Corvettes for Sale: Brands Hatch Green 1971 Corvette on Craigslist

We Corvette enthusiasts are an optimistic bunch. We look at a pile of rusty, worn parts and see a finished product worthy of a Top Flight award.

But then the realist in us sometimes takes charge and we realize sometimes it’s just not worth it financially.

Is that the case with this 1971 Corvette coupe – wearing the remnants of the second-most popular color that year, Brands Hatch Green – currently being offered on Craigslist out of Kansas City, Missouri?

With its relatively low $9,500 asking price, someone out there may be willing to take on this car that the seller candidly admits needs a “total restoration.”

That this ’71 Stingray, with its chrome bumpers and luscious curves, was once an enticing beauty is without question. What a potential buyer must convince himself is whether that loveliness is worth emptying his wallet to perform a facelift.

This car reminds me of a 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am my wife and I once attempted to restore a few years back, finally throwing in the towel after matching the original purchase price with mechanical repairs and still having to tackle the paint and interior and knowing even then we would never have a concours condition Pontiac. Should we have just paid more up-front for a car in better condition and skipped the restoration costs, or is the thrill of bringing a basket case back to life worth that price? Every owner has to answer that question for himself.

I once owned a ’71 LT1 that didn’t have the original paint nor extensive documentation but still had been nicely restored and was a real looker inside and out. Indeed, the car eventually wound up sitting on the showroom floor of a prominent Georgia dealer for years after I traded it for a more civilized 2005 convertible to go back and forth to a new job.

This ’71 could look every bit as nice as mine did, but at what price? Since it has a non-original 327 engine (350s and 454s were the only variants that year), maybe it could be the basis for a very nice restomod. But then again is it worth the cost of the restoration?

Despite my hesitation, I still hope someone takes on the challenge of restoring this car. How do you feel?

Source:

Craigslist via Barn Finds

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