Market for 1976 cars

[Scott Marzahl]

I was hoping someone who follows the C3 market might chime in. I took my 16 year old son to look at his first car, a 1976, L-48 auto, P/W, Tele wheel.
Mom is worried he is going to spend all his money for college.

Its all original, rust free frame, clean solid body except both bumpers have two small tears. A salvaged rear bumper comes with it as does a complete new black leather interior, dash, seats, door panels, console, carpet and rear compartments.

The car has been sitting for 15 years as his uncle totally gutted the interior which was brown and removed the dash too. Well at least I got to make sure there was no rust anywhere.

It will probably need calipers and I'll assume trailing arms (worst case) and minor rebuilds like power steering system, water pump etc.

Bottom line, asking price $3,000, so is there much of a market for these cars should he need money during college?

Thanks,
Scott

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

I am not sure I understand the question, but can you say student loan.

[Kevin M.]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

3k sounds like a good project car to me. Offer 2.5k even a better deal.

Kevin

[Isaac Tyson]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

Wow, 16 and his first car! Wish I was 16 again...(the good old days) I remeber when I was 16 I was trying to make the same call--Save the money I earned for College, or spend it on cars. Well, I ended up buying a 1964 Corvette with my college money a few weeks before my 16th B-day so that I could take my drivers test in the car (dang that was awesome!). A year later I bought a 1969 Firebird from Cali. With all my collge funds gone (that I had been saving since I was like 7) I had no money for college. It actually pushed me to work harder and save more, knowing that I would need to come up with the funds for school in only a year. Needless to say, I ended up working my butt off that year in high school and durring college I paid cash for every bill without help from the parents.

Anyhow, sorry for the long story, but what I'm trying to say is that it might teach your son a great lesson--seeing as it's his money and not mom and dad buying the car. He needs to know though that buying the car is the cheap part! It's all the extra parts and nickle and dime stuff that is the killer. You and your son will have to make the call on where to spend money and hope that mom will agree or at least suport your son either way.

If I was 16 again there's no doubt what I'd do, I'd blow all my cash on classic cars because the lessons they tought me were priceless.

P.S. Tell your son to stay away from student loans at all costs.

-Tyson

[Gary Schisler]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

$3000 for a nice 76 doesn't sound too bad but you have a LOT of hidden costs there. If you are worried about college and whether or not he is going to be able to pay you may want to inquire about the costs of bringing this car back to life.

Are you mechanically inclined? Are you able to install the trailing arms and calipers yourself? Can you do interiors and install the dash? What about rebuilding the power steering components? Does the engine run and what is the condition of the trans?

If you have to farm these projects out, you are talking some serious money here and I would like to have an accurate estimate BEFORE I decided whether or not $3000 was a bargain price.

Just my "glass is half empty" state of mind.

Gary

[Scott Marzahl]

Thanks all

Thanks everyone for you input, I would be doing all the work so any new parts/supplies would be the only expense. I know the market seems soft for these years so I don't want to get in over what the car may actually be worth which I would assume is in the 7-8K range for a real clean car???

[Jay G.]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

I did the same thing. In fall of 69 I was 17 Bought a 1958 283/270HP Dual Quad car for $600.00. I was working a at a garage pumping gas, oil changes, tires etc. after school. I had $300 my ol' man fronted me $300.00. Car need t-10 rebuilt Then I discovered what Ins costs for a 17 yr old in a Vette. So back I went back to Deweys farm stated milkin cows again to get 2 jobs going. Course I walked up hill both ways in the snow. (Yeah sure) Any way my folks taught me a valuable lesson on work habits and what can be achieved. I say go for it nothing like being young with a Vette or any hot rod. Plus he may learn the independence factor of working for yourself even if pay your dues working for others. The car price is right probably only go up in value.

[Rob M.]

Re: Market for 1976 cars

Scott,

First, it sure sounds like a fun project for you and your son to do together. I wish that my father and I had done something like that when I was 16. Second, as far as value is concerned, this might help. Corvette Enthusiast, Aug. '06, pricing guide: '76 Coupe, "fair" condition = 5,200; "good" condition = 9,300; "excellent" condition = 16,275. Finally, they state for 76 cars there's been a 3.33% rise in value from last year. Hope that helps.

