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1978 Corvette: 7 Miles from New

corvette7miles

Among enthusiast groups, few can compete with the rabid enthusiasm that Corvette fans devour limited or special-edition models. It seems Chevy figured out long ago they’d move a lot of metal if they added some custom paint and kept production capped at a few thousand cars. This, of course, spurred many owners to mothball their vehicles in hopes of a big payday, and this 1978 Corvette Pace Car Edition here on craigslist may be one the lowest-mileage cars in existence with a scant 7 miles on the clock. It also has the more desirable L82 engine hooked up to an automatic transmission. I thought the ’82 Corvette we featured recently with less than 8,000 miles was impressive, but this car reflects an impressive commitment to preservation. The asking price? $72,000! Thanks to Barn Finds reader C. Jay for the find.

Comments

  1. Avatar Chris in Nashville

    $72,000 WTF? I am one of the few who loves these 70’s Corvettes but he’ll no not worth even close to that money in my books.

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  2. Avatar GeeBee

    Not sure why anyone would want this Corvette at a price they could have a much better brand new one for.

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  3. Avatar randy

    He might do better giving it a full detail. The way the market is going, nothing surprises me anymore. 80K for a filthy car, and not up on blocks?

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  4. Avatar DJ

    Sure why not give $50,000 more than most of them with the same miles are selling for. I just looked at one needing some work for $3500.00. I think it’s a better buy.

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  5. Avatar randy

    The big deal here is it is dealership new, less than 8 miles on the odo.

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  6. Avatar Tom Member

    Randy is right. 8 miles. It is like a famous painting you don’t enjoy looking at, someone will enjoy it, have the money and buy it for big bucks. My concerns are that if you know you have this 8 mile car and you know you are going to park it for decades, why would you not take the time to store it properly? Does the motor even turn? The entire car could be dry rotted. WHY would you even let 8 mile paint get dusty much less dirty. Paint oxidizes….period. If you want big money some day, keep it up off the suspension, run the car and keep a log of it. Get the rubber off the ground, keep the paint cleaned and sealed. I just don’t get it.

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  7. Avatar Moxman

    This car looks exactly like the one sold at the Lambrecht Chevrolet auction???

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    • Avatar randy

      It’s funny how that works, all of the special edition cars look alike! ;>) I wonder if it is the same car.

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      • Avatar Moxman

        I’m thinking that it IS the same car? Someone bought it, with the idea of flipping it for a quick profit. I forgot what it sold for at Lambrecht…maybe around 40K?

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      • Avatar CarNut from Winnipeg Member

        Lambrecht car had 1.6 miles.

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  8. Avatar randy

    More folks than not need advisers, even in the smallest of things. He had a plan, he should have asked a few people how to best meet his goals.

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  9. Avatar Dan h

    Many rants and raves on this one. I however, can say nothing negative.
    It is simply amazing that this car only has 7 or 8 miles on it! I would love nothing more than to just sit and look and smell all the un-molested 1978 loveliness that this car has to offer. What a time capsule! If I were filthy rich, I would buy it in a heartbeat!

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  10. Avatar jim s

    if it is for real then the car should be on ebay, at a highline auction, or contact GM to see if they want it for their collection. nice find.

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  11. Avatar Kyle

    I love America and Corvettes. Just because we have the freedom to ask crazy money for a car that will need all hoses, belts, tires, etc.. replaced doesn’t mean any of us have to pay that amount.

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    • Avatar warren

      My thoughts exactly!

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  12. Avatar Big Eddie

    Just think of all the different mussel cars you could by for this asking price. I think personally that he’s throwing this out there hopping with all the luck in the world that GM will catch wind of the car and call him to see that maybe they might be interested in putting it in there museum if they don’t already have one. It is a time capsule and most likely the lowest mile 1978 Corvette Pace Car Edition on the planet. I just cant get over why people think there car is worth more dirty than taken care of and clean and covered. Just my opinion. These cars lacked any kind of performance but were just fun to drive with the tee tops out on a nice day, with that said I think tops maybe 35k and I think that might be high. And again just my opion.

