81 Caprice Landau

NOT VALK RELATED ....1981 Chevy Caprice

My wife's aunt passed away and we are trying to figure out what her car is worth so we can sell it. It's a 2 door 1981 Chevy Caprice Landau. It's been sitting in a attached garage since 1996. and I don't think it was even started after she went into the nursing home in 2004. We put a new battery in it and cleaned the fuel filter and it started. It's only has 36,000 milles on it (she was 66 when she got it)and the outside is dent and rust free. The inside is dirty but no tears in the seats or cracks in the dash. I know it would a good car to restore but as it sits there could be 100's of problems caused by sitting so long. It is easy to say that it is worth what a newer vehicle with that mileage is worth, but there are other factors that go with buying an older car for a daily driver.  One is the economy, there are less and less people buying toys right now, the street rod and classic car market took a hit just like everything else. It will have issues from sitting, and problems with insurance if you pay high and then it gets totaled out. (been there done that)     The real problem with vehicles like this is that a lot of people would love to have the car but they have to have cash, no loan value on a car like that. I just recently got my fathers 1985 Silverado with 59,000 miles on it. I really enjoy driving it but the more I drive it the more things I find either wrong with it or about ready to give a problem. He had a 1993 Tarsus station wagon with 83,000 miles that he had thou8ght about giving away but didn't because it didn't want to give someone a "problem". It's still sitting in the garage at his house, mother doesn't want to be bothered with selling it. I'll try to do something with it this spring.

Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1976-1986

World cars 1978

Chevrolet, A History from 1911

The Autocar, a journal published in the interests of the mechanically propelled road carriage

Camaro restoration handbook, ground-up or sectional restoration tips & techniques for 1967 to 1981 Camaros, all models included