1997 Chevrolet Corvette

Coupe

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1G1YY22G8V5108435

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Gasoline

INTRODUCTION This 1997 Chevrolet Corvette is the nicest C5 I have seen in quite a while. It is absolutely bone stock save for the tastefully upgraded, chromed, C5 Z06 style rims. I personally have owned the vehicle for roughly three years. Is there any color combo more popular or fitting for the C5 Corvette than Black on Black with chromed Z06 style wheels? If you have been searching for THE perfect C5 you have found it. With only 33K Miles (that's only 1650~ miles a year on average), I cannot say enough about this cars condition, it is simply outstanding. The interior is almost flawless. The exterior shines bright. It shows that this car has spent it's whole life in a garage. The underside of the car is what you would expect of a Corvette as well cared for as this... almost like it never left the showroom floor. The see-through "glass roof" Targa top provides perfect shade, due to the excellent factory tint, while giving wonderful views when driven with the top on and even more enjoyment with the top off. The tires are all but new, with thick tread all around. I myself have owned the car since it had just shy of 18K miles; so I personally put roughly 15K trouble free miles on the car since I purchased it. I have taken wonderful care of the car throughout my ownership. I hope that the pictures, namely the undercarriage ones, speak to that point. I personally would never buy a car from across the country that did not have extensive pictures of the underneath. Especially one that is 20 years old! This model of Chevrolet Corvette was produced between 1997 and 2004. This particular car offered for sale here is the perfect car for show and shine nights along with beautiful sunny days filled with spirited driving. The C5 Corvette was Chevys first leap into building an automobile that could truly compete with the worlds best in every performance facet. The first truly modern Corvette. A few words about value. Now is the time to buy a C5. Plain and simple. As the past has shown every Corvette hits the bottom of its depreciation curve and then, eventually, they begin to rise in value again. I have watched the values of these cars for years. They hit the bottom of their depreciation curve somewhere near the end of the C6 Corvette's production in 2013. The debut of the C7 seemed to have zero effect on the value of C5s at the time and 4 years later this observation remains the same. They are truly at the bottom. This allows a great opportunity to acquire a world class sports car for less than the price of a 1998 Trans Am WS6 in comparable condition. Think about that for a moment. Currently the C5 Corvettes are trading at lower prices than the Gen4 LS1 Camaro SS and Trans Am WS6 all things being equal. That should be quite startling as anyone who has driven all three cars can attest. There is no comparison between the Y Platform (Corvette) and the F-Body cars (Camaro and Trans Am). The corvette is a vastly superior car from every standpoint besides seat count which should be irrelevant if you are desiring to purchase a true sports car. The transaxle and independent rear suspension alone give this car so much more performance and superior weight distribution than the F-Body cars solid rear axel. Yet the F-Body cars sell for more money than the C5 in the similar condition. This will not stay this way. I'm really surprised it has lasted this long. This just speaks to the fact that the C5 is currently, severely, undervalued. Purchasing one in the current market conditions allows a rare opportunity to buy a landmark model of such a legendary car that is guaranteed to, at worst, hold its value in the short term and also appreciate over the coming years. At best, the sky is the limit as every previous generation of Corvette has shown. There is currently no better buy in the enthusiasts car market than the C5. No other car in the world offers such a thrilling performance driving experience, combined with such a capable and well thought out drivetrain and chassis, perfect weight distribution wrapped in such a beautiful body at this price point. Period. The C5 Corvette simply has no competitor at this price point. THE FIRST OF MANY AND WHAT MAKES THE CAR SPECIAL As with any collectible car its best to have either the first or last model year. As mentioned above, the C5 (generation 5 Corvette) was the first truly modern Corvette and therefore I believe it's best to have the first year. 1997 was also the year where the fewest C5 Corvettes were built which only adds to the cars potential future value. The 1997 was also the lightest of the C5s which should not be overlooked when it comes to sports cars. The now infamous LS1 started this in 1997 and has been the basis for every Corvette engine and GM performance engine since. All other LS motors have their foundation in the LS1. Even the new LT1 and LT4 engines are not much of a leap from the LS series of engines. The LS1 was Chevrolets first foray into making a fully aluminum engine standard. Unlike the 90s LT1 engine it replaced both the heads and the block are aluminum in the LS1. This allows for much better weight characteristics where it counts the most; right in the nose of the car. Thus drastically improving handling characteristics. The LS1 also marks the first generation of Corvette to come packing over 300HP in standard trim. Every single C5 Corvette has 345HP or more. Sure the 60s Corvettes could pack a huge punch if your car was equipped with an appropriate engine option but the lessor engined cars left a lot to be desired in the acceleration department compared to the wallop of the LS1 standard in the C5 cars. The LS1 engine continued with reversed flow cooling that debuted in the C4 Corvettes LT1 motor. Meaning that the coolant flows through the heads before it reaches the engine block. A tremendous change from previous Chevy V8s that allowed the air temperature in the heads to be much cooler and therefore more dense allowing greater power to be produced while also helping to eliminate the overheating issues found in older cars. Another LS1 milestone was the introduction of the individual coil pack ignition system. This is the first Corvette without a pesky distributer that not only could be problematic but also did not allow for as great of engine spark control that the individual coils enjoy. Chevy tried to make a step forward with ignition control starting with the C4s LT1 and LT4 engines. With the LT1 Chevy introduced the now notorious and much lamented "Optispark". An idea that was good in theory but very poor in execution. The Optispark certainly allowed for better spark control but the unfortunate requirement for it to be mounted in front of the cam, which allowed the optical sensor from which it derives its name to do its job, also required the distributer to be mounted directly underneath the cars water pump and behind its crank pulley. This meant that if the water pump leaked or failed entirely it would often fry the distributor requiring complete replacement. Replacement which required a disassembly of the entire front end of the motor including the pulling of the crank pulley which is pressed on. The location was so poor for servicing that even simple spark plug wire maintenance cost multiple hundreds of dollars. This was no longer an issue with the LS1 and its individual coil per cylinder which eliminated the need for a distributer altogether and supplied much more efficient spark to each cylinder resulting in more power and much better throttle response. The coils also rarely failed but if they did they could quickly and efficiently be replaced with hand tools thanks to their convenient placement above the cylinder heads directly on top of the motor. This is perhaps the LS1s most important legacy as no Corvette has had a distributer since. They have all employed the individual coil pack system to this day. Speaking of important legacies, from the C5 Corvette, no description would be complete without a discussion of the introduction of the transaxle. Starting in 97 with the introduction of the C5 Corvette GM introduced the another modern staple of the Corvette; the transaxle. Prior to this point all Corvettes came with a very typical power train configuration of an engine in the front with a transmission bolted directly behind it driving a driveshaft and turning the rear axels. The C5 however took Corvettes single biggest leap into becoming a truly world class sports car by drastically improving weight distribution with the idea to move the transmission to the rear of the car. With the C5, and every Corvette since then, the engines in front is mounted to a torque tube which runs the majority of the length of the wheelbase where it connects to the transmission which is directly bolted to the axel pumpkin. This allowed the C5 Corvette to be the first generation of Corvette with nearly perfect 50/50 weight distribution front and rear and allowed the Corvette to compete substantially with (and in many cases outperform) the best European mid-engined exotics. A tradition that remains today. Corvettes of yore were known as a straight line rockets with their available big block motors. Corvettes today are known as some of the best handling platforms on Earth. A last note about the C5 Corvette is that this was the last Corvette to come with the much loved flip up headlights introduced in 1963 with the introduction of the second generation Corvette that really helped give the car its sleek, slippery, and sporty front end. It's really a shame GM decided to discontinue this feature, since the introduction of the C6 Corvette in 2005, when they had so recently perfected their operation. Older Corvettes pop up headlights operated on ill functioning and leak prone vacuum tubes. This probably brings mental images of a ratty late 70's Corvette with one headlight stuck in the raised position and the other stuck in the lowered position. This was almost entirely solved by the replacement of the vacuum tubes with electric motors. It is rare to see a C5 Corvette with malfunctioning flip up headlights and when they do malfunction they are much easier to diagnose and repair than the lengthy and fussy vacuum tubes. The 1997-2004 Corvette marked the end of flip up headlights made so famous and desirable by some of the sportiest and most luxurious cars of the 60s. Not only was this the last Corvette to have these hide away headlights but, along with the Lotus Esprit, in 2004, it was the last car ever offered with flip ups. From 2005 forward the car wold has been flipupless. It begs the question of when a manufacturer will bring them back or if they ever could with so many increasing mandates on pedestrian crash safety. It could possibly be the last car, along with the aforementioned Lotus to ever don the iconic look. There really is nothing quite like driving a black C5 at dusk looking down the swooping mirror black hood that slopes back up sharply at the end corners of your sight lines. It really makes you feel like you are driving a super car or the batmobile and it is even more pronounced with the wind blowing through the cabin with the targa top removed mounted in the trunk. Driving a C6 just doesn't bring out the same emotion from the forward view and makes an early evening drive just a touch more mundane in my opinion. Not to mention how much better the car looks from the outside with the headlights hidden away. It really gives the car