What did it cost new?

[Stefrobrts]

Here in WA they used to tax us annually on a depreciated value of our vehicles based on it's original cost, so I was not surprised when someone pointed out to me some fine print on the title, which appears to show the original cost of the vehicle. I checked them out on all the titles I have (I have WAY TOO MANY titles in hand right now). Sure enough, it appears accurate for my cars.

The part that stopped me in my tracks was when I compared the original price of my base model, no frills, 68 corvette convertible ($2375) and my 68 Caravel ($2375)

What do you think, is this just a little bad record keeping on the part of WA state, or did a Caravel really cost the same as a base corvette convertible back-in-the-day?

[Chuck]

well...just checked the chevy web site, and the current corvette starts at 44,635 while a "Bambi" is available at the bargain-basement price of 33k.

probably not the best comparison, though...I would suspect that the corvette has alot more differences, upgrades in technology, etc, with its '68 counterpart than the camper has.

[53flyingcloud]

Really?
I once bought a brand new 67 Firebird, cost me 3400$ (ballpark).
I once bought a 69 TVR TUSCAN WB V8, costed alittle over 6k$ new.
I remember VW Beetles costing less than 2k$, until the 71 model year.
My 84 Airstream Sovereign, was just over 25k$ new, according to the original sales papers.
Today, we pay more for cars, etc than we ever used to pay for houses`
ciao
53FC

[Stefrobrts]

Yeah, I'll bet they could whittle the price of a new corvette down to the Bambi range if they didn't offer all the goodies on them now. Back when they built my vette, no frills means no power steering, no power brakes, no power anything, no AC, etc. I don't think those things are even considered options on vette now, you just get them in the package. Maybe the numbers are right.

[53flyingcloud]

Stefrobrts,
What did it have for an engine?
I'm thinking maybe a small block V8?
ciao
53FC

[flamingo-kid1]

[QUOTE=Stefroberts}so I was not surprised when someone pointed out to me some fine print on the title, which appears to show the original cost of the vehicle. [/QUOTE]

Where is, or maybe I should say, which part, is the fine print?
We're in Illinois.

[Stefrobrts]

On a WA title, in the area between the info on top and the sigs on the bottom, there's "comments/brands" and for example on my Miata it says "19249 - 1991" in tiny red print, which figures out to $19,249 in 1991 (year of manufacture). Which sounds right.

53FC, yup, the vette has the smallest engine, the 327 with a 4sp. Still has it's original engine, in fact.