Thanks to Chad for having everyones phone numbers and getting them to people.

 

Glad to help bud!

 

Thanks for looking out for me, gang! I really appreciate it.

I never heard from Evan's friend, but I elected to not buy the car despite agreeing on a price of $15,500. The paint may have been new, but it was crap. It was a beautiful color of blue. The metallic paint was light in some areas and rather dark in others. Translation: the painter sucked.

Driver's door doesn't line up at the bottom. It needs some seals/rubber stripping for windows/doors. It was leaking from what I would summise as the cylinder, horizontally mounted, that is connected to the steering endlinks.

The engine sounded healthy. It turned over immediately and shut off equally well(no run-on). It sounded good as the slightly more aggressive than stock(.325/.375?) cam and .030-over bore added a bit of throatiness. Numbers matched and did not appear to be shaved off and restamped. Tranny is original but seemed to be fine.

Interior was rather good considering it is 35 years old. Window on driver's side was a bit loose when rolled up, while the passenger side was very solid. This is most likely from the driver's side being rolled down more often. The other stuff was either very good or as good as could be expected.

Did I mention the paint job sucked? Anyway, I had pretty much already made up my mind before leaving for WV that I was going to buy the car. Well, he originally agreed to sell the car at $16,500- $1500 below his reserve on eBay. After pointing some things out and talking a bit, he agrees to $15,500. This was what I was willing to pay despite some of the stuff that was not so good.

Great! Let's do this and I can start my looooong trip home. What? You don't have the title here? WHAT? It's not even titled in WV, but still titled in Louisiana? Oh, the title is in WV, titled in LA, and is currently 2 hours away?

To top it off, his family has a car dealership which is rather ironic because earlier in the meeting, I quipped, "I feel like I'm at a dealership because I've talked to 3 different people!" I had coordinated the meeting with the son, talked cars wit hthe dad, and then talked to the dad's brother who alledgedly did all the work. They kept wanting me to drive the car again, alternated being available to talk to me(in some fairness, the father had a wedding to perform). Have you ever heard of a minister who also sold cars?

In the end, the motor did seem strong for what it was and the car drove/handled well enough. Misrepresentation of the paint dampened my desire for the car, and non-availability of the title killed the deal.

It was hard to walk away from what I consider a beautiful body style and a color that I really do like. At many points on the trip home, I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to be making the trip in the Stingray.

 

Sorry you didn't get it Skip, but there are other cars out there. I actually have heard of one minister who sold cars - he preached on Sundays and sold cars the rest of the week. He was a good salesman too.

 

Thanks, Alex. Problem is that I now really want an old C3 Corvette.

 

Its the bug that no fly swatter in the world can kill .....the new car bug

 

Notice the NSX in the background: '75 C3 convertible

 

NSX FTW

 

There is no doubt that the NSX in any year is 10x's the car that the older 'vettes were. Maybe it's my age, but there is something about driving one of the older 'vettes(not the mid 60's or older) that I really dig. I'd be afraid to drive the old-old ones.

 

They're cool cars, and you've got the S2000.

It is way too early :yawn: