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Douglas Barton·
Auctions
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Wholesale Market Report: This Eclectic Mix Of Corvettes Will Be Fun To Watch

Today in CorvSport's exclusive wholesale report, we have some rare sights, like a '78 Pace Car and a heavily modded C7 Grand Sport with a crazy wrap!

Will this heavily modded Grand Sport with a crazy wrap sell? Photo Credit: Manheim

As we approach thirty installments of CorvSport’s exclusive wholesale market reports, we possibly have the most varied mix of Corvettes to date, ranging from a 1978 Pace Car to the high-revving C8 Z06 masterpiece. To add to the variety, we have a built C7 Grand Sport with a crazy wrap, and a clean 1987 C4 with some old-school gold BBS-style wheels–my favorite from the time period! As a reminder, the following wholesale market report contains actual dealer-to-dealer results from the largest dealer-only auction in the country. [Author’s Note: This article is FREE and not behind a paywall. If/when any pop-ups occur, please click to make them disappear and continue enjoying the article. One requires two steps–first, the arrow on the left, then the x on the top right.]

For a deeper dive, we have our full archives below, but in a nutshell, we started in Florida, and over 16 installments, 30% of the Corvettes were hammered off to a new dealer. We felt Florida was underperforming and wanted to heat things up, so we moved to Texas. And the Lone Star State has not disappointed, with a stellar 62% successful sales ratio.

A Quick Review Of The Process:

In preparation for each installment, I start a list of Corvettes from that week’s runlist that catch my eye. As a retired owner/operator of a used car dealership, I’ll use my 17 years of experience (and industry access) to give you insights into the market. My search is focused on the nation’s largest dealer-only wholesale auction, and all the Corvettes featured are from the Florida market. Corvettes end up at a dealer-only wholesale auction for many reasons, but most are trade-ins that the dealer decided not to retail on their lot. Some may also be repossessions or coming off leases. It’s also common for dealers to dump problem (or slow-selling) units at an auction.

For Fun (and Insights):

Compare the MMR (estimated wholesale value) to the actual hammer price (if sold). It’s also interesting to compare the wholesale purchase price (if it sells) to the Cox Automotive estimated retail value, as this will give you an idea of the margins used-car dealerships are working with.

[3/27/2025 Edition]

Top 7: Wholesale Dealer-Only Auction Activity Report

#7

1976 C3 Stingray Coupe Base

80,623 Miles

Condition Report: 3.0/5.0

Announcements: GMTV–USA’s #1 Wholesale Distributor

Autocheck History Report:  Not available

MMR: Not Available (due to limited transaction data)

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: Not available
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: Not Available

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $9,000

(Insights: Looks like a pretty clean ’76 Stingray that will be a nice driver for $9k.)

#6

1978 C3 Stingray Pace Car

1,948 Miles

Condition Report: 3.0/5.0

Announcements: GMTV–USA’s #1 Wholesale Distributor

Autocheck History Report:  Not Available

MMR: Not Available (due to limited transaction data)

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: Not available
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: Not Available

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $15,750

(Insights: We have followed the Pace Car market casually, and $15k sounds like a pretty good buy for this driver-quality 1978 Pace Car.)

#5

1987 C4 Corvette Coupe

89,013 Miles

Condition Report: 3.0/5.0

Announcements: Clean Carfax, GMTV–USA’s #1 Wholesale Distributor

Autocheck History Report: 3 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: Not Available (due to limited transaction data)

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: Not available
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: $8,200 (35,484 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: Not Available

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: Despite those badazz gold BBS-styled wheels, this clean C4 failed to launch, which is odd in some regards given that the seller, GMTV, always comes ready to sell.)

#4

2006 C6 Z06 Coupe

40,055 Miles

Condition Report: 4.6/5.0

Announcements: Clean Carfax, GMTV–USA’s #1 Wholesale Distributor

Autocheck History Report: 2 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $30,900

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $30,300 (47,934 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: $38,300 (27,160 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $37,100

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: NO SALE

(Insights: I would have lost a bet on this sharp-looking Z06 not selling, especially given it was being sold by one of our top Corvette sellers, GMTV. It’s likely their reserve was too high.)

#3

2015 C7 Z06 Convertible 1LZ

19,456 Miles

Condition Report: 4.8/5.0

Announcements:

Autocheck History Report: 7 owners, 0 accidents

MMR: $61,200

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: Not available
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: $64,300

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $60,500

(Insights: This C7 Z06 was well bought at just under MMR, but I do wonder why it’s had seven owners since new.)

#2

2017 C7 Grand Sport Coupe 2LT

40,605 Miles

Condition Report: 4.0/5.0

Announcements:

Autocheck History Report: 4 owners, 1 accident

MMR: $44,100

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $50,000 (26,202 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: $51,700 (26,637 mi)
  • Last Year: $45,900 (38,175 mi)

Estimated Retail Value: $48,500

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $37,500

(Insights: The dealer who bought this built C7 Grand Sport could be in for a surprise if he pulls that wrap off, but still, at $6,600 under MMR, he has some room to play with!)

#1

2023 C8 Z06 Coupe 3LZ

7,885 Miles

Condition Report: 4.8/5.0

Announcements: None

Autocheck History Report: 1 owner, 0 accidents

MMR: $119,000

(MMR=estimated wholesale value, based on vehicle, miles, condition, and recent auction sales)

Historical Wholesale Averages

  • Past 30 Days: $120,000 (8,162 average miles)
  • 6 Months Ago: Not available
  • Last Year: Not available

Estimated Retail Value: $124,000

(Based on Cox Automotive retail transactions)

Auction Results: Sold for $116,000

(Insights: While not one of the more popular colors, this C8 Z06 was well bought at $3,000 under MMR. It’s good to see this metal moving!)

Summary: Another respectable showing from Texas, with 5 of our 7 Corvettes selling. You may have noticed that 6 of our Corvettes were offered by GMTV (GiveMeTheVin), who bills themselves as the “USA’s #1 Wholesale Distributor.” And today, GMTV did not oversell their ranking, with 4 of the 6 selling. And how about both of our old C3s selling?! Thanks for joining CorvSport today, and we’ll see you in two weeks!

Sales Ratio Tracker (click date for report archives):

As always, I offer my sincere thanks for being a faithful CorvSport reader! Are you CORVETTE OBSESSED like we are? The team of renowned authors and contributors at CorvSport hopes you sense our passion for the iconic Corvette, and our vast database of articles and guides should prove it–5000+ features since Scott Kolecki founded CorvSport over 15 years ago! Join the fastest-growing Corvette community on our Facebook page, with over 171,000 followers (52,000 since January 2023!). Meet other hardcore enthusiasts and say hello. This is Douglas B. signing off–click here if you would like to see more of my features.

*All images and information are credited to Manheim Auction

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