, and it runs fine. Pay my tow fee and 3,000. Gonna look into that.

[Bob Riebe]

Now that is a good price but be wary; good thing is, in 1976 they were still non-digital BS and you can fix a lot yourself but my cousin bought a 1993 for 10,000 approx. 8 years ago.
Now to darn near another 10,000 dollars it is worth, at best, 7-8 thousand.
Distributor cap was 300 dollars.

[Argent 88]

Now that is a good price but be wary; good thing is, in 1976 they were still non-digital BS and you can fix a lot yourself but my cousin bought a 1993 for 10,000 approx. 8 years ago.
Now to darn near another 10,000 dollars it is worth, at best, 7-8 thousand.
Distributor cap was 300 dollars.

I went by there again and he started it up, fired right off. It's a dark metallic blue, engine sounded ok.
Seats could use some attention, dash isn't cracked or the windshield. It was a police impound, due to drug trafficking.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know about today but 10 years ago interior parts were hard to find and expensive to buy for that vintage. Seems not many were being restored because they were hardly performance cars so the manufactures didnt make much for them. Add to that painting a fiberglass vette of any year is alot more expensive then a steel body

[Bob Riebe]

You can practically build a 1963-1982 corvette from scratch now there are so many parts out there.
It is the same chassis with a different body for the most part.

For 3 grand, that is probably worth taking a chance on, you will NOT lose money if you resell it unless the chassis is rusted BADLY and even then still worth taking a chance.

COMMON NON-WORKING OPTIONS IN CLASSIC C3 CORVETTES
https://www.hobbycarcorvettes.net/classic-c3-corvette-common-non-working-options/

[Argent 88]

He let us drive it around a bit. Went down to Artesia and back it did ok on the road. Lloyd it seemed to have plenty of power, needs shocks though. We will keep it in the barn out of the elements. T top works and doesn't
leak. What ever druggie had it didn't have it very long lol. An old receipt in the console for tires was made out   
some guy in Texas three years ago. 67k on the odometer.   

[Ranger99]

JMHO-  I don't know how the laws
work there,  but I would make absolutely
positively iron-clad sure that you can
get a proper title issued in your name.
From the way it sounds, the seller has
a mechanic's lien on it instead of a
title.  Maybe not, but I would make
absolutely sure there weren't any hoops
to jump through.
I've been through the can't-get-a-clean-title
mess, and had to take a small soaking
to get out from under it
There's not a car or truck anywhere in the
United States that's worth going through
the mess it takes to try and straighten it out.
Just a word from a man that's BTDT

[Argent 88]

The thing is, that guys tow and storage fee is up to $1,800.00 now.And he won't budge on that.
This isn't it, but it's a pic of what it probably once looked like. I'm sure it would take a lot of $$$$$$$ to restore
it back it to this. I always liked that body style.

[Lloyd Smale]

looks good as a 20 footer. If I bought it thats how it would stay. buy it for 3k and spend 5k restoring it and another 5k for paint and you have yourself a nice 8k car you paid 13 for. If you want a nice one shop around with 8-10k in your pocket. Better yet for the same money you can get a c4 that will eat it alive in every catagory. Ive had a couple c4s. both lt1s a 92 and a 94. They are even respectable in performance compared to new cars today. Probably one of the best bang for the bucks in a performance car today. 0-60 in the 5 second range, Top end of 160 and get 25 mpg all day long. Compare that to 8-9 seconds and a `120mph and 15 mpg in a c3 and the c4 will blow it into the weeds in the corners. only downside to a c4 for us old farts is there hard to get in and out of. you can pick up a nice one for 8k and one close to mint for 10. In my opinion some day there going to be appreciated and start climbing in value. heres an typical example https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/d/chicago-1992-chevy-corvette-quasar-blue/7309408166.html

[Bob Riebe]

looks good as a 20 footer. If I bought it thats how it would stay. buy it for 3k and spend 5k restoring it and another 5k for paint and you have yourself a nice 8k car you paid 13 for. If you want a nice one shop around with 8-10k in your pocket. Better yet for the same money you can get a c4 that will eat it alive in every catagory. Ive had a couple c4s. both lt1s a 92 and a 94. They are even respectable in performance compared to new cars today. Probably one of the best bang for the bucks in a performance car today. 0-60 in the 5 second range, Top end of 160 and get 25 mpg all day long. Compare that to 8-9 seconds and a `120mph and 15 mpg in a c3 and the c4 will blow it into the weeds in the corners. only downside to a c4 for us old farts is there hard to get in and out of. you can pick up a nice one for 8k and one close to mint for 10. In my opinion some day there going to be appreciated and start climbing in value. heres an typical example https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/d/chicago-1992-chevy-corvette-quasar-blue/7309408166.html

As my cousin found out, when some thing breaks or wears out on a C4 and a LOT does, it costs a LOT of money.

