Anyone know approximate value of a ‘96 Corvette collectors edition coupe with LT4 V8 & 6 speed manual, 105k miles? Looks to be in average to good condition. Has power seats but don’t see any options beyond that, but hard to tell from photos alone. Just looking for a ballpark figure what these might go for from a private seller.
Question for C4 Corvette affectionados
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I'm gonna go ahead and say, initially, $25,000 if in really good condition.
Good paint, low miles, etc.
The Grand Sport? Last one made? The blue and red one?
Trust me, I once thought about getting one.
$6000-$7000 gets you a "junky" C4, probably pre-1991 or 1992.
1988 I think is when they got rid of the Doug Nash automatic/manual trans ? .. 1988 and later also got a hit of tweaking/face-lift. Again in 1992 IIRC (92-96 look the best to me, followed closely by 88-91.. 84-87s look ehhhhh cheap. To me)
But that's just me.. Others, enter.
$6000-$7000 gets you a "junky" C4, probably pre-1991 or 1992.
1988 I think is when they got rid of the Doug Nash automatic/manual trans ? .. 1988 and later also got a hit of tweaking/face-lift. Again in 1992 IIRC (92-96 look the best to me, followed closely by 88-91.. 84-87s look ehhhhh cheap. To me)
But that's just me.. Others, enter.
First listing (the white one) is for $21,000.
Looks kinda good too.
https://www.carsforsale.com/1996-chevrolet-corvette-for-sale-C125105
Looks kinda good too.
https://www.carsforsale.com/1996-chevrolet-corvette-for-sale-C125105
This isn’t the grand sport, but regular run of the mill 96 with the LT4 engine, I think about 6000 were made that year and only available in 96. The grand sport was much more limited with only 1k produced that year, those are the pricey ones. Just not sure how much the regular LT4 collector editions go for.
Yeah I hear you.. I think about $20k-$25k, or at least what they list them for.
They probably get it, too.
I had 2 C4's, an '86 and a '90. Lotta fun.
Sorry to sound stupid, but the car is worth what ever you are willing to pay for it.
Please do not expect it to rise in value, buy it if you want it.
A decent coupe? $8 to $12K? More if you really want it.
Just so you know, you can put many thousands of dollars into body and interior work.
Painting these cars correctly is big bucks. Don't ask me how I know.
Buy the best, most original car you can; focus on the body/paint and have it checked for repairs.
Good luck.
Sorry to sound stupid, but the car is worth what ever you are willing to pay for it.
Please do not expect it to rise in value, buy it if you want it.
A decent coupe? $8 to $12K? More if you really want it.
Just so you know, you can put many thousands of dollars into body and interior work.
Painting these cars correctly is big bucks. Don't ask me how I know.
Buy the best, most original car you can; focus on the body/paint and have it checked for repairs.
Good luck.
Low teens, maybe.
A manual-trans '96 CE is collectable and would likely catch more money than a non-CE C4.
Not with 104,000 miles. That many miles takes it away from collectable and puts it into driver territory. The price plummets for "driver" Corvettes.
That's how it is with so many C4 and C5 Corvettes: They have stupid low miles and sellers want ridiculous amounts of money for them or they have a ton of miles and they sell for cheap.
A manual-trans '96 CE is collectable and would likely catch more money than a non-CE C4.
Not with 104,000 miles. That many miles takes it away from collectable and puts it into driver territory. The price plummets for "driver" Corvettes.
That's how it is with so many C4 and C5 Corvettes: They have stupid low miles and sellers want ridiculous amounts of money for them or they have a ton of miles and they sell for cheap.
Found this on BaT:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-chevrolet-corvette-72/
1996 Collectors Edition, Lt4, manual trans, 58k miles.
Sold for $14,250.
Double the miles and you're not likely to see $12k.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-chevrolet-corvette-72/
1996 Collectors Edition, Lt4, manual trans, 58k miles.
Sold for $14,250.
Double the miles and you're not likely to see $12k.
I’ll have to see what the overall condition is, car is pretty much identical to the one pictured in the link above with the exception that the one I’m looking at has grey interior which IMO is less desirable.
