One of the nice things about the 1972 Chevrolet Corvette is that it’s the last year the C3 featured chrome bumpers in both the front and rear, so for many enthusiasts, this body style is still more desirable than the remainder of the third-generation cars that followed. This 1972 Corvette here on eBay has been stored in a garage since 1995, and while the two-seater needs a complete restoration, it’s a convertible and mostly complete, so this one might be worth considering if you’ve been hunting for an affordable early-seventies model project. Located in Jacksonville, Florida, this droptop can be bought right now for $8,372, but the seller has also included a make-offer button, should that amount sound a little high. We want to thank reader Mitchell G. for sending in the tip here!
Of the 27,004 Corvettes built for the ‘72 model year, 20,496 were coupes versus 6,508 convertibles, so the rag top is the rarer of the two. It’s a good thing this car’s spent some time inside, as the roof canvas is non-existent, and I’m not sure whether or not those roof rails will be salvageable. With the amount of patina present, this one’s also been outside a lot before the last thirty years, and there’s a crack in the fiberglass noted behind the rear tire on the driver’s side. It’ll take some panel prep before the body is ready for a fresh coat of Bryar Blue, but I’ve seen far worse starting points outside for C3s.
The seller includes a sticker photo revealing the VIN, with the “K” indicating that this one left St. Louis with the base engine, a 350 producing 200 horsepower using the new net rating system. Unfortunately, this one’s lost the original motor, and a 1973 dated 350 is now under the hood. The seller indicates that it’s no longer running and offers no clues as to why, so the future owner will have to choose whether to tinker with this small block or install something entirely different. Some better news is that the automatic is thought to be the original transmission, but there’s no word at all on its current state.
Things inside are described as nice, with the dash pad getting some additional extra credit from the seller for its condition. The seats are a different matter, with the frames stated as rusted and crusty, and there’s also corrosion on the door areas in the top front. The turn signal stalk is present in the photos taken in the garage, but missing from the patio pictures, so it might have been broken off as the car was rolled outside. With all the work needed here, what’s this 1972 Corvette worth as it sits?
If a guy had a Rat laying around or a LS maybe this could be something
Get it running and have fun with it. PS don’t drive in the rain with it unless you bring your umbrella, even with a new top.
Right color, right model, decent price – What’s not to like?
-Stuck motor (no belts)
-Roached interior (door cards and seat covers are expensive for C3s)
-More crack(s) than a back alley in (insert your favorite city here)
-Crispy crunchy suspension bushings
-Rusty crusty on the bottom
I love it! I could whine and moan and convince my wife to let me buy it. But she’d divorce me the next day and I think I love her more than this heartache.
I think.
Garage kept, he says. Must be a subterranean garage.
The plus:
It’s a chrome bumper car.
Hmmm…anyone have another plus?
That thing has gotta smell like skunk cabbage and toe jam…
Entry level ‘Vette with a hole in the frame rail behind the exhaust hanger, fiberglass tonneau looks like it’s breaking up at every attaching point, just overall wore out condition otherwise, and engine isn’t original, nor does it even run. The leaves in the undercarriage mean it’s been sitting out in the yard somewhere and if they didn’t pop the drain plugs in the floorboards was full of water like a bucket. Years ago, some buddies of mine and I had a ’69 350/4spd ragtop that we passed around the group (sort of a spare car) for the same $3500 money over and over until it finally was wrecked and we gave it up. Might give $3500 for nostalgia purposes.
Heck of a trailer hitch.
Spirited bidding for a 200 hp automatic. Beware of Fla cars. From what I see the birdcage is likely toast. 70s Corvettes are allergic to water.
What bidding?
That is the seller’s asking price.
Jacksonville, FL is what bothers me here. I would like some photos of the bottom side before any serious consideration.
There are plenty underside photos in the EBay ad, more than the topside, for once.
It’s not looking great under there, IMO.
Having owned a ‘72 back in the nineties I got to know these pretty good. This one needs a lot of work and the automatic and non original base motor don’t help its cause in my view. One positive: I do like Bryar blue. I gotta say that this is the first ‘Vette I’ve ever seen with a trailer hitch. The person who decides to take on this project will obviously have to source replacements. Bye bye to more dinero. Better plan on a bird cage in full rust mode which should be inevitable especially with the convertible. GLWTS and GLTTNO.
I would be concerned about the the birdcage and rocker channels..If these are clean and strong I would say about $6500..if not it’s a 3k car
Like Carbob, I am going for the positive here:
At least the buyer can’t complain that they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. Plenty of helpful photos of this one.
Seeing the trailer hitch brought back memories of my friends 71 coupe he had a hitch on. He pulled a 17ft hydro stream speedboat with it. Great summer fun! Good luck on this one though.
Everybody did it back then because it didn’t matter. I’ve seen hitches on GTO’s, Mach I’s, Z-28’s and pretty much anything else imaginable dragging boats to the water or a cut-down buggy somewhere on Saturday after running around in them on Friday night. Way more fun than parking them in a parking lot and just looking at them.
I am looking forward to seeing this in a few months on my favorite Miami, Florida-based Corvette seller’s website.
LMAO Frank!
Actually, I think this one is too good for them.
@PRA4SNW- I had you in mind when I wrote that. “Rattle Can Ricky” and his team have never let us down yet. Stay tuned.
It’s on Marketplace for $8600. It’ll cost double that for a talented person to restore on their own. Being very familiar with East coast cars, especially Florida cars…….as beautiful as it could be, I’d pass and keep searching for that better project that surely exists. This would need to be “the” car for a buyer to be worth the time, money and headaches that will be in its future.