I understand not wanting to sell for cheap. I had a spotless Mazda MX-6 LS before my Camaro. I loved that car, and it killed me to sell it for cheap. Just hang on to the RS. It sounds incredible, and also seems like you have plenty of outlet for driving fast at work.

If you do ever sell the RS, make sure you never see it again. Ever. If the next owner doesn't love it as much as you did, it'll be terrible for you to see. My neighbor's son bought my Mazda, and he doesn't care about it. I hate seeing it when I'm home.

 

Seems like to specialized of a car that no one really wants. There are tons of V6 camaros for sale for under 4k. I have no clue how much you would want. Sounds like you'll have to get lucky to get high dollar on it.

 

I understand an emotional commitment you feel. But when it comes to selling a car it is all about the market.

The RS was a $900 option. A rag top with the appearance package and the Y-87 upgrade would have cost about 3k more than a RS hard top car. So even among the V6s the RS was not "the top of the line" There was no limit I am aware of on the RS package. The reason it is rare is because people did not want it at that price.

If the option in 2002 was only $900 and less then 500 people wanted it how many people do we think would be willing to pay 2-3K more for it 10 years later?

In 1972 There was only (970) SS big blocks made (due to the GM strike). The motor only output 240HP due to emissions requirements.
In 1970 there was over (2400) SS 396. They had between 350-375 HP. Which one do you think is worth more? (It is not uncommon for a 70 396 to sell for twice what a 72 will sell for) People have been telling me for 25 years that the 72 Camaro’s were going to be super valuable someday because of the rarity. I am still waiting.



Simple fact is rarity is cool, as long as it is rare with power. Very few people want the slower car in any given era. Fastest cars with rare options rules the market.

 

Not an RS at all. The true RS cars had a special grill that was designed by SLP. Anyone can buy that grill now for around $250+. The RS cars also had heritage stripes and ZR-1 wheels, along with badging. I'm sure all of this stuff could've been taken off, but I would doubt that specific grill would be missing. SLP put a driver door jamb certificate decal on that indicated the vehicle was altered. I just learned that there were only 54 of the sebring silver RS cars produced in 2002. That's what I have. This false advertising is another reason why people don't realize how very rare these cars are.

 

The more I think about it, the more I agree. Also... you're right about not selling locally. I did that once with a 1998 Firebird W68. That car was beautiful and it drew female attention everywhere it went. Some no-brain kid's dad bought it for him just a city away, and he ended up plowing it into a utility pole. Needless to say... I had to watch it get loaded onto a wrecker and put to rest for life.

 

Hp numbers are apples and oranges. 1972 is when engines started getting rated net instead of gross h.p. So naturally, 72 models only appeared to a get big h.p. drop. As far as option's popularity by sales numbers, in 69 there were only 311 SS 396 L89 aluminum head models sold, as a $711 option. Only 311, guess hardly nobody liked that option either eh? But how many would pay tens of thousands more today to have that car? Plenty

 

You just shattered all of my hopes! I get 'ya, though. I'm going to stick with the sentimental end of things and hope for the best.

 

The point about the 72 was being rare itself does not equal value. Most of those rare options back in the day had very limit availabilty. GM would only sell them to a few dealerships they trusted and in some cases to some race teams. For GM to race the Z28 in 67 it had to be available to the general public. Here is a car that would out run all the small block vetts in a striaght line at the time and GM could only sell 602 of them? Back then the general public had no idea these parts\cars could be bought and GM did not feel the need to tell them. This would be why factory sponsored cars where so hard to beat at the track. Just look at the 1LE, In 89 if you ordered it with AC it came setup for the street but if you ordered it with AC delete it was configured for the track. The ECU was programmed for the track it had different suspension settings and if I remember it right different motor mounts. Our salesmen had no idea. A race team ordered one from our dealership. They knew, we did not. So if the salesmen did not know how could Joe Average know? I am sure if there was a sign in the dealership that said "Order Your 1LE with out AC you will get a a track read car" they would have sold a lot more with that option. Heck who could not figure out if you added a option on the order form "RaceTrack Configuration" (AC delete) that would have been a huge seller.




One thing GM knows is selling "real" race cars to people is almost always a mistake. Sure they would love them for a little while but you would have most customers coming back in 3-4 months asking if you could fix the rattles, or rought idle or make it ride a little smoother. Finding a used 69 Z28 in 71,72 was pretty easy. People got tired of the rough ride.

 

There's a ton of truth to the rough ride aggravation. Maybe even more in this day and age. I had one of my '77 Corvettes for sale a while back. I literally had several couples in their 50s and up, considering the car for a Sunday cruiser and show car. When you're looking to meet those criteria, I would assume you're only looking for detail, appearance and a little muscle for playing. If you look in my garage, it's the red Vette that I'm talking about. That car is beautiful and a real attention-getter. These couples were so into that car until they drove it over a few bumps. I don't know if you've ever driven a C3 Vette, but those things were not built in the Cadillac plant. They are strictly made for cornering and you literally ride on top of the rear axle. They would bring the car back after a good 10 minute drive and say it's too rough riding. Either you want a sports/muscle car, or you don't. If it corners well, it's not going to absorb bumps all that well.

 

Oh hey, a fellow Vette guy! I've had a number of C3's over the years, currently have a 69 I'm restoring. Newest C3 I've had was a 79, but those ride no differently than the older C3's (under the skin it's all the same so stands to reason). Now, ride comfort and handling between that and my 92 is night and day. If you want to make a noticeable difference in the ride of a C3, get rid of the POS steel leaf spring and upgrade to a fiberglass one, like what the C4's have. There are a few different spring rates available depending if you're after strictly comfort, performance or in between. They also make a slick conversion for the front, to swap out the coils to a glass transverse leaf spring, again, like what the C4's have.