<VV> Value of '68 500 FS / reality

[Louis C. Armer, Jr.]

Hey Dale, For $10 to $15,000 you or someone else could take the
car and restore it to a concours Corvair. However since the paint
would not be the original you would have a Factory Stock, Restored
classification, not Factory Stock, Original. Then the car would probably
sell for $7500 to $9500 on e-Bay because it's a "stripper". Now based
on these figures, what should someone offer the owner. My guess is
$2500 to $3000 max.

Chuck Armer
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At 11:43 PM 11/15/04 -0500, you wrote:
>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
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Corvair Atlanta, BOD
CORSA MEMBER
CORSA Tri-Membership Chairman
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