Hey Cool Car Fans,
Earlier this month, I ran a marathon in Ventura, CA. My wife Becky and I decided to visit Santa Barbara the day before the marathon and explore this cool little beach town. While there, I spotted a few cool cars rolling down the street and posted some photos on my Instagram account.
After the marathon, we cruised down to Rodeo Drive (pronounced “roh-DAY-oh”) to check out some cool cars. I kind of had my own personal car show, while Becky shopped at Lulu Lemon and a few other stores. I made a YouTube video, which I’ll link below, so you can check it out. It was a fun time, and I always enjoy looking at and checking out cool cars.
250 OF THE MOST MEMORABLE AUTOMOBILES
This video got me thinking, and I decided to do something really cool. Over the years, I’ve owned my share of “coffee table” car books, some of which are now out of print. My son-in-law recently shared an auction catalog from a Porsche enthusiast, which gave me an idea.
The 1969 Corvette L88
The catalog was from a prestigious auction in California in 2015. Among the amazing vehicles for sale was a 1969 Corvette L88 Coupe, which was estimated to sell for $700,000 to $1 million at the time. I’ll try to get a picture of it to add to this post so you can check it out. It was fascinating to see this rare car in the catalog from nine years ago.
In 1969, Chevrolet produced only 116 Corvette L88 Coupes, making the L88 one of the rarest and most sought-after Corvettes from that era. The L88 featured a high-performance 427 cubic inch V8 engine with a nominal horsepower rating of 430, though its actual output was significantly higher. In 2024, these rare models can fetch between $500,000 and $3,000,000 at auction, depending on their condition and history.
Most people are surprised to learn that a 1969 Corvette can sell for such high prices. While the L88 is particularly valuable, a well-maintained 1969 Corvette convertible with matching numbers and some modern upgrades can sell for around $30,000 online or at auction. A standard 1969 Corvette base model with a 300hp 350 V8 engine in good condition typically values between $40,000 and $70,000. More desirable models with higher performance engines, such as the 427ci variants, can command higher prices.
The Cool Car Guy’s YouTube Channel
As I mentioned in my welcome video on The Cool Car Guy YouTube Channel, there are around 31 million enthusiast-type vehicles in the United States. These are vehicles that people own because of their passion for cool cars. That’s a massive number of vehicles.
This got me thinking it would be fun to take some of my “coffee table” car books and find some of these vehicles online for sale. I can create YouTube videos describing these vehicles for my audience and list them on CoolCarGuy.com with a link to where you can purchase them. I’m thinking of capping it at about 250 of the world’s greatest cars. It could take a long time to curate these vehicles, but I’m excited to get started because I think it’s a cool idea and it should be a lot of fun.
I will include a blog post here on The Cool Car Guy’s blog about each vehicle as well. Stay tuned and let’s make some magic happen online! If you have a cool car to sell, consider listing it on CoolCarGuy.com. If you’re a car dealership with a cool car, definitely list it because if someone sees a cool car, they will visit your site. Once they are there, the odds are pretty good they will check out your other inventory, so you could be using one vehicle to promote all your inventory by leveraging one ad on CoolCarGuy.com.
The Cool Car Guy – John Boyd
John is the owner of CoolCarGuy.com, a boutique premium classified ad website for cool cars! He also has The Cool Car Guy’s blog and The Cool Car Guy’s YouTube channel. Reach out to John anytime – jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy