I have heard it said that the most expensive car is a worn out Corvette. Not because you can’t find them cheap, like this 1978 Chevrolet Corvette for $2,450, but because restoring this car would cost a fortune! You would be upside down in repair costs very quickly. Roger sent this tip in for us to look at. This car is located in Elkmont, Alabama and can be seen here on Craigslist.
The oyster interior is, well, there is no interior. Even the floor in the back is gone. The car has apparently been stored in a shed for the past 20 years. The seller states that the car was stripped down by a previous owner who then passed away and his widow stored the car and did not know what to do with it. The frame is said to be rust free and the engine is numbers matching.
At some point, the seller installed the carburetor and got the car running. It appears that the car left the factory with the L48 base 350 cubic inch V8 engine and an automatic transmission. The L48 engine generated 180 horsepower while the L82, the optional high performance engine for 1978, produced 40 more horsepower. The seller states that only 1,243 Corvettes were painted yellow in 1978. That is less than 3% of the 46,776 Corvettes built that year which is less than the number of Pace Cars built in 1978.
Let us know what you would do with this car or if you would just part it out. The rally wheels and tires are at least work $50. I think I had a pair of those undersized wheels on my 1975 Nova in high school. Prices of late 1970 Corvettes have not gone up much in the last decade but it is still one of my favorite body styles.
This is a parts car, worth a couple of hundred dollars on a good day.
Running, driving 1978 Corvette’s in need of some TLC aren’t much more money, there is no reason to bother with this one.
Steve R
Go full custom with LS and a manual trans.
push it back into the barn
Or into the lake!
@Jwinters – You pretty much summed it up in just six words!
I agree , $2 g plus for this , nope, Even the Monte Carlo wheels wont help save it
This is a perfect car for a weekend dragger.
Who needs interior other than a race seat , roll cage providing he gets it for the right price 👌
Call it “mellow yellow” 👀👍
Have you checked the price of turn key bracket cars lately, they are inexpensive. This car would have to be built with junkyard and swapmeet parts to be competitive on price, but wouldn’t be reliable if done so. Even as a grudge night bombers, which tend to be used up and out of date race cars that usually only need new tires and some maintenance often change hands around her for substantially less than $10,000, this car doesn’t make sense financially.
Steve R
WTF is going on with the rear suspension?
My first thought as well. Wrong spring maybe, or installed incorrectly? I had a 74 with the opposite problem but have never seen one that sits like this. Hope someone will chime in and clarify.
In looking at the listing pictures I’m thinking it may just be the undersized wheel/tire package as the front has large gaps in the wheel wells too?
I can’t imagine why it’s so jacked-up.
Wrong rear spring or crappy aftermarket one.
A race car? Perhaps if you are named Fred or Barney and happen to live in a town called Bedrock.
And as always- CHECK THE BIRDCAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hs the makings of a “track car” IF the frame and birdcage are intact.
Fantastic winter project?
Translation: Perfect for Antarctic residents with very deep pockets.
There is no wrong rear spring because there isn’t one the shocks are holding it up………..car is worth about $ 800.00 for body parts
Yes,l diffivently,would stay away from this one, no title, was this car stolen at one point possibly, although if this a car orginally coming from a state that doesn’t require a title after a certain year of car,you may be able to get one in a different state that requires one, check with your local state’s tag agency, and or what they call American legion. As far as the wheels & tires these look like s10-s15 truck wheels which possibly came from a u-pullet Yard, so these are good moving around and loading, that’s it.The reason the car looks jacked-up is because it’s pictured on a slite hill,and or incline,and also truck tires,are also taller,for example 50-70 series tires are taller truck tires, and 30-40 series tires are shorter in height, car tires.As far as price l think it’s a little high,because we have to assume that it’s a parts car, can a title be acquired, maybe, and or maybe not.
Put the correct wheels on it, and make it a lawn ornament, put some soil in the rear end to get the ride height correct and plant a tree in the cockpit
When you jack a Corvette up in the rear with both wheels off the ground the wheels cant in at the bottom due to the suspension and the car is slightly higher, if you move the car in either direction when you let it down the suspension settles and the rear goes back to normal height. This one has very small wheel & tires causing it to look even weirder. The price seems high to me especially without an interior. But some Corvette lover will probably try to resurrect it if he has a stash of parts.
The fact that it is newer than 1974 kills it for California, all smog equipment would have to be replaced and operating for it to be registered here.
I would haul it off if they paid me $500.