Nice car for that low mileage aficionado...

[spork2367]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1990-chevrolet-corvette-35/

[Mystic ZR-1]

Nice car!
Unfortunately, ZR-1s historically don’t
do well on BaT.
Maybe, (hopefully?) this one will be different?

[Erik]

I’m watching. :)

[Mystic ZR-1]

Corvette Mike in Anaheim is the seller.
I‘m sure the reserve will be high?

[spork2367]

Nice car!
Unfortunately, ZR-1s historically don’t
do well on BaT.
Maybe, (hopefully?) this one will be different?

They've historically done better on BAT than at any other auction venue.

I watch BAT regularly. It has become a sellers site, not a buyers site. Most of the even somewhat sought after vehicles go for 10-20% more than what they sell for any place else. Broncos, jeeps, F150's....people pay stupid money on there.

That being said, this could go either way.

I'd hazard a guess that in the current turbulent financial environment the market value on this car is probably 45-50k. Good provenance, good documentation and upkeep. Not a rare year, not a rare color. Another not so rare low mileage car. Be interesting to watch.

[rush91]

The undercarriage of that Z is flawless....but I guess after only 320 miles in 30 years, it would look factory fresh.

[Mystic ZR-1]

They've historically done better on BAT than at any other auction venue......

That may be true, but they don't do well... :)

[spork2367]

That may be true, but they don't do well... :)

I would say that the zr1's that have gone across BAT are very representative of market prices. When you say they don't do well, what is your comparison?

[Ccmano]

It’s already at $45k, barring any shill bidding I’d say that bodes well. However with the current economic uncertainty I would not be selling anything right now. Last week a 2009 ZR1 went through BAT and sold for a lowly $39k albeit it had 60k miles. Lowest I’ve ever seen one go.
H
:cheers:

[Mystic ZR-1]

Fuel system gone thru and cleaned?
What does that mean?
Even at that super low mileage, it
still needs new injectors...

[Young1]

And pumps and fuel level sender and maybe tank. Does the Bose work? Probably not but if so, not for long. Speedo calibration? LCD screen? Does it hold vacuum? Probably not. Master cylinders seals, caliper seals, slave seals probably bad too. Pretty to look at but that initial Maintence will be a few thousand.

[Ccmano]

And pumps and fuel level sender and maybe tank. Does the Bose work? Probably not but if so, not for long. Speedo calibration? LCD screen? Does it hold vacuum? Probably not. Master cylinders seals, caliper seals, slave seals probably bad too. Pretty to look at but that initial Maintence will be a few thousand.

And after that it will once again sit like a paperweight to be admired but not driven lest the value drop due to mileage. To each his own I suppose but I just don’t understand it.
H
:cheers:

[ZWILD1]

Very nice clean super low mile example. Problem is there are many low mile examples around. The C4 in general doesn't get much respect. I recently saw an article on my phones google feed they read, " The C4 Corvette ZR1 is the Best Corvette of the 90's." They made 1560 Bright Red ZR1's out of 3049 in 1990. I see plenty of the Bright Red 1990 cars on eBay. Bright Red with Red interior or black interior. Once in a while you see a saddle interior.

[spork2367]

It’s already at $45k, barring any shill bidding I’d say that bodes well. However with the current economic uncertainty I would not be selling anything right now. Last week a 2009 ZR1 went through BAT and sold for a lowly $39k albeit it had 60k miles. Lowest I’ve ever seen one go.
H
:cheers:

That bid on day 1 screams shill bid. That kind of bidding just doesn’t happen on BAT, even on popular cars. Most of the bidding takes place on BAT in the last couple hours. I’m guessing the seller has a friend and it’s a no sale near the current bid.

[ZWILD1]

It's got 15 bids and is at $46,250.00 now. Wow!

[spork2367]

It's got 15 bids and is at $46,250.00 now. Wow!

By only three bidders, who judging by their bid histories all appear to be dealers...

[32valvesftw]

A rising tide lifts all boats.

[spork2367]

A rising tide lifts all boats.

