We’ve featured several autos over the last few years on Barn Finds that have celebrity ties, and here’s the latest, a 1974 Chevrolet Corvette owned by Jon Bon Jovi. It’s always fun to see what our readers have to say about how much just the star factor alone plays into a car’s value, and also coincidental that the finances regarding the Jersey Rocker have been a separate topic of conversation for my wife and I during the past 7 days, a subject I assure you we don’t discuss often. It seems my wife has been saving episodes of Deadliest Catch recently and we’ve been watching them, and she asked me the other night how much I thought he got paid for the use of the “Blaze Of Glory” song at the beginning. I replied with my favorite response to almost any question, “I don’t know”, the same answer I submit for how much being under Jon’s ownership adds to the worth of the ‘Vette. Hair Metal aside, this is a very nice Corvette under any circumstances, and the car has made its way down to Atlanta, Georgia if you want to go check it out. The Chevy can be spotted here on eBay, where 72 bids have brought the high mark up to $18,000 so far, but expect to shell out way more than that as the reserve hasn’t yet been reached.
The Bon Jovi factor is of course off the charts on the cool scale, but if a C3 is what Jon was after this go-round, there are more desirable models than the ’74, and it seems perhaps he might have chosen something scarcer. It’s also a small block, with the item description indicating that the numbers are matching, but the horsepower is listed as 375, way higher than either the L48 or L82 made in ’74 and even considerably more than the LS 454 produced for that year. The decal on the air cleaner reads 350 Turbo Fire and indicates 370 horsepower, a powerplant you sure couldn’t drive out of your local Chevy dealer in 1974, so something’s been done under the hood that’s a vast improvement. But I bet if it was Jersey’s other favorite musician’s car there’d be a big block and a 4-Speed.
Based on the outside appearance, this C3 is an absolute beauty. If I were Jon, I’d have chosen red too, and although we don’t get a lot of information about what the Corvette looked like prior to his acquisition it sure scores high presently. All the body panels seem to line up nicely and the paint appears to be in fine shape, but the ad states that this is not a trailer queen and gets driven on a regular basis. Some more good news is that the car also appears very solid down below.
Open the doors and you’ll find an interior that’s either mostly been pampered or brought back to look a lot better than most cars with nearly 50 years of age, and how cool is it that these all came from the factory with T-Tops unless you got the convertible? Maybe even a bit cooler is that the next owner will receive an odometer mileage statement that bears the signature of John Bongiovi, the singer’s real-life name, but it also poses the question as to why does he want to part with this stunning C3? His loss will be somebody else’s gain, and I’m really curious to see what this one will tip the scales for at the auction’s end and if the reserve will be met. What are your thoughts here?
Never thought I’d see Von Joni’s Corvette for sale
I didn’t even know he had one LOL. Looks a lot like my 76 Vette 😎
Lol…he might buy it back himself!, if he is aware it’s on Barn Find up for auction.. He might want to relive that car again from 1974. Blow all the bidders away!
It’s up for auction on eBay, not Barnfinds.
It doesn’t impress me at all,nor would I pay more for it
due to who owned it.
Now,if we were talking about John Voight’s Lebaron,
then we’d be talking REALLY big bucks.
I believe that he wrote “Blaze of Glory” shortly after purchasing his Ferrari…
Wow I guess this “Dirty Little Secret”is out that he was “Living” in the car “on a prayer” and now fell on harder times.
I guess this makes “you gives love a bad name” especially without the extra pedal to shift.
I hope it sells as i know “its hard letting go” of this beautiful 😍 car.
No luggage 😕 🧳 rack 👎
I really disliked the split rear bumper look … aside from that, she’s a looker.
No luggage rack!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥂😉
Only thing worse than a split bumper is a split bumper with a luggage rack.
Mike NY: John Francis Bongiovi is his real name.
The printed name on the title was not done by him as it is spelled wrong.
Maybe like the car that George (on Seinfeld) purchased that was “owned” by Jon Voight instead of the actual John Voight
Mike NY: John Francis Bongiovi is his real name.
I would not pay no more than what the car is worth I don’t care who the heck owned it…
I agree, just because someone else owned the car doesn’t make it worth more to me either…. well, maybe if she was really hot and wanted to come see the car sometime :-)
Smart man same here! Since they made a bucket load of them. It sure is not a 1 of 4 model.
A nice Corvette, yes. However the fact BonJovi once owned it does nothing for it. He was never associated with any cars.
Now if Ted Nugent’s camo painted Bronco went for sale…
I would buy it and use it for target practice.
I wouldn’t want it either.
Cool car! Looks like it has some upgrades like the L-88 hood.
One BJ album insert had a bunch of VWs on it.
Never understood why people think a car or any item is worth more money just because it belonged to a famous person remember the people who purchased Betty Whites home after she died demolished it
Is the car being sold by Don Jon Bovi, or by a subsequent owner?
Maybe a small point, but the listing shows the title as, “Clean,” when it is actually a Duplicate title. Does eBay make such distinctions when you list a car?
Celebrity ownerships can mean a lot more money or no extra money at all! It depends entirely on who the celebrity was. A Maserati Ghibli owned by Frank Sinatra once sold at auction only for its intrinsic, non-Sinatra value. The same occurred quite recently for a 1970 E Type Jaguar owned by Steve McQueen, which he drove around London and France. Despite being the “King of Cool” and a renowned automotive buff, the E Type only sold for its regular market value. However, another E Type Jag owned by George Harrison sold for triple its market value. Go figure…
Yes-especially if it was owned by Elvis!
A car that shouldn’t cost over $5,000, if it has low mileage.
Well, I just don’t know, but for me, I’ll go out in a blaze of glory in my 71 red 4 speed convertible and since I’m a nobody with a nothing car I can have all the fun. I once bought a 60 Lincoln sedan that had been an Airforce limo or something. The guy I bought from told me how special it was because Jackie Kennedy had rode in it. Yup, ok, for me after the very nice running low mileage driveline, the flawless tinted windshield and perfect dash pad came off, the rest was 3500 pounds of scrap. Most of these celebrity owned cars were never even used by them, except once or twice. If memory serves me Bon Jovi was seen in a Viper quite frequently. Cars are like underwear to these folks. For me, who cares. Buy drive it and enjoy it because I’m sure thats more than he did.
Bon Jovi can be called many things, but it’s absolutely NOT ‘hair metal.’ To most metalheads those would be fightin’ words.
IF, if it is his car…. I’ll throw you a shiny new quarter. I’d get more for one with my autograph 😉