Well, its been a long weekend. My buddy, my son and I set out to inspect and buy this Saturday AM.
A c2 vette has always been really high up on my lists of wants. I love it for how nearly abstract it is. One of the few times that 90% of the concept car made it into production.
They aren't cheap. Heck id say they aren't even affordable. But this one was attainable. It was the low rung on the dream ladder. It was a '65 convertible, 4 speed, 327/365 car.
This car had issues. That's why it was in my budget range. If somehow you run across it one day... its a very manageable project. I'm not knocking the car.
We spent hours looking at the car, and quite some time negotiating. The seller was a great guy. The issue at hand is that we had different financial plans for the car as a project. I was looking to affordably build a driver, he was looking to make a minimum return on his investment, where he could either resell the car, or run it through his shop and sell it at a higher price with a lot of investment on his part. His outlook was 100pct legit. He has a great shop, and it makes sense that the time he spends finding project cars needs to be fruitful. Its what he does.
So we break, agreeing that i'd think on it, and that he was not in any hurry to decide wether to keep it on the market as is or not.
We went to Sonny's BBQ. Cooled off. Ate a great lunch and just talked about what we had been doing for the last 5 hours... :)
I quickly realized, in the cool restaurant, without the specter of the c2 setting across the room staring at me that I had nearly broken my #1 project rule.
NEVER buy the cheapest one of a particular car that you want, just to "get started" on that type of car without any concern for whether or not its a good deal.
So... we starting talking about that idea, and what good deals really consisted of.
The subject of a previously observed FB marketplace ad came up... "What about the yellow c3, did you ever consider that one?" Of course I had not. It wasn't a c2. However after having spent several hours trying to talk myself into what probably would have been a disaster of a project.... the idea of a project that resided much more with in the confines of my disposable income spectrum was a relief.
Well as far as the yellow c3 went, I had actually half written it off as either already sold or a scam.... too good to be ture.
I sent a FBM text. Took a bite of my sliced pork sandwhich, and wondered....
bing
Instant response.
3 phone calls at the table later, and we were having a show of hands on a vote to leave Gainesville and head to Sarasota. It was unanamous. 3 hours later we were again looking at a project. It was a smoking deal.
With that, I introduce my first driveabeater (thanks Duster) thread.
1969 Corvette Roadster - Matching Numbers
350/350 hp
m20 4speed
factory side pipes
power disc
upgraded rear gear with locker
no ac, no PS, no PW, no PL
hardtop car.
On the trailer, at night, at the gas station... IYKYK
18 hours later after an intial cleaning:
AND it came with thousands of dollars of new and used parts. We filled the car, the trailer and the suburban. We will have to go back Friday to get the rest!
Goal will be to get it back on the road and into presentable driver status.
Encouragement craved.
