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Condition
Used
Drive Type
Rear Wheel Drive
Fuel Type
Petrol
Doors
2-door
Cylinders
8
Transmission
Automatic
Color
Grey
Description
I have a good friend who had a pair of 70s Opel Rekord coupes but was thinking about an American classic for quite some time. He likes my 1978 Trans am, but also has a passion for C3 Corvettes. At one point I started checking the online market for a car for him, but stopped, because he mentioned he is not ready for another car yet.
Few months later he confirmed that he wants a Corvette or a…
I have a good friend who had a pair of 70s Opel Rekord coupes but was thinking about an American classic for quite some time. He likes my 1978 Trans am, but also has a passion for C3 Corvettes. At one point I started checking the online market for a car for him, but stopped, because he mentioned he is not ready for another car yet.
Few months later he confirmed that he wants a Corvette or a late 2nd generation Firebird, so I started observing the market again. Few months earlier I found the 1957 Dodge Royal and I was encouraged. I was lucky to find the right Forwardlook car in the right condition at the right price which was almost impossible keeping in mind how rare these cars are. C3 Corvette and a Firebird or Trans ams are far more popular, so I was confident it is a matter of short time to find the dream ride of my friend. But it turned out it is not just a matter of available offers on the market. Initially I emphasized on the Firebirds, because I just wanted to know I will import one more in my country. Keeping in mind the tight budget I was aware that there is no chance to find a good running Trans am. My friend wanted a driver condition and not a project, because he had enough bad experience with the restoration of one of his Opels.
After a month or so I managed to find a couple of Firebird Formulas. One of them was a 1979 model year with an older, big block engine in it. We passed it, because of the unoriginal engine. The other one was a very rare, original 400, 4 speed Formula which was a Texas car that was in good running condition. It was just a little over the maximum budget of my friend, needed some minor assembly and was more difficult for transportation, so we regretfully gave up from it. After discussing few more Firebirds in the next weeks, we both figured out that top the priority of my friend is the C3 Corvette.
I started checking the market only for 1974-1981 model years. I found several cars in our budget that were in satisfying condition. What really surprised me is that almost no one of the sellers answered me. Some of them even decided I am a scammer because I am an out of the country buyer. This have never happened to me before and was very annoying.
One of the most memorable cases was with a seller from Pennsylvania who agreed to deal with us, but at the last moment backed up, because he was not very confident with the way the car will be picked up. The car he was selling was very nice and we managed to find a friend to go there in person, pay the car in cash and get it, but the seller refused. He continued selling his car for about two more months and dropped the price way below our offer. We made a couple of more attempts to convince him to sell his car to us, but without success. The good was that new ads in our budget appeared every week. But every time I either, didn’t receive any answer of my messages, either the sellers answered me that they do not want to deal with an overseas buyer. In some other cases the cars sold in a very short time, so I didn’t manage to schedule a meeting if a had a friend in the area who would be able to go in person. I remember few exceptions in the communication – two very cooperative sellers who sent me more pictures and videos and were ready to deal with us. Unfortunately, after reviewing the extra pictures and videos of their cars I figured out that they are not in the condition we need.
Four months after I started the search, I was confident that I had to change the strategy. Seems like a quick face to face cash deal was the only possible solution. I contacted all my friends in the different parts of the US asking them to check what is available in their area. Two weeks later the good news came. A friend of mine from Virginia beach, VA informed me about an older Corvette enthusiast in Norfolk area who had three cars for sale. They were not advertised anywhere. Two of them were over our budget, but the third fitted perfectly and it even was a 25th anniversary edition. I asked my friend to inspect the car and we were satisfied with the condition of the vehicle. It run and drove well and was in good overall shape. The cash face to face deal happened smoothly thanks to my cooperative friend there who also helped with the car storage and parts collecting. The exhausting 5 months search was over. The car was loaded by the transportation company but had to spend no less than month and a half before leaving the USA. The war in Ukraine have started and the global transportation was facing difficulties.
The car arrived in June 2022 and except for a big scratch in the rear left fender, it had no other transportation issues.
My friend was happy with his new car. We did some basic maintenance work and he had to experience all the drama with the registration of the vehicle in our DMV in Sofia. The registration of the old classic American cars is always an adventure. After the registration my friend started enjoying his Corvette and we even drive together from time to time.
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