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Condition
Restored
Drive Type
Rear Wheel Drive
Fuel Type
Petrol
Doors
2-door
Cylinders
8
Transmission
Manual
Color
Blue
Description
In the summer of 2018 I was looking hard for a 50s classic or for 78 Trans am for myself when the owner with the 76 Eldorado and both 51 and 59 Buicks got in touch with me and asked me to find an early Corvette C3 convertible for a good friend of his. The car had to be in concours condition and from my first impression the budget was enough. It had to be either red or…
In the summer of 2018 I was looking hard for a 50s classic or for 78 Trans am for myself when the owner with the 76 Eldorado and both 51 and 59 Buicks got in touch with me and asked me to find an early Corvette C3 convertible for a good friend of his. The car had to be in concours condition and from my first impression the budget was enough. It had to be either red or blue color. Since the early C3 Vettes in excellent condition are expensive cars I had to be sure in my choice. That’s why I proposed to check some cars in person, because I had a planned visit in the USA very soon. So the man decided to wait for about a month until I go to the USA. Meanwhile I selected several cars in the areas where I was planning to go.
The first Corvette I inspected was in sunny Los Angeles. It was a blue 1971 Corvette coupe with automatic transmission that was in a classic car dealer in Long Beach. The car was not as nice in reality as on the pictures. What I didn’t expect to see on a California car was frame rust that was on a hidden place and hardly visible even at a closer inspection while the car was on the lift. This was not the car I was looking for.
I went to see a couple more Vettes in another classic dealership, but was disappointed to see poor paint job on one of them and faded original paint on the other. During my visit to a friend in Minneapolis I checked a car from a private seller. It had some wiring issues, leaks and the bodywork done was not impressive.
Things were getting discouraging. After a discussion with the person for whom I was looking for a car, we increased the budget and I persuaded him to switch only to coupe versions, because they had removable top anyway and were more popular.
The last place that I visited was a big classic car dealership in Atlanta, but the condition of the cars there did not correspond to their high prices. I came back from the US without finding the right car.
But I didn’t give up and continued the long hunt. Fortunately, soon I came upon the right car. I found it in a classic Corvette dealer in Ohio. It was a blue 1972 LT-1 4 speed manual rotisserie restored car which condition simply blowed my mind. The inspection I ordered proved the extremely clean shape of the vehicle inside and out. The price was above our budget, but after exhausting negotiations we reached an agreement. We made the deal and a small unpleasant surprise followed. It was a mandatory sales tax that we understood we had to pay. We managed to reach an agreement on this too and the deal was finalized.
When the car arrived in Bulgaria (11.2018) I was amazed again with its cosmetic condition everywhere. It was simply gorgeous. It had some minor mechanical issues that were easily fixed, so the new owner was happy and very soon I got my next order from him.
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