Corvette project hulk down the drain

Not a Ferrari, but here's how my day went. About a month ago, a car dealer friend of mine who attends the auto salvage auctions told me about a "theft recovered" 1975 Corvette convertible that was up for a "sealed bid" auction. The bids were being opened up the next day, so my friend asked me if I wanted him to place a bid on the car. Not having even seen the hulk, I had him throw an $800 bid on the car for me. You never know. Maybe I would get lucky. Well anyway, the car sold for $1700 to somebody else. Fast forward to a few days ago. Another friend is driving around and spots a 1975 Corvette convertible at a small wholesale car lot. You know the story: it was the same car. I drive over to look at the car from outside the fence LATE after work, and the car lot owner was still there, so he let me give it the once over. I told him that I knew he paid $1700 for the car and that I would think about it. This morning I went back and looked the car over real good in the daylight. The car was stolen by hammering in the steering column which the car lot guy "fixed" good enough to make the key turn but column still felt like a rusty wagon wheel. Of course the major point was this: when the car was stolen, the engine and transmission were removed by the thieves and haven't been seen since. The car was hit in the rear at one time and the now-aftermarket rear panel was held in place by screws that were completely pulled loose on the entire driver's side. The driver's side rear view mirror was completely torn off leaving a large hole in the door. The instrument cluster bezel was broken apart and the entire radio and bezel assemblies were gone. The console trim plates were gone. The battery compartment fiberglass had a giant hunk ripped loose and it's amazing that the battery (which was missing) even stayed inside the car. The driver's side "A" frame had a giant crack where it had torn loose from the main frame and a half baked attempt at welding it back in place left a giant gap. The air conditioner evaporator housing had a hole in the fiberglass. The paint was a non-original color with giant scrapes and gouges throughout. Door panels were missing assorted fasteners and handles. Of course the car lot guy had immediately gone out and bought $400 worth of rally wheels to go on the car and also up the price. Other than the above mentioned items, the car was in good condition!!!

I told the car lot guy that I knew what he gave for the car and that I would give him $3200 for the car. He politely declined saying that he had already been offered more. Apparently $1700 for the car plus $400 for the wheels plus $1100 profit for basically doing nothing of any value to the car was just not enough.

Don't you just love those guys who intercept a good potential project car just so that they can jack up the price into the stratosphere. I'm sure that the next sucker,...er, I mean buyer will take it home, install a junkyard 350 engine and turbo 400 transmission and then try to gouge the next sucker for eight or nine thousand. What a waste of a decent project car.

 

Thanks Carreaper, but it's no great loss because I have other Corvette projects already in the barn. My worst loss was a '59 Vette with hardtop that had been smacked in the side of the right rear fender and right door. After much negotiations, the cautious salvage yard owner told me that I could have it for $5000 with an extra door and some other pieces that he had collected to eventually repair it. He was a very hesitant guy when it came to selling anything, so he wanted me to put my offer in writing to make everything legit for his business purposes. About a month later, a bunch of starry eyed Corvette BOZOs with more money that brains offered him $7000 for the car as it sat without even bothering to find out about the other parts that COULD HAVE gone with it. Needless to say, he forgot all about MY deal and sold the car to the other idiots. And as always, it ended up being bounced around from profit monger to dreamer to gouger. Another loss.