well i am a 18 year old kid who's just about to graduate highschool (only 5 days left) i had about $7000 dollars when i was looking for a starter car (to get to college and back) but my girlfriends grandfather had the vette that i have bought under a tarp outside the house for about a year and a half. everyone in the family kept telling me it was trashed and was junk. the truth was far from that he had rebuilt the front and rear ends, brand new tranny and to boot the engine only had 26,000 miles on it total when i bought it. which was about a month and a few days ago. I LOVE THE CAR the MPG is decent and its something that i can keep and work on when i am 50 as long as I keep it in pretty good condition. Long story short i got my 1974 stingray for $6500 and its the best investment i think i have ever made.