Update 6/6/2018 – I was hunting for finds and noticed that this Chevelle has also been listed here on eBay. Bidding is currently at $34k with an unmet reserve.
From 6/5/2018 – This is either a steal of a deal or a rusty way to spend $50k, but it probably just depends on how badly you want a convertible Chevelle SS 396 with a 4-speed! That’s right, this seller is asking $50k for a rusty barn found project. On the upside, it’s a highly optioned convertible that actually runs and drives. The seller states that it “needs sheet metal, bodywork and paint“, but those are some of the most expensive parts of any restoration. After looking at what nice ones go for though, it might actually make financial sense to restore this one over buying one that’s done. You can find this one here on craigslist in St. Louis, Missouri. Special thanks to Michael for this tip!
Looking at the rust, it really makes the asking price a hard pill to swallow but when will you ever find another running convertible 4-speed project in Cortez Silver? The only way this one could get any better is if it had the L89 version of the 396 V8. But then again, do you really need more than 350 horsepower in a convertible? Wait, what am I saying? Of course you do!
We don’t get much of a view of the interior. The car was shipped with A51 Strato bucket seats in color code 756 black. What we can see of the seats they appear to be in perfect condition, so assume the interior (well at least the seats) has already been restored. My guess is the seller did all the work necessary to just make it a driver, such as replacing the top and brakes but decided to not tackle the larger and more expensive rust issue. If you can fix the rust yourself, get a decent paint job and fix any other issues for under $30k, you might actually be able to have a very nice and desirable car for less than buying one that already been restored.
Listing such a valuable project on craigslist seems like a bold move, especially with so many unknowns. Forty words and fifteen photos really doesn’t do a project like this justice, but if you are going to spend $50k on a rusty classic, your likely going to want to go see it in person before making an offer anyways. So do you think this Chevelle is a good buy? And how much do you think it’s going to take to get it into top condition?
I think this is the same one that showed up a few months ago.
This guy is obviously not a car guy or just a car flipper, craigslist allows you to attach up to 24 pics to an ad, and when your asking $50 grand for a vehicle … Take some more pictures … dashboard & console would be nice, how about trunk & floor pans,.. maybe even a few frame rail pics..
Wish more people could properly take pics of vehicles.
More “BJDS”. Barrett Jackson delusion syndrome.
I think he’s been smoking too much illegal substances. Unless you are a perfectionist it won’t be as good as a restoration shop would do on the body and then your upside down, I know because I’m there myself. But if you always wanted one and plan on keeping it and passing it down to one of your kids go for it.
“So do you think this Chevelle is a good buy?”…….yes I do..BUT let me fix your typo…….”Goodbye” !!
You think he might have meant $50, k? As in….give me change for $100.
A little advice if you have $50-100K burning a hole in your pocket…..If you have 50K to buy this and another $80K to make it right, really right, (maybe more) go see if you can buy one for $100-125K done right, that probably never looked as bad as this one does now which is a far better car in the long run.
Not saying it should not be restored but, maybe restored where there are NO MORE of these left on the planet to restore……THEN you do this one. WHEN this is the last one on the planet, the $50K price tag MIGHT makes sense at that time.
I debated about commenting. OK, so here goes. If you want a numbers matching original big block 4 speed Chevelle, this is not the one you want, no amount of rust repair will make this completely right. If you want a badd ass driver, you could clone a Malibu into a respectable driver for the price of admission. So what to do with this one??????????? I think restore, but it will never be a 100 point car, and you will always be upside down……I almost feel like Im talking about a Cuda’
Convertibles are rust buckets. I had a 64 chevelle convertible. Floor pans were trashed. Leaking top
Where are all the rust posters today ?
I’ve been waiting for the “patina” posters.
Would like it a whole bunch more if it was a hard top, and maybe an SS 454 instead. With 450 horsepower. Rockcrusher 4 speed. Six miles to the gallon of fun.