IF one wants to go fast crate engines with three time the HP of a later C3 are comparatively cheap and come with 3 year warranties in many cases, plus chassis improvement parts are cheap and easy to install compared to the uni-body C4.
At this point in time C4s are dropping in value fast, and even C5 or C6 are available at what are actually dropping quicker than any ever expected.
One reason is they built too many compared to the small numbers of the earlier ones.

It all depends on what you want it for, go fast ,  or like my dork cousin, all show, no go.

[Lloyd Smale]

 I owned two and put a combined 125k on them both were bought used with around 40k already on them. Only repairs either needed was brakes on both at around 70k and one needed a distributor that cost 500 bucks. Never saw where parts were more for them then anything else. They were both VERY reliable cars. Both are still on the road in this town and i know the blue one has a 160k on it and is still going strong. Yup you can go out and buy a crate 300 hp motor for around 3k. It might run as long but i wouldnt bet on it. then your adding another 3k to your c3 build along with interior paint ect and thats if your like you or I and can install it yourself. heck now your into the c5s price and that my friend was a good reliable fast car with probably the most bullet proof and longest lasting small block chev ever. FACT is c3s were slow didnt handle well and were not reliable cars. heck they were build in the 70s. what more do you need to know. They should remove all cars from 1973 to the early 80s right out of the history books. only c3 that would sit in my driveway is a chrome bumper car and it would need a big block to get a spot. no disco vettes for this guy. Personaly id take a mid to late 70s camaro any day over a vette of that era. now thats is worthy of a crate motor. Problem is im not alone because a decent camaro of that era will cost you more then a vette.

 Want a vette on a budget. get yourself a c5. You can pick up a real nice one for under 20k. well under if you shop. fast enough for 90 percent of the people who want a vette. dead reliable 300k motor that gets 30mpg and they ride well and unlike a c4 and old foggy like us can get in and out of them. Bottom line for me is unless i won the lotto and could shop for a c2 i wouldnt even bother with a vette if i didnt have the money to buy a c5. I had a 2003 zo6 and it was flogged and never even whimpered. It was every bit as fast as my 392 challenger gets better fuel economy and would absolutely wax it in the corners. Even c5 z06s can be found for around 20k and will woop any vette that came before it except maybe a zl1 and i havent even seen one of those in person let alone met one on the street and even that car had better be only racing in a straight line to beat a z. next we step up to 30k and my hands down favorite vette ive ever owned and that was my c6 zo6. That thing was an ANIMAL!!!!!! one that can be bought today for less money then a toyota celica and probably give it a run for its money even in fuel economy. But c4s being unreliable? nope. Chassis upgrades to handle? they didnt need them. out of the box they handled as well as porches and ferraris of the day and were just as fast as all but the most exotic examples and hands down more reliable.

 The c4 changed the game. It put the kick ass back in the vette that was lost in the early 70s and did it with a chassis that could compete with anything made. Ive owned many vettes and have put lots of miles on them and have been in corvette clubs and around all years and for the most part non chrome bumper c3s are only spoken of in hushed tones. Go and get one if you dont mind being handed your ass by a kia soul or want to invest 10k or more restoring and modding a 8k car that when your done is worth 8k and thats not even factoring in upgrading the chassis to make it handle. I guess if you just want to do it there there. But dont tell me its the smart play. Guy could probably buy a 1975 toyota celica and throw a small block in it and make it handle too. Throwing good money at anything can make it fast. doesnt make it smart. Now if i lived where argent did in the land of no rust and wanted a hot rod to drop a crate motor in id look for a nice rust free square body short box chev and go hunting disco vettes