CORVETTE INVESTMENT RATINGS  5 star The best investments. Already expensive, but continued high appreciation can be expected. The finest examples are most often sold or traded between Corvette enthusiasts without advertising. 4 star Excellent investments. More affordable than five-star-rated Corvettes but still expensive with high appreciation anticipated. These are often sold or traded among enthusiasts, but can be located at Corvette shows and meets, and are often advertised in Corvette-only publications. 3 star Very good investments. These are less expensive than four-star-rated Corvettes and will appreciate at lower rates, but are still solid values. Because of their lower cost and correspondingly higher market , cars in this category are particularly attractive to first time buyers. 2 star Good investments. These are Corvettes which are too new to be in the appreciation cycle, or older models which haven't developed any appreciation history. There are possible "sleepers" in this category, which could develop into tomorrow's three- or four-star models 1 star Marginal investments. Corvettes don't belong in this category unless they've been seriously damaged, substantially modified, or have had major components (e.g. engine) changed.  The above is re-quoted here by kind permission from 'Corvette Illustrated Buyers Guide' by Michael Antonick - ISBN 0-7603-0250-2 Note from the author of this website: Generally speaking, Corvettes with any external Chrome are usually more expensive compared with other later mid-year cars ( e.g. 1974 onwards) which although very similar in design, didn't have any external chrome except for door handles and logo. However, all early Corvettes are excellent investments and in my experience, any Corvette which is looked after and it's mileage kept minimal, should recoup more than what was originally paid out. There are obvious exceptions particularly in the two star category where cars are "too new" to appreciate in value. The paragraph about "sleepers" should  also be considered because what is currently very cheap could also represent serious investments for the future, an example might be 1974 big block cars or any Stingray manufactured during 1974 or after that didn't have chrome bumpers as standard.  John Stephens