The crazy price for this fifteen second clapped out Chevy must be all about being a rare convertible, ‘if you want it, here it is’. No thanks.
Where do all these dreamers come from?
First the 57 Chevy, now this one… Sickning.
And sickening! You can ask anything you want. Throw in the fat guys on the auction shows paying through the nose for overdone and some times incorrectly so cars………and the insanity percolates down to the six cylinder rust buckets. The good news is.this too shall pass……..
$50,000 ($50,000) {$50,000} [$50,000] However you look at it…I still don’t see it
Actually Larry, if you look at your second set of numbers, you will clearly see it……($50,000)….this represents LOSS and that is what it will look like EITHER paying asking price for this OR once the full resto is done, how much you will either be upside down or what will be lost upon sale !!
Really
The body work and paint on this one is going to suck the buyer dry. Unless you really want this one for yourself, I don’t see it being a good financial decision.
Strong price but the combination of real SS, 396, convertible, 4 speed with build sheet is practically unobtainable. There are many more automatics. 90% of the the Chevy’s don’t have their build sheet and then there is no way to know what you really have.
I think a fair price would be $30K… maybe $35K if it is numbers matching and depending on the rarity of the build, the significance of the rust, and the restored value. $50K with at least another $75K in work to bring it back to mint condition doesn’t add up.
The golden turd syndrom if it says chevelle or camaro, or corvette it’s a golden turd. Even if it looks like a turd.
Pretty confident it would buff out
My best friend in life had just broken up with his girlfriend, and she had moved on… He hadn’t quite.
One day, we were passing some community college parking lot (PCC, I think), and my friend perked up and slowed his black on black (yes, insertion of the song would DEFINITELY be poetic and appropriate) 1966 HEMI Charger.
As we turned in to take a better look, it was confirmed to be the 1970 396 Chevelle, owned by her new paramour. They were apparently visiting the nearby stadium, watching some sports event or other.
The Charger rolled to a stop behind the hapless Chevy, and the angry 426 Hemi came to an uneasy idle. My friend looked right at me, and I just shrugged. We both knew what would happen next.
Mark put the car in reverse, and backed to the beginning of the row, placing the transmission in 1st. We both looked straight ahead, and there was a single breath to measure the still before the storm.
The Hemi screamed to life, the N50’s began roiling – billows of smoke rising as though a hell gate had burst open. The tach needle danced past 7000 r.p.m. War had come to the land!
Slowly, the Charger proceeded down the aisle, in a futile attempt to plant the violently spinning rubber. As we reached the other end, calm was again restored. The pungent aroma of countless 1/4 mile sorties hung in the still air. He and I looked directly behind, and found two, wide, black strips pointing directly at their source.
A real male always marks his territory.
We made a left turn, and slowly dissolved into traffic, before garnering any official attention.
During the inevitable conversation which later took place between Mark and his ex-, it was revealed that when her new boyfriend was told the significance of the event, he was lost for a reply.
I understand that the Chevelle had to enter counseling.
That Hemi must have been built pretty good to rev that high, being an early Street Hemi. I’m interested in how quick that Charger was at the strip, always like your stories by the way.😁
@Troy S – As always, you are the best. The exact numbers slip my mind, but I was told that he garnered a few high-12 second e.t.’s at a drag strip in Connecticut*.
For whatever it’s worth, I regularly used 7200 R.P.M. as my shift point in the HemiCuda – I had an Ed Hamburger Oil Pressure rev limiter on it, just to keep me honest. The bottom end was essentially stock, except for Federal Mogul bearings, a Melling oil pump, deburred block, and the better Kellogg crank (full-radiused journals, instead of undercut (stock)).
* Full disclosure; he had removed the front sheet metal and had an old pair of narrow slicks on it at the time. The e.t.’s may have been in the mid-12’s – it was a long time ago.
