1977 Accord Hatchback - Value?

[ChrisB19]

Hey guys, this evening I am going to look at a 1977 Accord. I have never owned or been into these cars. I'm a gearhead, so I geek out on unique stuff...And you certainly don't see many of these things. I'm not going to tell you the price of the car, I want to see what you guys believe it is worth.

Has 120k original miles. 5 Speed. Interior is in VERY good shape. Needs front brakes (easy). He says that third gear grinds sometimes, but not always.

Take a look, curious to see what it's worth..Can't find a whole lot of info on these cars.

[POS carb]

That interior is awesome... The fact that it isn't 70s doodoo brown is even better. Not sure on a value, but really like it. Now all it needs is a b16 screamer

[POS carb]

One more thing... If it says 120k miles, but that odometer only reads up to 99,999.9, then you don't know if that car has 120k or 820k miles. Drives me nuts when people sell old cars, they're all only 100k plus whatever is on the odometer

[79cord]

That does look special. Generally drivers seats came apart at the middle seams pretty quickly, & in salted areas the frt guards were sometimes showing rust within 2 years!
Didn't take Honda long to add plastic frt guard liners (& raise/flare the frt guards for good measure for '79), & even dealers would fit '79- guards for good will sometimes.
Early ones also have nicer gear ratio spacing & seemingly lighter flywheel than '79- for a more sporting character, though the rear suspension is a bit more 'exciting' with shorter transverse arms developing roll-oversteer in long corners.
Value can be anywhere when they are now so rare, & so condition varied.

[79cord]

[tof]

I bought a 79 LX 5-speed hatch not long ago. Upholstery was nasty. Carpet was faded. But otherwise the interior was in surprisingly good shape. No cracks in dash. Everything worked except the clock. Exterior body was straight but the paint and clearcoat were shot from its days in the deserts of CA and UT. But that desert life meant it was almost completely rust free except for a couple of spots where it had been dinged (seatbelt buckle caught in door sill, failed attempt to remove a trim bolt from the hood leading edge chrome strip, etc.) and that upper skirt behind the front bumper which was pretty bad. I paid 2750 for it and was pretty happy to get it at that price. Engine bay was grubby but the car runs and shifts great. Oh...and 37,000 miles. (The odo has six digits so no way it has "rolled over". Oh, and all service records since new, and the original window sticker. Oh, and a recent new timing belt.

Put another 5K into it recently with a re-spray in the original silver (to arrest the rust) and reupholstering of the seats in the original pattern with cloth/vinyl very close to original in color and texture. Probably way upside down in it, for the time being anyway. But they are getting harder to find every year.

[Oldblueaccord]

I bought a 79 LX 5-speed hatch not long ago. Upholstery was nasty. Carpet was faded. But otherwise the interior was in surprisingly good shape. No cracks in dash. Everything worked except the clock. Exterior body was straight but the paint and clearcoat were shot from its days in the deserts of CA and UT. But that desert life meant it was almost completely rust free except for a couple of spots where it had been dinged (seatbelt buckle caught in door sill, failed attempt to remove a trim bolt from the hood leading edge chrome strip, etc.) and that upper skirt behind the front bumper which was pretty bad. I paid 2750 for it and was pretty happy to get it at that price. Engine bay was grubby but the car runs and shifts great. Oh...and 37,000 miles. (The odo has six digits so no way it has "rolled over". Oh, and all service records since new, and the original window sticker. Oh, and a recent new timing belt.

Put another 5K into it recently with a re-spray in the original silver (to arrest the rust) and reupholstering of the seats in the original pattern with cloth/vinyl very close to original in color and texture. Probably way upside down in it, for the time being anyway. But they are getting harder to find every year.

With low mileage like that and a 5 speed car I wouldn't have a problem paying 5 grand for it if I was looking. Southern cars are a big plus.

[tof]

Correction for anyone digging this thread up. My 79 has 57K miles, not 37K as previously stated.

[2ndGenGuy]

Your post says the ODO has 6 digits? The odo will be 5 digits with a tenths digit like [12345.6], so you still can't see the reading over [99999.9].

[tof]

Of course you are correct, GenGuy. But I meant 6 digits PLUS the 10ths digit. Obviously not the case...I just checked to be sure...as cars of this vintage were not expected to roll over 100,000 miles in most cases. I must have been thinking of the odometer in my OTHER Accord, a much newer 2000 EX V6, which just rolled over 100K.

All that said, the extensive documentation and service record history of this accord fully supports the 57K mileage on the odo.