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  13. Avatar Big Eddie

    Yea I know I spelled muscle cars wrong, Please don’t be a hater as I love seafood lol.

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  14. Avatar Charles

    If I were planning to store a car back for some later date it would be stored in an air conditioned/heated space.

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  15. Avatar tkd

    what a jerk – does he think we are that stupid???

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  16. Avatar Charles

    He is only hoping for one buyer to fall in love with the idea that this is a new 1978 car.

    If no one steps forward he will drop the price and attempt to sell it again. Eventually some one will step forward at some level of pricing and buy the car. If it does not sell, all owner has lost is a little bit of time, and since he has been sitting on this car since 78 he is probably in no hurry.

    With all of the unknowns his asking price is through the roof. I could see 35K if the car is all sorted out and ready to drive. Since one can find this edition in good shape with low miles fairly easily, there are many good choices available in excellent condition priced in the mid 20’s. A well maintained 78 with 20-50K hobby miles on it is probably in better overall condition than this car is.

    After all this is a 78, not a 53 or a 63 split window coupe.

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  17. Avatar sir mike

    these original buyers thought they would increase in value…now nobody wants them.they’re lucky if they can get what they paid for them..

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  18. Avatar Jim

    I always thought these were an embarrassment to the Corvette name. Ugly and underpowered. They went through an bad period, like so many cars in the eighties and nineties. I’m not sure I even like the new ones. To me, there was nothing quite like the 1963 Sting Rays and the 1968 transition Corvettes. That was a good time for the ‘Vette.

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  19. Avatar Blindmarc

    I buy a car to drive. To me, I’d find another before paying a hallucination of a price for anything.

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  20. Avatar Dolphin Member

    In a way, I’m impressed that the owners ‘saved’ the car……for the future, I guess you could say.

    But what about that engine? 7 miles in 3+ decades?

    Questions:
    – How often was the engine run; the clutch/transmission worked? the brake pedal pressed down? maybe even the car moved back & forth?
    – Was any of that stuff ever done?
    – Does the car start, run, and drive at this time?
    – What documentation is there for anything about the car?
    – If there are any good answers to those questions, I’d be curious to know why it’s on CL instead of any of the collector car auctions.

    Sorry Mr. Seller but, assuming I wanted the car, for my $72K I would need to have good answers to those questions.

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    • Avatar Jay S.

      No factory warranty. Cross your fingers and hope it wasn’t built on a Monday or Friday.

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    • Avatar Billy

      I asked the seller if it runs and all I got in response was, “Don’t know. Hasn’t been started in 37 years.” He’s apparently not a motivated seller.

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  21. Avatar George P. Livesley

    The only thing this car offers is low mile. A gentlemen in this post warned auto’s which have not been driven and stuck in a garage for a number of years, generally speaking are not good deals. If one stores a car in a carport it almost always is not worth having, and if stored inside, but not maintained on a regular schedule of starting it occasionally, running the air conditioner, keeping an eye out for rust, changing the fluids periodically, It will fare no better that one that was purchased to drive.

    This car is unique in that it has 7 miles on the odometer. If purchased with the intent to drive, the added miles will eventually eat up the value to where the buyer has a used Corvette worth what used Corvettes are worth. As far a keeping it as a collectible, it is not a collectible. ’68s and back are collectible and some of the newer ones are collectible. My guess says this Corvette is $15K to $20K. I would want it for $9K.

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  22. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    Yeah, I’d only be willing to drive this car about 7 miles too…because it’s a 78 Vette, and it’s a post-1970 Chevrolet.

    For 72K there are a zillion more interesting vehicles than this disco-rat rod.

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  23. Avatar Carl W French

    They were going to make a small number of them but then dealer pressure made them bump production up to the 6500 mark (I had recalled from the time that it allowed each dealer to get at least one but I might be remembering wrong). There was investment frenzy over these back then and many were locked away in various quality storage situations. I think he is asking at least twice the value of this car.

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  24. Avatar Charles
    • Avatar Alan (Michigan)

      kudos. Nice find.

      And, that settles that.

      Like 0
  25. Avatar Chuck F.

    I ordered a ’79 L82 with every available option. Worst car I’ve ever owned. It was so bad, it was 25 years before I would buy another domestic and I’ll never buy anything from GM. I can’t imagine spending $72K on a ’70’s vette.

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  26. Avatar kenzo

    It is just another 70’s GM product. AND why would anybody list a car with a $72,000 asking price on Craiglist? There is Hemmings and e-Bay. And as mentioned earlier what condition are the hoses, clutch, etc etc in?

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  27. Avatar randy

    Looks like the emotional purchase of this “car” got the best of someone, now they are stuck with it. Live auctions are very good at bringing top dollar, this car will never again see top dollar.

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  28. Avatar kenzo

    Just found another one on Used Victoria in B.C.Canada for reasonable offers on a Hagerty value of 30,000 USD. It has 13,000 + miles, L82 350 -220 HP, 4 BBL 4 speed.
    and again $72K on Craiglist Maybe a scam?

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  29. Avatar Rick

    L82 was standard for the ’78 Pace Cars. Nothing special about it… that said, among the Corvette collector community, this particular PC has moderate collector value simply due to the one model only materials used. They did make “only” about 6500 of them, most have been well used. With only 7 documented miles, this one would be a wise investment if and when it could be made road-worthy again. For the asking price, no way… it would likely cost a quarter of that to make sure everything was up to snuff with the engine and drivetrain (automatic, btw). As many folks mentioned, in perfect driving condtion, maybe $35K…

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  30. Avatar randy

    I bet the current owner of that ‘vette “loves” this website!

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  31. Avatar Mike

    I would say donate it to the Corvette Museum, wasn’t this one of the models that fell in the hole in the floor and can not be repaired?

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  32. Avatar Chip H.

    So many of these were put away that this is nothing special. A bunch of them “were discovered” a few years ago and every one of them sold for less than the original price. This one is no different. Everyone that bought them thought they would be worth a fortune in a few years but they never really became collectible. The seller needs a reality check and/or some mental health help.

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  33. Avatar Tom Member

    GEORGE P. LIVESLEY…… just a quick correction to your “collectability” and 68 and older statement, 1971 ended the decent horsepower era going into 1972. Furthermore, outside of the Grand Sport in the 60’s one of the MOST highly collectable corvettes of all time is the 69 L88. the 70 LS6 was no slouch either. in fact, to most collectors, the 1968 is the least collectible of the 68-72 model years because it had SO many (3 digits worth) of changes / corrections / improvements from 68 to 69 that the 69 and 70 are the most collectable. 68 is collectable when it is a big motor car and due to the fact that it was the first year of that body but it was loaded with problems and short-comings. Not to mention the LT1’s up through 1972 sell like hot cakes as they are great cars and don’t heat up like the big blocks.

    Like 0
    • Avatar George P. Livesley

      Tom, I think I got my years wrong. I have never been a fan of Corvettes, I am a bit stiff and figured that my 66 Dodge Charger with the flip down double bed was better at accommodating that problem than would a Corvette. It isn’t that I don’t like Corvettes it is just I have chosen never to get worked up over a car that I could not afford. That theory these days would leave me with nothing to look at.

      I never liked the 1968 Ronald Reagan either, but not because he was a poorly designed president, but because he was a buffoon. Anyone who would not only marry Nancy, but continue to stay with her is testament that he was an idiot as well as lacking good judgement.

      Like 0
  34. Avatar Joe

    This was probably one of the folks that ordered at the time that they were around $12,500.00 each and the second one usually brought 25k if not driven which paid for both cars. Ice known several people that did this. Lucky bastards…..

    Like 0

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