What a waste!!!!

[BarryK]

I was at a cruise night a few weeks back and was talking to an older guy who was there with his family. This guy drives a '54, his wife has a '56, and the daughter has '65 coupe. (they have had the '65 since they bought it in '68).
during our conversation he mentioned that back in the 70's he and a friend of his started buying a lot of Vettes and ended up buying 70 of them. The friend still has 50 of these Vettes sitting in two barns. He is not touching the cars and he will not sell any of them!

Is it just me or does this seem like a total waste? To just let all these cars and pieces of history just sit there and deteriorate through the years. Thats a crime and a shame. This guy is smart enough to know the value of the cars enough to keep them but not enough to realize they are rotting away on him with proper maintance? I guess he plans on dieing still owning all these cars.

after asking around, other local Vette people know the man i was talking to and confirm this story so it's not like he was just blowing me a load of hot air. to me that's even worst. If it was at least just a rumor or myth that there were 2 barns full of Vettes sitting there I could discount it and not be concerned, but knowing it's true and all these cars are rotting away is tearing me up inside!
And think about it....they bought all the cars in the early 70's so you know that are are mostly C1's and C2's bought relatively cheap back than with maybe a few C3's thrown in.

HUGE SIGH.........
I'd love to just be able to walk thru those barns and drool over the cars if nothing else.

 

[yellow_2002_germany]

Maybe he is hoping for a huge return on his investment. Even with a lack of maintenance, they would certainly hold some value if they were the right types such as big blocks or big tank versions.

However, as has been said here many times, they are only worth what someone is willing to pay. And since most, if not all of them would need a full restoration to be like new the price would certainly be lower than what he expects to get.

Probably has visions of $500,000 L88's dancing in his head!

 

[BarryK]

true.......but that's only if he wanted to sell them and my understanding is that he is not selling any of the cars. he plans on just keeping them.
If he wanted to sell, he could already make a small fortune i would imagine just from the difference from his early '70 purchase prices to todays selling prices

 

[theblackvette]

Barry does the NCM suck or what? HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA JK

:L

true.......but that's only if he wanted to sell them and my understanding is that he is not selling any of the cars. he plans on just keeping them.
If he wanted to sell, he could already make a small fortune i would imagine just from the difference from his early '70 purchase prices to todays selling prices

 

[BarryK]

Barry does the NCM suck or what? HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA JK

:L

I know you are only joking (what else do we expect of you BV LOL) but the NCM is a bit different. That at least is a collection of restored cars properly maintained in climate controlled conditions and it also benefits everyone as people can go look at the cars and see a wonderful piece of automotive history.

This guy has 50 cars in barns in the northeast where they are just sitting and rotting away and being hidden from everyone

 

[vettepilot]

I know you are only joking (what else do we expect of you BV LOL) but the NCM is a bit different. That at least is a collection of restored cars properly maintained in climate controlled conditions and it also benefits everyone as people can go look at the cars and see a wonderful piece of automotive history.

This guy has 50 cars in barns in the northeast where they are just sitting and rotting away and being hidden from everyone

The nerve of some people doing what they want with their own propertyad

Actually I think the guy would get more $$$ out of them if he opened up the barns and sell tickets to the public to come look. He could be a private Corvette Museum, and let many benefit from the experience. Plus, he could hire a crew to clean/restore where necessary, and preserve those fine vintage Corvettes.
I wish I was in HIS Will!!!!!!

vettepilot

 

[BarryK]

Plus, he could hire a crew to clean/restore where necessary, and preserve those fine vintage Corvettes.
I wish I was in HIS Will!!!!!!

vettepilot

That's what bothers me, the preservation of the cars (or the current lack of!). %0 Vettes maintained in proper storage is no problem and god bless the person that could afford to have that collection, but to just have these cars sitting in barns rotting without doing anything to preserve them is what really gets me.

