I am looking at buying my first car and I would like a vette. I am looking at a 79 corvette. How much should I expect maintinance to be on this. I would be driving it to and from school. Is there anything special I should be on the look out for when looking at cars.
Is this a reasonable car to be driving daily.

Thanks for your help,
James  

Basically, it can be a reasonable daily driver, however, it may cost you a bit more to do.  Luckily however, there's nothing really collector-ish about the 79's, so there would be no real reason to keep one stock.  Maintenance may end up being quite high, so it all depends on the condition of the car you get.  If it seems like a steal, there's probably some issues with it that may become or already are major.  Best bet is to always look for one that's been well taken care of, or one that's already been mostly restored, as they will be in the best condition.

As far as a daily driver goes, you're going to want a car that's reasonable to handle on the road, so going all out with a high horsepower blown big block would be a bit much, but this is a Corvette we're talking about, so you wouldn't want it to be a slouch either.  So in short, your engine is going to be high on the priority list.  Bone stock '79 numbers are disappointing, and not very efficient either between the restrictive heads & carb.  What you'll want to do ideally is find a 79 that's already had the engine either rebuilt better than stock, or replaced outright with a newer engine build.  If you want to do this yourself, you'll be looking at $3000-4000 for a good rebuild or good crate motor, between 300-450hp.  

Step 2 will be your transmission.  Most likely any of the 79's you'll find will be automatics.  While there may be nothing wrong with a stock TH-350 auto, the direct drive ratio adds to the inefficiency, and anything around 350hp+ and you might start running into failures.  If it ends up being an auto and you want it to be a daily driver, you'll probably want to invest in a good rebuilt TH-700R4.  There are plenty of places out there to buy one rebuilt with all new parts rated at 350-450hp for about $1000, but you'll also need a new crossmember, torque converter, etc.  If you're able to find a 79 with a manual, it also will suffer from direct drive, and although there are 4 speed manuals out there that 4th is an O/D gear, you would most likely want to go with either a 5 or 6 speed manual, and they are not cheap.  Also keep in mind you can go from an automatic to a manual and vice-versa, but the costs of doing so are a bit pricey.  Basically, if you stick with a stock transmission, your average MPG ratings will be between 12-18.  Switch to an O/D transmission, those numbers will likely go up to around 17-23.  If you're able to do almost entirely highway driving, you may be able to eke an O/D up around 26-27mpg.  Your rear axle ratio will also factor into this as well, but as they average about $1000 to replace, you'll probably be sticking with whatever it comes with, which should be between either a 3.08:1 or a 3.55:1.

Then there's the exhaust system.  Most likely stock will come with a 2" exhaust, which may be good for up to 300hp, but most likely you'll be upgrading this as well, going with new headers, and most likely a 2.5" exhaust (which should be good up to 450hp), new mufflers, etc.  Main thing to remember here is, you remove the catalytic, you can get in big trouble, so no sidepipes.  But the stock system routing through a single cat and back out to dual pipes really sucks, so you may want to invest in a pair of high-flo cats and make it a true dual exhaust car (and stay legal!).  As it's an undercar exhaust, go with the aluminized steel pipes.  Stainless Steel might seem better, but it expands in the high heat and causes fitting issues, plus the high heat will discolor the metal as well.  Your mufflers will basically be your own preference, and you can put chrome tips on  for looks, as that should be all anyone would regularly see.

As far as your ride quality goes, you'll most likely want to get rid of the metal rear leaf spring and upgrade to a fiberglass spring & gas shocks.  And since you mentioned you'll be driving to/from school, there's nothing wrong with the stock 15x8" rims, especially if the one you buy has the aluminum rims already.  But the largest tire you'll be able to fit would be a P255 60R15 I believe, anything wider than a P255 and you may end up clipping your fenders in turns and end up with some expensive bodywork.  There are plenty of aftermarket rims, but you want to make sure you get one that will fit without having to extend your fender flares or tub the inner fenders, or reworking the suspension entirely.  18"-20" chrome rims may look nice, but at those sizes you may cause severe harm to the car without proper modifications.

In short though, it all depends on how much money you have to work with.  You can buy a good condition 79 for around $10k, and put another $10k in it between motor, transmission, suspension, exhaust, and anything else and basically have all new parts and make it a therefore mostly new car, for less than you could buy an actual new car, but you'll be paying for it out of pocket, not many banks will give you a loan for such an old vehicle, regardless of what it is.  And it is a Corvette, you will be constantly putting money into it, not because it necessarily needs anything, but because you're going to want to keep making it better.  Personalizing a Corvette can be what makes one exceptional and stand out from the rest.