STS Corvette Forum

VetteDriven · Veteran Member

1973 Corvette question?

ffas23 · Guru

VetteDriven wrote:

Ok guys, A freind of my father has a 1973 Green Vette coupe auto.
base 350 all stock. It looks good except for a crack in the front bumper.
The crack is due to age. 2 questions.
How much is this Vette worth?
How much would it cost to repair a cracked front bumper?

These are tuff questions to answer. Not seeing the car I can't really tell you what it is worth. My '73 with original 25k miles on it was never driven in bad weather. It is a numbers matching documented and a very clean '73 small block car basically the same car you are talking here. I always felt my car could bring betwee $20k-30k knowing what I have if that helps you. Again it depends on what the traffic will bear. Some '73's could be had for well under $10k depending on the shape. What kind of mileage is on that car and how was it driven? Was it a everyday driver? There are plenty of questions that need to be answered. Have you looked at the frame yet from under the car? Has it ever been in an accident? What does it look like under the hood? Is it all original?

On your 2nd question only a Corvette Body man can tell you. There really isn't one set price. Funny you mention a cracked front bumper as they are a rubber bumper from the factory but some back in the day took their rubber bumper off the car and put a aftermarket fiberglass bumper there instead. Just curious to what your friend has there that you say is cracked. It would be nice if you can get some digital pictures of the car here on the forum that we can look at of the body on both sides and front and rear and pictures of the interior just to get an idea of the shape the car is in. Otherwise its anybody's guess.

-- Edited by ffas23 on Thursday 30th of July 2009 05:07:08 AM

VetteDriven · Veteran Member

Well I dont have any pics. Its a clean 1973. I think mileage is around 70k.
The guy drove it last year. He does start and run the motor.
It does need brake lines. He backed it out this year and found out he had no
brakes.

So how do you like your 1973?

ffas23 · Guru

How do I like my '73 Coupe?. Well lets put it this way. I feel it truly is the more refined C-3 that I have ever owned being I also owned a '69 Big Block Coupe back in late '71 and a '72 Coupe back in late '73. The current '73 Coupe that I am driving now I have owned since 1982 when I purchased it from a friend of mine with 17k miles on it. I had sold my '72 Coupe to go into the Auto Parts business back in 1978 and was without a Corvette for 4 years at that point and made a little money and was ready for another to replace what I once had. Although I have owned it for a long time I haven't put much mileage on it as it is still a 25k mile car. It doesn't have the brute power that my 1969 (427-435HP) 4spd Coupe had but the ride is uncomparable as the '69 rode very hard where as the '73 is a cruiser being it came from the factory with rubber body mounts where the previous (5) C-3's from '68-'72 had metal mounts that hurt their ride terribly. That and the fact the '73 came from the factory with Radial tires made all the difference in the world back in the day. I wouldn't run away from a nice '73 that could be had at the right price based on everything that I know about C-3's up until 1982. I alway felt in my mind that the '73 Corvette would one day be somewhat treated like the '63 Corvette whereas the '73 like the '63 Corvette shared it's own body style being the '63 is known for the Split Window over the other C-2's and the '73 is the last year of all C-3's to retain the rear Chrome Bumpers and Fiberglass rear end and the first Corvette to incorporate the new nose, cowl induction hood and wide open side air vents. One other thing I should note all of my 5 Corvettes that I have owned came with a factory 4-spd stick. Four were Coupe's and one a Vert.. Both my '72 and '73 also came with A/C. smile