Regards,
Rob

[Scott Marzahl]

Thanks Rob

Good info Rob, thanks.

[Joseph T.]

Re: buying for a 16 year old

Scott..sounds like a good deal..as long as you budget the $ to put it together.

I recently bought a 76 and am glad I did..the shark body style is timeless and looking better everyday. Watch for rust in the metal floor pan..as rain will surely get there.

Buying the car as a project to do with your son..is another good idea...and will make for some good memories.

If the 76 is going to be your son's primary transportation..that has other ramifications. Consider you are talking about a 30 year old car, insurance etc..

I bought my daughter a 66 MGB when she turned 16.. she drove it one time..it stalled the second time and never drove it again. We had to buy her another car. The MG sat for about 12 years and I finally sold it.

It later occurred to me that I bought her the MG..because I liked it...not because she wanted it. The second car was a Pontiac Sunbird Convertible..which started up every time, looked great, held more people and was a top down car on nice days.

The lessons we learn..along the way.

Joe

[Patrick H.]

Re: buying for a 16 year old

In addition, realize the insurance aspect. None of the classic car insurance companies will insure a 16 year old. You will have to go through your regular insurer and see if either a) they have a classic auto division which will insure the 16 year old to drive (even if in Dads' name) or b) they have an agreed value or at worst stated value coverage.

Local college grad just received from his Dad a beautiful completely original 1964 GTO that Dad purchased 30 years ago. Unfortunately he can't find insurance for the true value of the car as he's not 25 yet.

Patrick

[Gary R.]

Re: buying for a 16 year old

If you're considering it as a hobby car that you both can work on, sounds good. I did the same thing with a 75 L-82 4 spd car. If you have to think about education vs ANY vette there is no choice. There are plenty of vettes around, be sure your son goes to school first. Hagerty will cover a younger driver on the owner's policy too.
Now for the car, 76's are not going to be collector cars IMO. They were slow, mass produced, typical 70's cars. They can be built into anything you want though and the parts are everywhere. If you've never worked on a vette before then you might find the rear suspension a bit of a challenge. If you have access to tools and a machine shop I can tell you how to rebuild everything on the car and in many ways better then stock.
For comparision the number matching 75 was $3,000 and it was complete and running. It has the L82, 4 spd, 355's (now 373's)and Gymkana suspension. we did all the work except alignment. The engine, tranny,rear end, suspensions,interior, brakes, custom exhaust, bumpers(if you have cracks they will open in the hot weather)The car has more power(400hp), better brakes and handles as good as any c2 or c3 before it. The part cost was about $8k-$10k and if I charged labor for this job it would have been about the same as the part cost. Just some things to think about. Get him a dependable driver and work on the vette while you discuss college.

Good luck
Gary

[Isaac Tyson]

[Scott Marzahl]

Re

Thanks again for all the feedback. This is strictly a project for him to hold onto if he can. The college money I referred to earlier would be his spending money, not tuition. He has an old Volvo to drive for his regular transportation, well at least what's left of it since his sister learned to drive in it and is now of to college herself.

My wife was just jabbing me saying, well I guess the '67 won't be getting finished this year after all I've really been cranking on the '67 trying to get all the body work finished and painted this year, I've got it in Gel Coat now which is almost sanded out. This has been a 7 year project for me in all my spare time (yeah right) it was a total basket case so this '76 would be a walk in the park. I need to update the photos and add some of the '67 in its current state.

www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1162896

[mike cobine]

This is just asking for trouble

Dad insures it, doesn't state son is driving it, son wrecks it (at fault or not at fault), and insurance goes ballistic! Yes, they will cover if he is at fault for at least the liability, but they may tell you what to do with your car claims and you can bet they will either can you or have you on the (one more and out) list.

When I insured my first car at 17, I went to my own policy, not my parent's. Yes, it cost more, but my mistakes were my mistakes and didn't impact their insurance. That makes for MUCH better father-son relationships.

My brother didn't. Insured on my parent's policy, he took them down the road of "find a new company". So when the insurance company canned them and told them to find someone else, I was unaffected, and continued on the good rates that company had for many more years.

As you can imagine, he wasn't favorite son for a few weeks, or months.