What's This 66 Lemans Worth
 

Okay everybody, I need some replies here. What's this baby worth. The owner is a Chevy man who got this in a trade and now wants another Chevy. So far the only things that I know about the car is that he's having a new windshield put in tomorrow and that it has a........wait for it...........okay, gotta say it...Late model Chevy engine in it. I don't know what tranny it has, don't know the vin. All I've got to go on right now is these pics and what he has told me via email correspondence. You now know everything that I know, thus far.
Thanks in advance,
Tim

Butternut yellow (metalflake), Body has had 1 repaint
Transmission is 3 speed th350 on the column
Motor is 350, vortech, with 600 Holley carb and hei dist
New aluminum exhaust with turbo mufflers

Tim

You're not going to like what I think it is worth; or maybe I should say the seller is not going to like what I think it is worth. If it is ok mechanically, i.e. brakes, tranny, rear end, steering, etc. I would say 3-4 grand at most. Lemanses are not very high dollar cars as it is, but with a Chevy engine, you've got to figure what it would cost to put a Poncho engine back in there. I personally wouldn't want it to keep at any price as it is.

I believe that the seller is going to want upwards of $10K. I think the car is worth about $7500 as is. Figure you can probably recoup some money from the motor to buy your pontiac motor.

I usually agree with Jerry H, but if I could buy a car like that for $4k, I would buy 5 of them.

If the seller just got the car within the last 12-18 months then he probably didn't pay a whole lot for it. I think you could get the car reasonable if that is the case. Personally if I were going to buy it for myself I'd say anything under $5K would be a good price. Jerry H is right these LeMans cars are not high dollar cars but they are still worthwhile to own. If you really like the car then creeping into the $6K range wouldn't be outrageous but it's above my ceiling.

You may want to try and buy the car less motor and tranny. You could get it at a discount and rid yourself of the Chevy stuff which you would do anyway if you made the swap. The seller is a Chevy guy so he may see value in the motor.

One last thing, the lower black on the body is a red flag for me regarding rust. Many times amateur body repairs use a lower body black out to hide bondo. Check the car out carefully for rust you don't want what looks like a solid car to turn out to be a rust bucket. Up here in Minnesota I've seen everything from shed siding to 2x4 boards used to patch up car bodies.

Good Luck, John

Never knew that about the lower body black out. Great tip John. Thanks.

Other than the lower black and the Chevy motor, I think it would be a fun driver. Being a person who is stuck in the 70's, I love the stance of the car. Reminds me of all my brothers friends cars from when I was a kid. I would say $6-8K would be a nice price if it is not packed with rust.

Your welcome. I always like to hear everyone else's little tips too. Back in high school my brother bought a 71 Javelin SST that was silver with black accents. Had a black stripe down the center of hood and roof plus lower body panels were blacked out.

We started looking at the car and then some sanding...... found chicken wire and fiberglass all under the lower body blackout. :gag: What a roach. We mudded up the car and reshot the whole thing and sold it to the next kid. Lesson learned.

Have to agree with John on this. If their hiding something this way, whats lurking under the paint on the rest of the car. GTO or LeMans, they cost the same to paint which equals bucks.

Personally, Im not sure I like the looks of the car. The stance, the wheels and the two tone whould have ot go right away. And I havent even brought up the motor. It might be worth 5-6 but I think thats streching it. Too many unknowns and too many imediate changes. There are others and I would pass.

You can usually tell if it is a hack job when things don't match up, like a nice paint job with faded or cracking chrome on the bumpers, trim, mirrors. Everything from what I can see looks to be in good shape as if it was maintained. The interior is very clean too. If the quarters were bad I think they would have hid any lower damage with the lower rocker trim which is not even on this car, also those black lines would not appear to be perfectly straight as they do, I would think you would see some waves. Whoever had the car obviously had some monet to play with being that it has had a re-paint, not to mention those rims and tires are not cheap either.
Might have been maintained throughout it's life, garage kept or from a dry climate state. I would say easily 6-8 grand, it is very rare to find a car that clean in appearance on Ebay these days for less than ten grand that is not a six cylinder.
JMO