“Big Block” are words to cherish if you’re a muscle car fan, and while Corvettes are more sports cars, they fit in there too, with numbers like 454, 427, and 396 being thrown around to account for the cubic-inch displacement under their hoods. If you’ve ever hankered after a “lump” of those proportions, have a look at what master tipster Curvette has thrown our way. It’s a 1973 Corvette Convertible with the king of the displacements—454 CID—providing the motivating power. So if you have a way to get to Miami, Florida, to pick this car up, why not make a play? It’s priced at $15,900 obo here on ebay. Sounds tempting. Is there more to the story?
Actually, there’s not much to the story, if you go by this ad. The good side—no fluff. No broad and general claims about wind in the hair and all that stuff. But neither is there much to go on as to what’s here. Does the seller know the history? Has this car been successfully driven long (or even medium) distances? What maintenance has been done of late? I’m not the only one who has seen a big-engined Vette wheezing and overheating because the blacktop at the town’s Independence Day parade down Main Street was just too much for the radiator to keep a check on. What are the chances of being embarrassed in this car should you decide to cruise it? Note also that it has A/C, a blessing if it works, but potentially presenting two issues: It needs updating to modern refrigerant standards and/or it creates yet more heat to be dispersed.
On the other hand, everything looks pretty put together here. Sure, the top doesn’t seem to fit quite right, and the paint is more perished than just on the front clip as pointed to by the ad. In fact, there’s body damage in the driver’s fender, and the hood color doesn’t match, which probably calls for you to strip the whole body down and respray it. How much does that cost if you have to farm the work out? Or is there just a chance that you could drive the car as-is? Patina is still a thing in the old-car hobby, after all.
Making money on a flip of this car might look deceptively easy. All you’ve gotta do is paint it and it will be worth $30 grand, the ad intones. It’s got the right look, and the engine is original, if that’s what “Matching Numbers” still means. As already noted, it’s a big one, too, at 454 CID, and it is said to run strong. How you verify that is up to you. I’d buy a cheap ticket to where it is and blip the throttle for myself. The mileage claim of mid-96,000 seems reasonable and believable. You’ve got until Sunday to get busy on this.
Sold. 454 with an automatic? Interesting matchup. Oddly my Dad, who owned a number of Corvettes from a ’60 to ’62 FI, had his last two as “his and hers” I called them. 1972’s matching except for one a stick and the other an automatic. Sitting side by side in his driveway, I drove them both. The automatic did make for a nice GT like cruiser and was more impressive than I expcted.
It has an automatic transmission, disappointing. Well it already sold.
4-5-4. Some of my favorite numbers. We’ve seen all three now in the course of a week. Needs some attention but try to find another. No wonder it’s sold.
Any 71-74 big block Corvette with a 4 speed is a rarity. It appears most of the big block Corvettes from that era were ordered as loaded out cruisers and not as performance cars (the 71 LS-6’s being the exception).
This car is a perfect example. Besides the 454 and automatic it has power steering, power brakes, power windows, air conditioning, tilt/tele column and the Custom Interior (leather & wood grain trim).
I never understand why people remove the original air cleaner from 73-75’s, and replace them with aftermarket one. The 73-75’s had a cowl induction hood and air cleaner for cool outside air. Those open element air cleaners do nothing but feed the engine hot under hood air. This car is a bit of a mess with the mismatched interior pieces and missing front bumper cover, but the price was probably not too far out of line…except you will have another $30000-$40000 in it if you try to restore it.