My brother found a C3 that interests him. 1975 auto silver on silver with 11,200 miles on it. He says it's perfect, with 2 non stock items. It has new wheels and tires, and side pipes. The owner told him he paid $10k for it a year ago, but he wants $16k for it now. I thought $10k would be what it's worth.

Any opinions on what this thing is worth?

Here's 51 with pricing Dale, from ridiculous to reasonable.

The car would have to be mint and should be checked out including CarFax, and anything from previous owners.

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/fin ... let&conversationId=613264

No CARFAX on a pre-1981. Good luck...

$16k seems high... but... not insane. The problem? Drive it for a year and it will be worth $10k.

I would say $12k or so would be fair for all involved. The low mileage, tho, will breed its own problems - rubber bit disinigrating... leaks... I would pass. If it was to be a garage queen, go for it.

Depends on what he wants with the car. Most rubber bumper cars just don't bring that much money. I bought my 76 for $6K and it's a darn nice driver.

IMO that's a lot of $$$ for a less than show room condition mint 75. Now you have a car that has had the emissions equipment hacked off it with a headers and side pipes install. You have to go and find correct exhaust manifolds, A.I.R. stuff and have correct type exhaust run on the car. It's not that big of a deal but could run an additional $600-$1000 easily. Proper wheels and tires won't come very cheap either.

Once he's done making everything right, he's going to be waiting a long time for the value to come close to what he has in it.

If he wants something to turn in to a super nice hot rod then he has a good start with an otherwise perfect car. Not what I would recommend but to each his own.

Will

There is a '75 on the cover of the June "Corvette Fever".
14K mile "time capsule".
It sat in a garage for many years in New Jersey.
"The front and rear bumper covers were yellowed and had cracked quite a bit. ...would crack a little more each time he (the new owner) drove it."
It now has new covers painted and blended in to match the O.E. lacquer.

Cost doesn't seem that out of line too me considering mileage. I'd prefer a higher mileage one or even one that's already been painted, though. Pretty much what Andy said.

Matthew

I agree with Matt..........while I would offer less, it's not really that overpriced, IMO. One thing to remember though......no matter the mileage, things like rubber suspension bushings, brakes, etc. will have to be serviced and much of it replaced. The brakes on those cars are notorious for attracting rust in the calipers, and the rubber just turns to powder. On Trae1976's car, (it was a 1 owner, by the way), even the rubber in the harmonic balancer had deteriorated to the point that it had came apart at some point prior. And, you could put your finger through the rear bumper without much effort. I happen to like the looks of the "rubber bumper" cars, and I had a '68 and loved it, too. Unless you are dead set against making any changes to the car (in other words, NCRS style ONLY, and there is certainly nothing at all wrong with that philosophy, just not my style), I think for the money, those era C3's are perfect to build a great, functional, beautiful, car that fits your personal taste. There is more than one example of that owned by the guys that post here!

Thanks guys. My brother is less of a mechanic than I am, (meaning he has no clue).

I did a little ebay and followed BillH's link. Seems the price isn't out of line, but Andy's point about the low miles being a potential issue not a plus is well taken.

I'm going to advise him to pass on this one. If he really wants one, a 50k - 80k mile car would be more in line with what he wants.