Thinking of a change

[eric the brave]

I am thinking getting a new (to me ) Vette. The car in question is a 1972 convertible with a 4 speed manual.

Whilst I know my 78 really well, I am unsure what I should look to pay for a nice 72. I am told that the manual convertible is quite rare. Would this reflect in the price?

I have been back over old magazines and the 72 doesn't seem to become available that often. Am I looking for a particularly valuable car? Are the 69 - 72 chrome bumper cars all worth approx the same or are some years more expensive than others?

Any opinions on this are welcome. Don't want to make a complete pratt of myself and pay through the nose for my favourite car!

[roscobbc]

70/71 seems to be the premium years. 72 (in my opinion) follows close on but with reduced performance options but may be a little less expensive to buy. Early 68, 69 seem to be less desirable (over here anyway) with year specific oddities but seem to be on the up Stateside owing to relative rarity.

[yellowvette]

My car is a '72 350 convertible with 4 speed manual. It's the last year for chrome bumpers front and rear. This means they do go for more than later cars as chrome bumper cars are generally considered more desirable. I think it may be down to being what the designers wanted rather than what federal law dictated. It's horses for courses though, and some prefer the plastic bumpers. As for performance it's really down to your opinion on originality. A '72 can easily be boosted on power, so should only really be an issue if you care about originality. I don't care a jot, as I just make my cars what I want them to be rather than what the factory made. For a good, not perfect, '72 convertible : presentable and usable with nothing major required I'd say around £15K. Less if it's a bit tired and needing a bit of work. Anyting under £10K I would expect to need a lot of work to make really nice. For a minter you're looking at considerably more. As a guide, a specialist told me I should expect up to £25K for my car if I wanted to sell. Mine isn't original but is mint, with lots and lots of bills for work done. As for doing work on them, I'd say as easy as any C3 and easier than many - chrome bumpers etc. are much easier to remove for example, and they don't have all the emissions stuff that later C3s have.

[vetteheadracer]

I will be dead jealous if you get a '72 vert....I wanted one really badly but could only afford a '73 coupe auto when I got my first vette.

I thought that stickshift was out for you? Average U.S. pricing seems to be about $25k for a 68-72 vert so a good one over here is going to be £10-15k I would think.

Just a couple to get you excited........

http://adcache.collectorcartraderonli

http://adcache.collectorcartraderonli

Edited by vetteheadracer on Sunday 6th August 08:35