Hey, keep it clean Buddy. This isn’t Penthouse Forum! j/k The way you wrote it might make some guys think so though. Pretty funny. As for this drop top big block: a lot of guys with more money than brains will pay the $50k, spend another $75k to make it better than new (which it will be, because let’s be honest, back in 1970, this was built on the assembly line and quality control really did not yet exist) and then he can take it to Barrett or MECUM, or any of the other big name auction houses and sell the car then and there. If you’re like me and watch the auctions, you know that there are plenty of cars that the seller will admit to having invested $200,000 in hopes of getting $65,000, or $80,000, or whatever the case may be. A bunch of the buyers at Barrett Jackson are actually proud to be seen spending gobs of money just because they are so twisted up that they think it’s cool to be seen losing a boat load of cash! “Hey, I’ve got so much, I can come here and lose a half a million and still have more than ALL OF YOU!)
Poor thing!
Ok, so what about a wrap instead of paint? Then flip it.
These prices are killing the hobby.
We baby boomers are getting older and we continue to sink ridiculous amounts of money into cars that aren’t worth the asking price. The younger generation has to shy away from these projects…..and why shouldn’t they when they can pay less money for something brand new and high tech (a must in their eyes) which can smoke an older Hemi or SS? Remember, even at the height of the new musclecar era a young man could pick up a 30-40 year old project for a song and not 40- 50% of the cost of a 3 bedroom ranch.
We’re in the heck do people come up with these prices every part of this car needs restored I think someone’s smoking there socks it’s gonna take 40,000 to restore it good luck I’ll pass
Mark, gotta tell ya… I’m done with the prices of today too… NOPE, no more garbage for me..Bought my last SS 396 for $1800.00…I will watch from now on…and then move on to the next car at the car show…
Where does it say in the ad it’s $50K?
The Craigslist AD clearly states in the headline $50,000, so most likely the ebay reserve is that amount.
OK Got it
IMO today’s muscle car prices are originating in large part from inebriated attendees with loads of money at Barrett-Jackson (and other large auctions) soon to wave their bidding paddles at B-J later this month.
It’s all small dick syndrome to pay large for a clapped out old rust bucket. I got to wonder what it looked like before the top was redone. I suspect the owner came to his senses on how much he was shelling out to restore this and now he’s trying to recoupe his loses. Why do people want these rag tops so bad I’d like this a lot more if it were a hard top, but I sure wouldn’t pay anywhere close to the asking price on this one even if I was stinking rich. As for the younger guys all they have to do is Waite a few more years and when all the baby boomer old farts are dead this will sell for peanuts compared to this price. In fact they will have to try to beat the crusher if they want one. JMHO.
this is becoming more amusement than reality.i realize that whether its on ebay,
craigslist,auto trader,BF, or any other venue the vast majority have an agenda, which is how much can I make off whatever it is I’m trying to sell. companies like barrett-jackson push the envelope even further and paint inflated pictures on what the market will bear,or support in hopes of scoring the deal of the day. the boomers tripping down memory lane are grasping at straws in hope of reliving
some lost part or their youth. there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that in todays economy it can be an expensive memory. the people that can afford to have pushed it out of reach for the average guy. it’s almost a twisted display of power and vanity. maybe it’s always been like that. I’ve owned many of the classic machine’s back in the day, but then it was more for personal accomplishment based on scraping what few bucks you had for a couple gallons of Sunoco 260 or trading a better cam for a holley 780. I know times have changed. why build it when you can buy it already to roll,or park it at the local classic car show! “hey look at me, look what I’ve got!” Doesn’t cost to look. maybe someday i’ll find my dream project build. one last street machine
to cruise Woodward Ave or Gratiot Ave. I know there’s one out there! Thanks.
I have been into chevelle for almost twenty years. I passed up a real 70 ss with original block and 4 speed for 1800$ a few years back. It was a hardtop as opposed to a convertible, but I am not swayed into thinking this is even a real SS.
way too much money. I wouldn’t even waste my time going to look at the eBay ad. He’s a bit delusional. Just a bit…..