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One-Owner 58k Mile 1977 Chevrolet Corvette L82

The C3 Corvette gets relatively little respect among collectors of Chevrolet’s marquee sports car, but it’s an impressive value if you’re seeking a hobby car typically in great shape for reasonable money. This 1977 example is equipped with the more powerful L82 engine and is said to be a one-owner example with lots of options added at the factory. The paint is a period-correct Light Yellow, which is a more muted version of the Bright Yellow we’ve seen numerous times before. It pairs well with the “Deluxe” brown leather interior, and the Corvette is listed here on craigslist with 58,000 miles and an asking price of $9,500.

By the time this generation of the C3 was rolling into dealerships, the world was a dark and scary place for performance cars. Manufacturers effectively neutered cars like these in the interest of injecting efficiency into everything they sold, even the cars that should never appear next to that word in a sentence. At the end of the day, the so-called efficiency gains did little to make the world a better place, and left many disenfranchised Corvette fans in its wake. That said, to Chevy’s credit, they did get decent 0-60 times out of the much-maligned Corvette, and the L82 was decent for the time with 210 b.h.p. on tap. This example wears the accessory luggage rack on the trunk, a popular option for the period.

The beauty of the C3 is with a 350 under the hood, you’d be hard-pressed for a car like this to turn into a money pit. Parts are plentiful and few engines are harder to kill than a venerable 350 V8. The seller doesn’t include any details about recent maintenance or other mechanical improvements that could make it easier to believe his “drive it home” claims. What’s more surprising is that there’s no evidence of major cosmetic dress-up under the hood, with chrome air cleaners all the rage in C3s like this. The engine looks completely stock, and with under 60,000 miles, it likely has many years of affordable operation left to give.

Brown leather may not seem like a desirable color scheme, but paired with light yellow, it looks quite handsome. It’s also a color that’s perfectly suited to the late 70s. The seller says he believes this Corvette has “every option” available from the factory, and we can see power windows and the luggage rack. But there were numerous other options from 1977 that are harder to validate their existence here, including the Gymkhana suspension, tilt column, rear window defogger, and cruise control. A window sticker would put the mystery to bed right quick, but at the same time, this is a running and driving Corvette in unusual colors, and I wouldn’t bat an eye at the asking price.

Comments

  1. Avatar DayDreamBeliever

    Ad deleted already. As in… Gone.

    Like 7
  2. Avatar Lou Tripper

    Learned a new word today. I’m always looking build the vocabulary. I’ll try it here,

    “anticlimactic”

    I think it fits.

    Like 4
  3. Avatar UK Paul 🇬🇧

    Seemed cheap, is that normal going price for one?

    Like 1
    • Avatar Matt

      A decent C3 under $10k is a good price – as such this one has already been sold.

      Like 8
    • Avatar PRA4SNW

      There are always so many for sale in all sorts of shape. Same with C4 Corvettes. You can set a price and condition as your criteria and take your time to find the right one.

      This one was in good shape but not the most desirable color, I’m thinking is was an okay, not great, deal.

      Like 2
  4. Avatar Gremlin X

    Beige was the rage in that age.

    Like 8
  5. Avatar Frank Sumatra

    Compare this car to the other Corvettes listed recently. Patience is the key to finding a nice Corvette. There are 1,000’s of them out there.

    Like 7
    • Avatar Steve R

      Patience along with effort.

      Steve R

      Like 4
  6. Avatar Steve Clinton

    “This posting has been deleted by its author.”
    Seller’s remorse?

    Like 0
  7. Avatar 370zpp Member

    Looked to be well worth the price. The right options, too.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Kenn

    Seller probably wanted it sold, so set a fair price. Nice to see that here once in a while.

    Like 1

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