Hello, C3'ers, I'm brand new to Vette's (although not Chevrolets) and need a little input on a car I've found.  1968 Stingray convertible, 4-speed, 350ci engine, A/C.

Owner is a woman, moved out west from Maryland bringing her '68 with her.  She bought it from a gentleman who gutted the interior with plans to repaint and restore.  Car hasn't run in a couple years.  Odometer reads 03,8XX and she has paperwork documenting previously registered mileage as under 100,000 so she's representing the odo to be accurate at 103,8XX miles.

She says the car has a 350 and, as far as she knows, it's the original engine but my research told me the 350 was not available until 1969 but perhaps it's a late 1968?  I used www.decodethis.com to decode the VIN: 194678S407XXX.  It told me that it was a 1968 Chevy Corvette Convertible, V8, built in St. Louis, but no mention of engine displacement.

She has new seat covers, new carpet kit, new door panels, new soft top.

I took several photos for you guys to critique and they can be found at my google picasa site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/utvaquero/1968Corvette

The seller's asking price is $7,000.  To be totally honest, I don't plan on keeping the car.  I've got a decent budget and a little time, so I'm leveraging my time and my money to restore a basketcase to a daily-driver and sell it to someone who likes Corvettes more than me.  That's not to say this'll be slapdashed together--I'm looking at completing this car with a reasonable budget, selling it and making a little profit to put toward my pet project (a '67 or '67 LS1/T-5600 powered AWD LeMans if you must know).

My questions for you experts:
1. Is she asking a reasonable price given the car's options and condition?
2. Is this car sufficiently unique among Corvettes for it to have any equity in it after "daily driver" restoration?
3. Can the engine, if it is a 350, be original and is "numbers matching" really that big a deal?

Thanks for you guys' input and help! Looking forward to hearing your comments.

Oops, I meant '66 or '67, not '67 or '67!

The VIN number will give a hint at whether it is an early or late build, but the trim tag on the driver's front door pillar will give the body build date.

68's had either a 327 or a 427 - no 350. Without the original engine, it won't be a numbers matching car. Is that important to you? That car looks like it needs a lot of work. Make sure the frame is in good shape. Also check out the bird cage (metal frame around the windshield). It is notorious for rusting and can (is) expensive to repair. Since the kick panels are off, check where the birdcage mounts to the frame for rust. Pull off the windshield trim. Thumb through an Ecklers catalog and price out what you think you'll need for the interior. It looks like there are some parts. You can easily spend 4K on a complete interior. I would guess you have at least 10K worth of parts to buy to get it nice (not perfect). that includes a decent paint job. Personally, for that shape, I don't think I wold go over 5K. Also note that 68's have many one-year-only parts. Might be hard to find some. Oh, and the 10K estimate I mentioned above? go ahead and tack on another 25% right now for all the unexpected things that pop up. And that's a conservative number. turst me on this....

The only way you will make money on one of these is the same way most people claim to win at the casino's.  Don't keep track of your investment

Well, all good input. I'm leaning toward passing on this car, given its shape and the fact that--if it IS a 350--rather than her not knowing what she's talking about, that it's not the original engine. 

I had done a rough guesstimate of $10,000, including paint and realized there were probably going to be additional expenses but I figured IF I could keep the total cost, including purchase to below $20,000 I might could make $2,000+. 

I initially got excited reading NADA Guide's values for a '68 but looking on this forum and on Corvetteforum.com, it looks like NADA values them a lot higher than folks who own them.

So, if anybody's interested in this '68, I'll pass the owner's contact info along.

This is just a thought. possible but not probable. The lady could be right when she says as far as knows the car has the original 350 engine. The 68 didn't have a 350 CID engine but the 327 did have 350 hp.

Frame looks extremely rough...big problem. A good paint job will be at least $8000.00. You would be in too deep to make any decent money on this one. A lot of labor intensive work needed.

Scott

rearn2go, I thought of that as well.  Like you say, possible but not probable.  Did you see the engine?  Chevy orange, including intake manifold and stamped steel valve covers.  Does this say Corvette to you?  I dunno for sure, but it doesn't seem like it.

Are you sure it's a 350? She could be mistaken...