I am currently in the market for a late 60's early 70's vette. I found a clean 72' but it has a crate engine, not the origional engine. Is it worth buying a non-numbers matching Vette? How badly does the diff. engine affect the vale of the car. Any info would be great.
-Nick
Depends on your goals for the car; many buyers aren't interested in the originality route, and it wouldn't matter to them. It would be worth significantly less to a buyer interested in going the NCRS originality/judging route.
That makes sence, my other question about that is how does it affect the price of the car? Would it be appraised for a low value because of the engine swap. and should you expect to pay less for a car with an engine swap, or not necessarly? Thanks again -Nick
yes, a non-numbers matching Corvette has a lesser market value than a numbers matching car.
That's not to say you shouldn't buy a non-numbers car, just be aware you should normally be paying less than an original car (especially comparing equal quality condition cars).
The appraised value for the car in terms of insurance value shuold probably be set more on terms of what the true market value is for repalcement cost which will follow the rule above - a numbers matching car should have a higher appraised value than a non original car.
A lot of Vette owners don't care at all if it's a numbers matching car anyway - they want to put in bigger/higher performance motors, different trans, other custome stuff, etc and just want the car as they want it to drive it the way they want it to drive. People looking for numbers matching cars are usually looking more for originally as the main purpose and think twice before changing anything at all. These cars are also probably driven overall less miles over a years time to keep them in a better original condition and are going to judging events a lot.
Also, Numbers matching cars will appreciate more in value over time and a lot of people buy them for that reason but drive them less for that reason.
You should really determine your main use for the car and what route you are looking to go.
Don't forget, an otherwise original car with a swapped or replacement motor is still a great car, just one that you should pay less for.
The value of the Corvette goes way down with unoriginality, but to me that's not what it's all about. Drive it. Modify it. Make it fast. To me, that Vette is worth a lot. To each, thy own.
A Corvette is only worth what a person is willing to pay. Keep that in mind...
My neighbor has a Green 1970 350 350 horse numbers matching Corvette that he is selling. It has recently come off a frame off restoration. The frame is perfect The car is very beautiful, the car is very straight, and very solid, all around a great car in my mind. It has 94,000 ACTUAL miles. It has a brand new soft top, and has a hard top. I am not sure what he is asking for it. If you want some more information PM me or Instant Message me my screen name is Vettefan87 and i can get you some pictures, and more information on the car.
Numbers matching cars, those that are original, are great and I would love to own one. However, I have way too much respect for them to ever modify them in any way. I actually pretty pleased that my '75 was not a numbers matching car because it left me with a free conscience when making modifications. Are non numbers cars worth less? Yes. Are they any less fun? Not in my humble opinion.
This reminds me of a corvette fever article. I will try to find that for you. Basically it said that a buyer has many things to take into consideration. Determine what the car will be used for. Will it be going to shows, or will it be driven. I know that a numbers matching car is nice. However i wouldn't buy a numbers matching car if it had a bad frame, or if it was wrecked and the damage was extensive. However a car that has a good frame and straight body with the numbers might be worth the money. I will try to find you that article and it will make more sense.
To answer your original question: Non matching numbers drops the value by 30-50% depending on what it had originally in it. If it is a 72 LT1 then you are on the higher end. If it is a base car lower end. To have the best of both worlds find a matching numbers car and if ya want more speed then pull the original engine and store it properly and drop the engine of your choice in its place.
The value is lower, but then you're buying not selling
These cars are very bad investments anyway. They are an expensive hobby.
If the replacement motor is good, and properly installed it should be fine. Just watch out of hack jobs. Mine was quite a mess under the hood. Lots of parts just missing.
When I went 'Vette shopping I knew what I didn't want! I didn't want some treasured piece of American history that would saddle me with unending guilt and tremendous debt to society if I ever "broke it". I didn't want to count the miles one-by-one as they flicked across the odometer. I just wanted to DRIVE! In the end, I settled on a plain vanilla '78 L48 for project "Fun, Great Looking Old Car". If you're not hung-up on originality you can get all the parts you need at Autozone for peanuts (these things have an awful lot in common with early 1980's Chevy trucks!). Oh, and don't feel too sick to your stomach when you take something apart to "fix" it an 3 other things break in the process... These machines are almost 30 years old for crying out loud! It's pretty amazing how many of them have survived...
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To each, thy own.
