31st Dec 2010, 13:04

Corvettes are NOT a normal car and the only thing you will ever hear universal from Corvette owners is that they are ALL special. From there…. everyone has an opinion and mine are below.

The C4 Corvette is a CLEAR and COMPELLING value. Devaluation has made these cars VERY desirable to the performance minded car buyer…. and most of them don't even know it yet! What do I mean?…. if a knowledgeable performance minded car buyer wants an inexpensive basis in which to BUY into performance, the C4 Corvette makes the most sense!

Why? The alternatives are still more pricey and for what? A C5 Corvette only has an LS power plant and rear mounted transmission to differentiate it from the C4. Actually, while the LS engine is obviously superior to the previous generation small blocks, the C5 is a less performance oriented design because of the market it was aimed at…. fat, old guys that can't fit into a tighter drivers cockpit!

The suspension, tuning and braking are either equivalent or lesser to the C4…. just look at the numbers, (handling, skid pad and braking numbers) and this from a car this is supposed to be inferior! In any case, given a rock bottom purchase price, super availability for inexpensive performance parts and an enormous aftermarket that has excellent parts for practically ALL C4s….. it makes it a NO BRAINER…. unless…. you lack vision/imagination, mechanical aptitude or CASH! And if the last factor is you….. stay in the market you belong…. the spectators.

The 1987 Corvette is probably the least offensive version of the C4s. It has the roller cam shaft, aluminum head engine and the TPI that caused pretty much the least amount of issues. Computer problems are not the norm, and I would wager the cause for this post's problems stem from something other than a faulty design. The systems on this car are very primitive and are therefore easy to work on. Most if not everything is now documented and can be easily found on several different Corvette forums… just use Google! The only parts availability problem I have (my wife owns the 87 Corvette in my family) are factory sized tires… 255/55 ZR16s…. for the original wheels. Look em up…. .only two or three manufactures have a fitment for them, and they aren't a reasonable design for this car. We will either need to purchase these tires and put up with them, or will need to move up to a larger wheel size of which will put us into a broader market…. say 17".

Folks… the C4 design is quintessential Corvette and is still very impressive to look at. Think of it this way…. in 1984, when the first production C4 hit the streets…. NOTHING was even close! This car was a landmark in terms of performance and design. The closest car in terms of performance was exponentially higher in cost and was actually a limited production car that sincerely didn't out perform the C4 by significant margins. It literally ROCKED the world super car market and set the trajectory to where we are today. Today's example; Chevrolet offers the current C6 ZR-1 to do what the base C4 did back in 1984 and at what price?

So…. want an automobile that offers style and performance at a sub Asian car price? Pick up a slightly used C4 Corvette for sub $10K that usually requires nothing and drive away happy. Want a foundation for a HIGH PERFORMANCE package that places you VERY close to a performance envelope that usually costs you 10 times as much to buy or build into? Start with a C4 Corvette.

If you have any questions about what I've written or want to follow up…. shoot me an email: bmwbillr@hotmail.com. My name is Bill.

1st Jan 2011, 22:38

I have owned many Corvettes, and I maintain wait for a C5. It was totally redesigned from the ground up Tremendous engineering. The LT1 does not hold a candle to the LS1.

I buy convertibles. My recommendation if older is a C3 manual chrome bumper car. The 84s and later pre 97 are harder to sell as well. If you do go into the earliest C5, make sure you have the LS1, not the LT1, as both were in the early ones.

The only exception is a ZR1 with low mileage and good paint. But you are in C5 price levels.

Buying Corvettes, be careful, make sure you have a good frame. Buying a cheap Vette is not cheap to own. Parts and labor mount quickly.

I made a mistake on one great mechanically, but needing a repaint. To repaint a Vette, it's best to strip and that's 6k plus for decent paint. Years ago it was not as strong of an issue. I maintain buy the best you can afford; it's far cheaper than restoring. Watch cars that sit, and you need new brake systems. Low mileage cars can be troublesome if they sat vs ones that were driven every month.

I know a C3 beautiful car, but is getting a reframe at the moment. Corvettes, if you go cheap you pay it out. I had a C3 Vert that I laid 11k just to finish, not the low price of the car. Be careful and check them out thoroughly. If you do an ebay car, it's good to have someone you know go that lives near the seller. I had a friend that bought his C2 and paid 600 to ship. If he did not like it, 600 to ship back. But that's still a bit to buy without being there to see.

Good Luck.

17th Feb 2011, 04:05

I bought an 87 convertible 2 yrs ago - I love it and I hate it. It's great to look at, fun to drive but it has electrical issues. But I hope to find enough info on the Internet to fix it - because it's a CORVETTE, an American icon.

Jack.

14th Jun 2011, 14:09

My boyfriend and I are the owners of a 84 C4, and we love it. It has its minor problems here and there, but it's not really that expensive at the parts store. Sometimes we've actually found it cheaper to fix something on the Vette, than one of our newer cars.

It has 76,000 original miles on it, needs a paint job, but oh well, it's still a Vette! We have people in Camaro's, Firebirds among other sports cars that always come up next to us, thinking they can smoke us, and we just take right off on them. Hahaha, I love it. They think the car is junk because it's in primer right now (boyfriend doing the paint job himself). I just love sailing right by them.

Corvettes are wonderful cars, I don't know what that one guy's problem with them was (must be a import lover LOL), but they are great. We also get good gas mileage on ours too.