Looking for my first Camaro and have done a lot of research. Assuming everthing I was told is true (will of course confirm before a purchase), whats a range for a car like this.

396 engine is number match
4 speed transmission correct but not original
rear end original, 3.31

Cowl tag confirms RS and 396 original

restoration is 35 years old so paint is nicked, scratched here and there, faded in spots and crazing on the trunk. Doesn't have rust issues. Engine has surface rust on headers, dirty, etc but seems to run pretty well.

Drum brakes, pwr steering, pwr windows not original, pwr top

He thinks its about Hagerty #3 and is asking 42k. It seems kind of high to me. I'm thinking significantly less. Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

I would say min $10K too high.
Visit Hagerty and see.
Good luck.

 

I would worry about a 35 year old restoration. Some where done right,but think about it, these were 6-10k car finished back then. In terms of value Who restored the car is almost as important as when it was restore. With a well know restoration shop the value goes up. If its Bill from down the road you have no idea what sort of hack job is under the paint. Unless he has photos or a name of who restored it I would not pay full market value for it. 35 year ago the car most likely did not need all new wiring and I don't remember a stock harness being available in the early 80's. If it is original wiring it will need completely rewired.

Most likely in 1982 a "restoration" consisted of, engine rebuild, new clutch and seals on maybe new bearings in the rear, floors patched with sheet metal and a paint job. My hat goes off to those who did restoration correctly in the 80's. They restored the car for the love of the car not its value. They knew full and well the car was worth half or even a third of what the car cost to restore, but the people that did it assumed they would never sell it.

Maybe you should have the car checked out. We have seen car buyers think they are buying a pristine car only to find out they had issues while fixing those issue other hidden issues are found and before you know it a 35k car has a 20k restoration going on and that is even more possible with rag tops. Example: if a rag top has comedic type repairs on the rocker panels the rockers may need to be replaced, The rockers on the rag top are structural and should replaced as an assemble with the car mounted on a body jig. That will be about 4K per side plus paint.