 

[chevyaddict]

Well, at LEAST he has them in a barn. There is a butthead that lives down the road from me and for 12 years now I have been pestering him to sell me his 66 baby blue (supposed to be white) interior. He also has a 68 convertible too. They are both just rotting away, outside - no cover, no nothing. Remember; this is Arizona so HOT HOT HOT!!! The last time I checked the convertible top was completely torn, it is just raining in the interior. He claims, "they are worth too much money to sell". Yea well, your money is going down the toilet! I get so flippin' angry......... UUUGGGHHHH!!! ad :cry
Dawn

 

[mqqn]

true.......but that's only if he wanted to sell them and my understanding is that he is not selling any of the cars. he plans on just keeping them.
If he wanted to sell, he could already make a small fortune i would imagine just from the difference from his early '70 purchase prices to todays selling prices

Hi BarryK -

No big deal - he bought them, and he will eventually die, so there will be a huge cache of vintage vettes at that time.

Life goes on baby. (Is he young? lol)

best regards -

mqqn

 

[BarryK]

Well, at LEAST he has them in a barn. There is a butthead that lives down the road from me and for 12 years now I have been pestering him to sell me his 66 baby blue (supposed to be white) interior. He also has a 68 convertible too. They are both just rotting away, outside - no cover, no nothing. Remember; this is Arizona so HOT HOT HOT!!! The last time I checked the convertible top was completely torn, it is just raining in the interior. He claims, "they are worth too much money to sell". Yea well, your money is going down the toilet! I get so flippin' angry......... UUUGGGHHHH!!! ad :cry
Dawn

god, people are such morons sometimes!
it's like my favorite saying....... the more people I meet the more i love my dog

 

[BarryK]

Hi BarryK -

No big deal - he bought them, and he will eventually die, so there will be a huge cache of vintage vettes at that time.

Life goes on baby. (Is he young? lol)

best regards -

mqqn

i don't know his age. The guy I was talking to (his friend who helped buy all the Vettes back in the '70's) is fairly old - i'd say probably in his early to mid 70's or so.
Maybe the guy will die sometime soon (don't get me wrong, I really don't wish that on people....well, maybe a FEW people, but not on people in gneneral) and whoever gets these cars from his will will decide to sell them. If that happens I just hope I hear of the sale in time.

 

[coves4me]

Barry,

As I read through this thread, I couldn't help but think that this guy had to have some major funding to buy 50 vintage Vettes in the 70's. Even if he only paid $5,000 to $10,000 for each car, he would have an investment of $250,000 to $500,000 in the 70's!!! I think the vision of 50 vintage Vettes sitting side by side in two, wood-framed dirt floor barns somewhere in Delaware would be a foolish thing to do with that kind of investment. Besides, he had the foresight to buy Vettes in the 70's on the presumption that they would be worth a whole lot more in the future. I doubt that they have been stored in a reckless manner. He's got too much money in them. His friend that you met still likes and drive Vettes, so I've got to believe the other guy still likes them enough that he wouldn't want them to rot away. Let's hope he took the proper steps to attempt to preserve them.

 

[BarryK]

Barry,

As I read through this thread, I couldn't help but think that this guy had to have some major funding to buy 50 vintage Vettes in the 70's. Even if he only paid $5,000 to $10,000 for each car, he would have an investment of $250,000 to $500,000 in the 70's!!! I think the vision of 50 vintage Vettes sitting side by side in two, wood-framed dirt floor barns somewhere in Delaware would be a foolish thing to do with that kind of investment. Besides, he had the foresight to buy Vettes in the 70's on the presumption that they would be worth a whole lot more in the future. I doubt that they have been stored in a reckless manner. He's got too much money in them. His friend that you met still likes and drive Vettes, so I've got to believe the other guy still likes them enough that he wouldn't want them to rot away. Let's hope he took the proper steps to attempt to preserve them.