the look of a true race car. I miss pop up headlights and I think my many photos below will easily display why I feel so passionately about them. MECHANICAL CONDITION As noted above, nothing feels as good as looking out over the deep dashboard onto a mirror reflective black hood complete with pop up headlights with the top removed on a beautiful evening drive with the wind in your hair. I have had a lot of Corvettes over the past few years and I can honestly say this is the one of nicest driving ones I have experienced. The brakes are tight. The steering wheel is dead straight, the steering is perfectly linear, tight, with no vibrations and zero pull. The car idles and accelerates without any miss or hesitation and it is hard at times to even feel the transmission shift it is so smooth unless you are mashing the gas pedal. The car has a clean carfax that I can gladly procure for you. The tires are all but brand new as are the brakes all being replaced last year. There is not a single mechanical problem with this car, not a single leak or any other issue. Everything in the interior works as it should and needs zero attention. This car is ready to hop in and drive and was just recently detailed. LAST WORDS This is everything you could possibly want in a Corvette. It's a landmark year, its black on black, it's a targa, it has chromed Z06 style wheels, it has only been driven roughly 1650 miles per year since new, and lastly the car was extremely well cared for, and as such, the condition is remarkable. This car is in better shape inside, outside and most importantly underneath than most 10k and 20k mile C5 Corvettes I have seen. It will be a long time before this extremely desirable combination appears on the market again. A word about mileage on these cars. Most people assume that the lower the mileage the better the car and the greater the condition. After owning countless Corvettes and many other Collector type cars I can tell you that there is absolutely no truth to this. There are so many other factors at play. Was the car always Garaged? Has it ever seen Snow? If the car is from a warm climate was it ever left parked near the Ocean? Contrary to popular belief there are countless rust-buckets that hail from California and Florida for this very reason. Remember those undercarriage pictures I keep bringing up? How well was the car maintained? This will show on the test drive. Was the car left outside in the sun? This causes major paint damage and cracked to pieces dashboards that cannot be replaced. There is another note actually, do not buy a Corvette without taking a good look at the dash. If its covered by a "dash mat" it most likely resembles the San Andreas Fault underneath and the owner is cleverly trying to hide it. Who was driving the car? Was it an overweight person? Seat frames are also often bent by heavier passengers and can be recognized by how un-level the seats are in some cars. I am not here to tell you that mileage is irrelevant because its not. It is in fact very important. As important as condition. What I am trying to convey is that there is a difference between low mileage in outstanding shape and low mileage neglect. I have seen many Corvettes and other collector cars that have low mileage in horrendous shape from sitting idle since a widows husband died 10 years ago. I learned this the hard way. Sitting idle and not starting or moving has a way of weathering a car even if it was garage kept. If you plan to buy a 8-20k mile car be prepared to be fixing a lot of issues. While these cars often have the best paint and cleanest interiors, mechanically the age has taken effect. Dry rotted tires, dry rotted belts and hoses, brittle hard plastic lines. All common problems with a "too" low mileage car. More Importantly the brakes freeze up and often need replacement and the fluids tend to solidify. If looking for a car with that low of mileage that has sat idle for long periods of time make sure you do a thorough inspection of the cars maintenance records to show that the car had its fluids flushed regularly. As far as mileage is concerned I believe that this particular car is the perfect mix. It has only been driven roughly 1650 miles a year since new. It has the right number of miles for a 20 year old car. Not too many and not too few. Maintenance was clearly a high priority as this car truly drives like it just rolled out of the factory. I welcome all inspections on the vehicle, be it mechanical or cosmetic, personal or professional, and I can gladly provide high quality photos of any specific area on the car for you that I may have missed. There are inspection companies that eBay recommends and last time I used them the cost was around $100. Worth every penny and I highly recommend their services. If you would like to have an inspection done and are having trouble finding the correct link please call so I can point you in the right direction. Be clear I am not responsible for shipping. eBay has a list of recommended shippers but I have found that typically the best prices are found by searching Google and shopping companies against one another. However, I will gladly help assisting you with shipping or would gladly (and preferably) pick you up from any local airport so you can make a good personal inspection of the car before taking delivery. Boston Logan International Airport, Providence Airport, Manchester Airport, or preferably Worcester Airport. Please note I also have the car for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction early. 50% of the payment is due within the first 48 hours of the auction ending. The remainder is due upon pickup. For any questions, comments, or to schedule a test drive, please contact The Car Guy, Jack Keane at 508-769-5080. 
And as always,

Happy Motoring!