Not quite what that saying means...In this case, the ocean isn't the one 320 mile car, it's the 5000 30-50k mile cars. So if all the 30k mile cars jumped in value, then the POS ragged out cars would go up to.

One car going for a lot is not the "tide" it's a 5 gal. bucket of water in the ocean. Dump that one bucket in and the boats aren't going anywhere.

A 900 mile car sold for 44k back in February, but I haven't seen the rest of the ZR-1 market doing anything.

This is the cleanest, most well documented low mileage car that's sold for quite a while.

[Ccmano]

Sold for $47,250. Not bad for a 1990. Somebody got a really clean low mile car. I hope they will drive and enjoy it.
H
:cheers:

[spork2367]

Sold for $47,250. Not bad for a 1990. Somebody got a really clean low mile car. I hope they will drive and enjoy it.
H
:cheers:

If the buyer paid 47k for a 320 mile car to drive it, they’re an idiot. They could have bought a 10k mile car for 22k...

[Mystic ZR-1]

Sold for $47,250. Not bad for a 1990. Somebody got a really clean low mile car. I hope they will drive and enjoy it.
H
:cheers:

The only driving that car will see is on and off a trailer...

[mpiecyk]

I have a good feeling that the new owner is going for the Triple Crown @ the MCACN show in the near future this low mileage ZR-1 will not be driven it will be a trailer Queen following the show circuit.
Actually redoing all the NCRS Cert.to the National level existing Certs.are out dated.
Do the Bloomington Gold all the way to the Benchmark, car will not have a problem.
Then follow up with the Triple Crown @ The MCACN show.
Last but not least a visit to Barrett Jackson.
It's just my 2 cents worth.

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

I have a good feeling that the new owner is going for the Triple Crown @ the MCACN show in the near future this low mileage ZR-1 will not be driven it will be a trailer Queen following the show circuit.
Actually redoing all the NCRS Cert.to the National level existing Certs.are out dated.
Do the Bloomington Gold all the way to the Benchmark, car will not have a problem.
Then follow up with the Triple Crown @ The MCACN show.
Last but not least a visit to Barrett Jackson.
It's just my 2 cents worth.

All things that will establish and raise it's value as time goes by, which by the way helps all of these cars, yes even the clapped out ones.
The huge advantage of 81 and newer, is the ability to confirm a car's authenticity with window sticker and more importantly build sheets, which are easy to obtain through the NCM.
Older series Corvettes were not ALWAYS expensive. As more and more cars were restored and validated through judging, values of those cars began to rise.
While occasionally one might find a low mile original C-1 through C-3, it was nowhere near the number of ZR-1's that still can be found in that condition. This has pushed down on the value escalation, but the low mile cars will thin out with time, and that barrier will soften.
If even 10% of them remain ultra low mile, you are talking a pool of approx 700 cars as Survivors that are perfect. That is not and never will be a big number.
When today's forty something crowd becomes the sixty something crowd, they will be drawn to these trailer queen beauties just as earlier generations of enthusiasts have been drawn to the earlier cars.
Whatever.
The over-arching theme is these cars have hit new highs at auctions in 2020.
The red one at BJ in January, and now this one.
No doubt owning one now will have cost less than they will cost as time continues to pass.
:cheers:
Marty

[Erik]

If the buyer paid 47k for a 320 mile car to drive it, they’re an idiot. They could have bought a 10k mile car for 22k...

Where are these 10k mike cars for $22k? I’ve been hunting and I haven’t seen any.

[32valvZ]

Where are these 10k mike cars for $22k? I’ve been hunting and I haven’t seen any.

And you wont find any either..... I looked for a year or so at ZR-1's and for 10 grand there were a couple and I mean maybe 2 that needed pretty much everything and were high miles... The sweet spot of these cars price wise, for a very nice driver like mine is between $15-20K.... Russ has a great one for $15k (the yellow car), FU has a nice one (blue one) Theres a real sweet red 90 on the forum for $21k, maybe negotable to $19-20.... I would say from what I see offered the nice 30-50k mile cars sit right around $16k-19k Anyway, a 10k mile car is going to need 3 grand worth of maintenance to be as good a driver as the 40k mile driver..... just my opinion and observations over the last 18 years of C4 & ZR-1 ownership...

