$130K C3

So... A 1972 Mille Miglia Red Convertible (NCRS 97 points) recently sold for $130K. Wow... It was one of only 57 made with factory air. Thus the high price. It also had tilt steering, optional hard top, shoulder belts, and AM/FM radio. Well guess what. I have a 1972 Mille Miglia Red convertible with factory air, tilt steering, am/fm, shoulder belts, AND a red interior. As near as I can tell there were only 7 made in this configuration. Unfortunately, the prior owner did her no favors. It was a barn car. He even removed the AC(under the hood). I have done tons of work on this rare girl. She is now a good driver that will get better after I have the ball joints/control arm bushings replaced as well as new brake calipers. I feel guilty about not doing a full NCRS restoration. What say you guys? At the same time I have one of only seven. Maybe the only surviving car like this. Wow again.

Do what makes you happy! A NCRS restoration is not going to be cheap. That's one of the reasons those cars that undergo that type of restoration go for those high prices.

I love the talking heads on the auction shows.  When a car goes for cheap (relatively speaking) they claim "He paid for the restoration and got the car for free".

Oh, I forgot to mention. I know what would make you happy. Selling the car cheap to me...see, there's already a smile on your face!

That was an LT-1 convertible with air.  I emailed that guy after seeing his ad.  He said it was 1 of 5 red LT-1 a/c verts.  So I asked him how he came to that number and he gave me the ratios.  An estimated 57 LT-1 a/c convertibles were made, so breaking down the color percentages, that comes out to 5 red ones.  He said since mine was white, it is one of 6.  Estimated of course.

I can't imagine how much a 97 point restoration would cost.  You might have a $130K car when you're done, but it may cost you $130K to get there as well.  But what the heck do I know?  I bought a $10K car, and am putting $20K into it to make it worth $15K.  I must suck at math.

My philosophy is to keep mine safely on the road with no showing modifications.  Unfortunately they are both garage queens at the moment, the vette needing brakes and the other needing an electrolock cable.

This is my philosophy too...more or less. I'm putting Moog ball joints on her. If someone wants riveted joints later on it won't cost much. I nearly swapped my calipers for some that came off a later model. I decided to rebuild the originals instead. Why not? I like working on her anyway. When it comes time to re-install the AC I will have a tougher choice. Put in modern stuff or rebuilt Frigidaire? I don't know. One thing for sure. The old girl drives great and she gets lots of attention.

In the end, it's all about the fun and the pride of walking up to a great looking C3 and saying "wow...that's mine!"

An LT-1 air car is rare to begin with....add in the convertible, and the price goes up exponentially. Rare, or low production numbers don't automatically mean worth a lotto cash, but in this case, it kinda does. It's a high performance engine combo in a convertible. You want rare, but not particularly valuable? How 'bout the ONE, yes ONE, chartreuse '77 built, hmmm? Only one of it's kind produced, but not ed-zachary valuable.
Factory '72 LT-1/air cars will always be valuable, due to the low number produced, and the use of A/C on a HP engine....'72 was the only year A/C was available with the LT-1. Mix in color combos that were popular, and then add the convertible, the price keeps going up. Even a crappy LT-1/air car is worth some moola.....