Actually, I was told they bought 70 Vettes but the friend still has 50 of them so about 20 were sold off at some point. depending on the cars they sold off they may actually have covered their investment back or close to it.
I agree, having these cars sit in barns IS foolish, that's my whole point! it's such a waste! Even if they were in barns of decent condition with concrete floors he is not driving them. i'm told he just lets them sit there year after year. Gaskets, seals, etc dry out without use. who knows about mice getting in and chewing on carpets and seats. Did he drive each car in and drain the oil and put mystery oil in each cylinder to protect the motor and drain the fuel system so it won't turn to sludge in the carb?
Not having seen the cars I can't vouch for how they are stored but the impression given to me was that they were basically driven into the barns and left there and have sat there year after year for about 30 years now.
Everyone on this forum knows by now that i don't know anything about working on my own car but I know enough to know that just having a car sit around is really bad for it as thing deteriorate that way.

 

[jerrybramlett]

Running pre-'68 Corvettes sold for $1,000 to $3,000 in the early seventies. Paying the higher end got you a very, very nice car that needed nothing to drive daily. After all, new 454 Corvettes were selling for around $6,000 in 1971.

As far as figuring out the Corvette pack-rat mind, forget it. You never will. Being a pack-rat has nothing to do with financial planning, and everything to do with insecurity, paranoia, indecisiveness, irresponsibility, and probably a tiny Johnson.

 

[BarryK]

a tiny johnson??
you mean we really are compensating?

LOL

 

[vettepilot]

a tiny johnson??
you mean we really are compensating?

LOL

Umm, does the type and level of increasing performance options have anything to do with the proportional decreasing size of our johnsons..... as in base suspension Verts being cruisers, Z51 optioned Coupes being low speed autocrossers, and Z06s being the badest of the bad?
Oh shoot, now the cats outta the bag....


vettepilot

 

[BarryK]

Umm, does the type and level of increasing performance options have anything to do with the proportional decreasing size of our johnsons..... as in base suspension Verts being cruisers, Z51 optioned Coupes being low speed autocrossers, and Z06s being the badest of the bad?
Oh shoot, now the cats outta the bag....


vettepilot

hmmm, I hope not!
with my 327/365 motor i'm average at best
I thought it would have been nice to have one of the '65 396 motors but maybe average isn't so bad afterall

 

[Viet Nam Vett]

I was at a cruise night a few weeks back and was talking to an older guy who was there with his family. This guy drives a '54, his wife has a '56, and the daughter has '65 coupe. (they have had the '65 since they bought it in '68).
during our conversation he mentioned that back in the 70's he and a friend of his started buying a lot of Vettes and ended up buying 70 of them. The friend still has 50 of these Vettes sitting in two barns. He is not touching the cars and he will not sell any of them!

Is it just me or does this seem like a total waste? To just let all these cars and pieces of history just sit there and deteriorate through the years. Thats a crime and a shame. This guy is smart enough to know the value of the cars enough to keep them but not enough to realize they are rotting away on him with proper maintance? I guess he plans on dieing still owning all these cars.

after asking around, other local Vette people know the man i was talking to and confirm this story so it's not like he was just blowing me a load of hot air. to me that's even worst. If it was at least just a rumor or myth that there were 2 barns full of Vettes sitting there I could discount it and not be concerned, but knowing it's true and all these cars are rotting away is tearing me up inside!
And think about it....they bought all the cars in the early 70's so you know that are are mostly C1's and C2's bought relatively cheap back than with maybe a few C3's thrown in.

HUGE SIGH.........
I'd love to just be able to walk thru those barns and drool over the cars if nothing else.

You Mean Like These Poor cars??..... Hopefully soon to be reborne.

 

[chevyaddict]

:eyerole ad :confused :cry :eek

 

[vettepilot]

....and PETA is worried about a few chickens being mistreated....... We need an organization that helps prevent mistreatment of old and new Corvettes.

vettepilot