It’s not listed as collectors edition or LT4 and woman is selling it, so it’s possible they don’t know what they have, but I can see the CE badging if I zoom in, plus the rims give it away. Nonetheless I don’t think CE adds a tremendous about of value, but the fact that it has the LT4/6sp combo makes it worth more to me.
It’s not listed as collectors edition or LT4 and woman is selling it, so it’s possible they don’t know what they have, but I can see the CE badging if I zoom in, plus the rims give it away. Nonetheless I don’t think CE adds a tremendous about of value, but the fact that it has the LT4/6sp combo makes it worth more to me.
Went and looked at it and was disappointed, but I probably shouldn't be given their asking price, which is probably appropriate for the car's condition. Car was pretty well used up, owner lived in a rough neighborhood with car kept outside. Was clear they were only interested in daily driving it. Paint was pretty rough in spots, fading on the hood, and a rear quarter was flaking pretty good. They avoided taking photos of any imperfections perfectly, which IMO isn't doing people any favors selling a car. Some interior bits were broken like hood release and parking brake, and check engine light was on. Other than those issues it was in pretty fair shape for a daily driver. I was mildly embarrassed when I got in to start the thing, turned the key a few times and was stumped for a few seconds why it wasn't cranking. Duh, gotta push the clutch pedal! 
I figured it out about the same time the woman told me lol.
Going to keep perusing the classifieds at my leisure, I'm in no hurry at all, but the best deals on sports cars seem to occur around this time of year.
I figured it out about the same time the woman told me lol.Going to keep perusing the classifieds at my leisure, I'm in no hurry at all, but the best deals on sports cars seem to occur around this time of year.
1988 was the last year of the 4+3 Doug Nash trans, 1989 was the first year of the 6 speed man.
C4s seem to be on the rise, which is great! They are finally getting a small amount of respect... Price is still all over the place I feel though. If you aren't in a hurry to sell, I would attempt to market in specialty places such as forums, Bring a trailer, Cars and Bids.... main stream (craigslist/Facebook) are flooded with average/low value C4s and will muddy up your cars chances at proper money.
Well, they sold a lot of 'em. Most have been passed around and are pretty beat.
They were great cars and are a lotta fun. The last one I drove was a red AT ragtop.
It was a blast to tool around in.
As for value, I am not so sure. But who knows?
The C4's are still cool and were ahead of their time then. I paid $2500 for the front and rear 96 Grand Sport suspension that I have installed under a 1955 Chevy 2 door sedan. C4's are dated, but I'm hoping for a big improvement from 1955.
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For some reason the C4 has always been my favorite, probably because those were the hot 'vettes when I was growing up. Doesn't seem like I'll find what I'm looking for under 10k. The '96 CE I looked at was priced at $7k, but its price reflected the condition.
There are a couple real clean '96's with the 6sp + LT4 engine combo with fairly low mileage (50k give or take) for sale on corvetteforum in the $14-15k range. I'll have to work on the wife a lot more before I have a reasonable shot at going that high. We're going to look at a clean (supposedly) '84 tomorrow, but it'll be more kicking tires I imagine than actual interest-- while I like the 80's interiors better, performance-wise I don't think I could live with it. Hoping to find something before the appreciation of these models starts to accelerate.
There are a couple real clean '96's with the 6sp + LT4 engine combo with fairly low mileage (50k give or take) for sale on corvetteforum in the $14-15k range. I'll have to work on the wife a lot more before I have a reasonable shot at going that high. We're going to look at a clean (supposedly) '84 tomorrow, but it'll be more kicking tires I imagine than actual interest-- while I like the 80's interiors better, performance-wise I don't think I could live with it. Hoping to find something before the appreciation of these models starts to accelerate.
'84 had rock hard suspension; it pulled 1.0 lateral G's. '85 softened it a bit.
But it had the old cross fire injection I believe.
The 1st decent year was the '86, but it had the 4x3 Doug Nash. Z51 suspension option is the way to go.
Plus the aluinum L98 heads came in late '86 on the convetibles.
Go newer. 88 was nice, 90 was great. 91 cars all had the ZR-1 rear.
A standard LT1 car can be modified to outrun a LT4 car. I never saw what the hoopla was about the LT4? You can likely buy some AFR heads, Edelbrock RPM intake, Camshaft, 1.6 Rockers, & Injectors for much less than the price difference
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