Re: C3's undervalued?
That is why the rest of Illinois never claimed Chicago as part of the state. Cars were alive and well down south. Hall Street in St. Louis was proof of that. High school had plenty of good cars, GTX, Road Runners, Chevelles, and so on. Corvettes were just too pricy.
Granted, around '71-'73, there were plenty of '60-'64 Corvettes to be found on lots for $1500 or less, but that was the Corvette reputation. Most had been run as hard as possible, and sold before breaking.
New Corvettes in '73 - '75 sat in showrooms unsold. I remember a dark blue '74 coupe with silver interior being passed from dealer to dealer and not selling.
The only slowdown in cars I remember were in new ones and Corvettes around '71-'73. In '74, used Corvettes were not increasing much, if at all, but they were selling. St. L. Post Dispatch was filled in the classifieds. By '74, Placke had a decent selection of about a dozen used Vettes that changed on a regular basis.
A lot of pot was around. The Alton Telegraph listed Roxana as having something like 75% of the students had used pot in '71. Somehow, I was part of that 25%, but I was aware of it everywhere around me. I could have sworn it was more than 75%.
In the first few years of the '70s ('71-'74), the used Corvette ownership was dealt the double-whammy. Insurance hit them hard. Prices were a bit steep compared to the faster Road Runners, Chevelles, and Novas.
There weren't many new muscle or sporty/sports cars around. But plenty of old ones. And they did tend to trade hands a lot. And fill Steak N Shake in Florissant, Blocks in Alton, the Beacon in Wood River, and so on. There were a few V-dubs, but there were more of the 302 Chevelles, 302 Vettes, 396 Novas, and so on.
In '74, lots of big block Chevelles became available cheap. $400-$600 for '68 - $71 Chevelle SS was common. That $.50 a gallon gas was a killer.
We were all dreading our lottery numbers, but as much as anything, we didn't want to end up like the green '69 Chevelle in Roxana that sat there for years waiting for its driver to come home. But we didn't quit driving, just kept praying. I don't know anyone that went off to protest. Seemed pretty stupid to go unarmed into a crowd of armed guys who wanted nothing better than to crack your head open. There were a lot of guys signing up for the Navy and Air Force.
That is why the rest of Illinois never claimed Chicago as part of the state. Cars were alive and well down south. Hall Street in St. Louis was proof of that. High school had plenty of good cars, GTX, Road Runners, Chevelles, and so on. Corvettes were just too pricy.
Granted, around '71-'73, there were plenty of '60-'64 Corvettes to be found on lots for $1500 or less, but that was the Corvette reputation. Most had been run as hard as possible, and sold before breaking.
New Corvettes in '73 - '75 sat in showrooms unsold. I remember a dark blue '74 coupe with silver interior being passed from dealer to dealer and not selling.
The only slowdown in cars I remember were in new ones and Corvettes around '71-'73. In '74, used Corvettes were not increasing much, if at all, but they were selling. St. L. Post Dispatch was filled in the classifieds. By '74, Placke had a decent selection of about a dozen used Vettes that changed on a regular basis.
A lot of pot was around. The Alton Telegraph listed Roxana as having something like 75% of the students had used pot in '71. Somehow, I was part of that 25%, but I was aware of it everywhere around me. I could have sworn it was more than 75%.
In the first few years of the '70s ('71-'74), the used Corvette ownership was dealt the double-whammy. Insurance hit them hard. Prices were a bit steep compared to the faster Road Runners, Chevelles, and Novas.
There weren't many new muscle or sporty/sports cars around. But plenty of old ones. And they did tend to trade hands a lot. And fill Steak N Shake in Florissant, Blocks in Alton, the Beacon in Wood River, and so on. There were a few V-dubs, but there were more of the 302 Chevelles, 302 Vettes, 396 Novas, and so on.
In '74, lots of big block Chevelles became available cheap. $400-$600 for '68 - $71 Chevelle SS was common. That $.50 a gallon gas was a killer.
We were all dreading our lottery numbers, but as much as anything, we didn't want to end up like the green '69 Chevelle in Roxana that sat there for years waiting for its driver to come home. But we didn't quit driving, just kept praying. I don't know anyone that went off to protest. Seemed pretty stupid to go unarmed into a crowd of armed guys who wanted nothing better than to crack your head open. There were a lot of guys signing up for the Navy and Air Force.
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