[Erik]

And you wont find any either..... I looked for a year or so at ZR-1's and for 10 grand there were a couple and I mean maybe 2 that needed pretty much everything and were high miles... The sweet spot of these cars price wise, for a very nice driver like mine is between $15-20K.... Russ has a great one for $15k (the yellow car), FU has a nice one (blue one) Theres a real sweet red 90 on the forum for $21k, maybe negotable to $19-20.... I would say from what I see offered the nice 30-50k mile cars sit right around $16k-19k Anyway, a 10k mile car is going to need 3 grand worth of maintenance to be as good a driver as the 40k mile driver..... just my opinion and observations over the last 18 years of C4 & ZR-1 ownership...

Thanks
I’ve seen FUs car. Looks nice, but 90,000 miles spooks me a bit. Not even from a reliability perspective, but rather resale. I don’t know where the mileage line is that trashes resale value. 50,000? 100,000?

Just so many low mileage ZR-1s out there, that it’s hard to want to go for a higher mileage one.

[32valvZ]

Thanks
I’ve seen FUs car. Looks nice, but 90,000 miles spooks me a bit. Not even from a reliability perspective, but rather resale. I don’t know where the mileage line is that trashes resale value. 50,000? 100,000?

Just so many low mileage ZR-1s out there, that it’s hard to want to go for a higher mileage one.

I would agree, there are allot of lower mile cars available... I think with FU's car, youre paying for color combo and its a later car also... (405 hp version)... also, its a known member with a known car..... Here nor there,...

As far as resale value... its all going to depend on maintenance and condition. This advice has been mentioned to you in other posts... so I wont go into it again.

If you buy a 30k mile car for say $17k... in 2 years, Id say you could probably get the same $17k with a few more miles on it, but with some tasteful mods done like headers maybe or say rear gears.... The ZR-1 is one of the few cars Ive seen where modifications, if done nicely with quality parts , doesnt really hurt value for a driver quality car.

[spork2367]

Where are these 10k mike cars for $22k? I’ve been hunting and I haven’t seen any.

Please keep in mind, you aren't going to get a totally sorted 10,000 mile car for 22k. It's going to be one passed down after a death in the family, hasn't run for 15 years, and needs all the standard items and maybe has mediocre paint.

Are they out there? Yes. At one point a year or two ago I basically went out and found every ZR-1 for sale on the internet in an easy to find location. Facebook, craigslist, ebay, hemmings, etc. At any given time there are at least 100 ZR-1's for sale that can be easily tracked down.

Coming on to a forum full of people who think these cars should be worth way more than they are isn't going to find you the best deal on a car. Not only that, if it's such a great deal, someone is going to buy it for themself. And unless you're paying a finders fee, I don't know why anyone is going to put a bunch of leg work into tracking a car down for someone else.

[Erik]

Please keep in mind, you aren't going to get a totally sorted 10,000 mile car for 22k. It's going to be one passed down after a death in the family, hasn't run for 15 years, and needs all the standard items and maybe has mediocre paint.

Are they out there? Yes. At one point a year or two ago I basically went out and found every ZR-1 for sale on the internet in an easy to find location. Facebook, craigslist, ebay, hemmings, etc. At any given time there are at least 100 ZR-1's for sale that can be easily tracked down.

Coming on to a forum full of people who think these cars should be worth way more than they are isn't going to find you the best deal on a car. Not only that, if it's such a great deal, someone is going to buy it for themself. And unless you're paying a finders fee, I don't know why anyone is going to put a bunch of leg work into tracking a car down for someone else.

Because I’m in Canada, and earn Canadian dollars, I’ve had to put a more aggressive cap on pricing then I would have otherwise done. I’ve gotta add 40% at least to the purchase price of any US car, before a have it in hand. So my goal was a mid mileage car, not aggressively modded, the maintenance issues addressed and a price in the low 20s. I’ve really found 2 cars that would meet that standard. And neither of which are perfect for me, but see decent candidates.

Finders fee? That’s not something that I’d be against.