<VV> Value of '68 500 FS (very long)

[Dale Dewald]

Hello Folks,

The most interesting things happen in the Corvair hobby. This was certainly 
the case on Friday.

Several weeks ago an older gentleman stopped by our house and asked about 
getting his Corvair repaired.  He was having difficulty getting it to run 
and thought that some part of the AIR system had failed and was causing the 
problem.  He said (pretty sure) the car was a '68 and he needed a pair of 
AIR exhaust manifolds because the old one's were rusted out, but Clark's 
didn't have them.  I explained the engine did not really need the AIR 
system to run and that he could disconnect and plug the AIR and fit regular 
manifolds just to get it running if need be.  He thanked me and said he 
might consider selling the car also and if I was interested.  I was not 
really looking for another project and left it at that.

Last week he visited again and said he was getting too old to work on the 
car and would like to sell it.  He asked if I could look at it and help him 
determine the value.  At this point I was thinking it was maybe a $100 
parts car.  He told me where it was in a garage and that I could take a 
look anytime.  I had an hour free on Friday so I called to look at the car.

What I found was an original 1968 Corvair 500 with only 59,000 garage kept 
miles.  The fellow is the second owner and had bought it from his neighbor 
some 20 years ago in Toledo.  He had apparently brought it up to his place 
here in the Upper Peninsula (only 7 miles away from me) to use as a summer 
car, and stored it while he spent the winters in Toledo.  It was kind of an 
amazing that it had been here all of those years and I had never seen 
it.  If it had not been for some minor collision damage and an Earl Scheib 
paint job this car would be a candidate for factory stock original in CORSA 
Concourse.  Here is a rundown of the car's features and condition:

1968 Corvair 500 coupe, 95/PG, body color T-T (Palomino Ivory), green-gold 
interior.  The only factory option I could find other than the Powerglide 
was tinted glass all around. (???)  No radio--a real stripper.  The body 
has some poorly repaired areas on the right side from a very minor side 
swipe by another vehicle or against an object, but is totally solid.  The 
left front fender and door were creased by a parking lot hit and run--also 
poorly repaired.  The only rust is on the driver side front fender wheel 
opening roll immediately below the gas filler door (starting to bubble 
through) and a bubbly area under the driver's footwell.  The interior is 
complete and in nice shape, including the rubber floor "carpets."  There is 
a 4" tear in the driver side seat back (stitched together) and sun damage 
to the top panel of the rear seat back.  The trunk was filled with boxes of 
parts, but I could see that it was in perfect condition; likewise the trunk 
weatherstripping.  The engine compartment was very clean. All of the AIR 
system was intact and appeared to be in working order.  The owner had 
rebuilt the carbs with help from his brother-in-law.  They got the car to 
run, but not well, then could not get it to start again.  I found the 
balance tube hoses and a couple other vacuum lines that were brick hard.  I 
suspect that vacuum leaks are preventing the car from running.  Judging 
from the bottom of the engine, it must also have the original pushrod tube 
O-rings.

The owner is leaving for Toledo for the winter this week.  He would like to 
sell the car next spring.  I would like to get some opinions from the group 
(maybe I am too honest) as to what would be a fair value for this car.  The 
owner has given me first refusal for purchase of the car, but I cannot 
realistically exercise this option because I have neither the storage area 
or time to work on it (besides my other Corvair projects).  Therefore if 
anyone In Vairdom might be interested I could act as an agent or liaison 
for the sale.

Dale Dewald
Hancock, (UP) MI