I Bought a Corvette Without Really Trying
Good things rarely fall in your lap—or, at least historically, not into mine. More great deals on project cars and motorcycles have fallen through my fingers than I can count. So imagine my confusion when I put in zero effort and the perfect project still ended up in my driveway.
I’ve spent a solid two years working on a variety of Honda XRs and my Chevrolet Corvair. There were a couple small detours to assist some friends, but the vast majority of my projects as of late have been pretty simple air-cooled engines and their associated systems. Somewhere along the way, I began to think about bringing a waterpumper into the garage. I’ve also been wanting a “modern” car that I could use for activities for which the Corvair is just simply not suited without significant modifications and compromises. I began a passive search for a solution that would not break the bank.
One option that rose to the top of the pile was a fourth-generation (C4, or 1984–96) Corvette. The C4 has been the butt of the joke as far back as I can remember. These Corvettes aren’t particularly sexy, but 1980s cars are a sweet spot of sorts: they boasted enough technology to allow dramatic increases in capability and comfort but were not yet touched by the many complicated systems found on today’s cars. It was a transitionary time. Many components of the C4’s chassis were computer-designed, but the car itself carried no computers. A C4 has all the benefits of modernity without its complications, making it especially appealing if your plan is to modify the car in a way that would make any factory computer panic.
Which is, of course, my plan. Leaving well enough alone has never been my strong suit, and to be honest, I’m tired of not owning a car that is capable of a burnout. Not that I really need that in my life, but I’ve learned from my KTM 950 Adventure that a little excess seems to be the perfect amount. I would have loved a first-generation Dodge Viper, but I missed the bottom of the market on those and have since watched their prices sail away, far out of my reach.
A smart man would buy the best C4, also known as the generation that followed it in ’97, the C5. Even a base C5 would be killer for anything I want and would ask very little in return. Much like Vipers, though, the right C5 has gotten tough to find, and the prices are swinging up. So I stuck with the C4, partly on the encouragement of fellow editors Sajeev Mehta and Andrew Newton, both who have hands-on experience with both early and late fourth-gen Corvettes. On a Monday, during our annual team gathering a few weeks ago, they stood over my shoulder as I scrolled through for-sale listings and outlined my dumb idea to snag a cheap C4 and turn it into the perfect medium-horsepower toy and grand tourer.
That’s when the ad appeared: A sleek black coupe, framed nicely in a front 3/4 shot. The price set the hook: $2000. The car looked as though it was cared for, but it had certainly been used. Dirt sat in splotches on the black paint, where it had collected in small puddles of morning dew after being blown around by the summer breeze. The exhaust hung slightly askew, in partially out-of-focus photos. The catch: The owner had put in a new battery but the car was not powering up at all. It was a near paperweight of a car, and it was just 2.5 hours from my home in Traverse City.
The project was right, the price was right. The timing was decidedly not right. Even in my afternoon-cold-brew-induced excitement, the emergency safety switch in the back of my brain tripped. I had no space in my garage already. Between the arrival of winter in just a few months, and the promise I had made to my lovely wife to clear a space for her to park inside for the season, I was in a literal corner. Sajeev assured me it really was the right car for my wants and needs, but I held fast: I needed to sleep on the idea before I even sent a message. There was no need to be pushy on something I didn’t need. Maybe someone else needed this deal more than I did.
Tuesday, on the four-hour drive back home from our editorial offices in Ann Arbor, I revisited the idea. I’d be an idiot, I decided, to not try to grab it. The car would certainly be sold before I could mosey down to meet the seller, so why think about what would happen if I did get it? As far as the parking situation went, if any of my vehicles would be exiled from the garage during the winter, it would be the one that had the least material to rust. Corvair: steel. Model A: steel. Corvette: fiberglass. The choice was clear.
The next day, freshly rested, I sat on the swing in the backyard with my wife.
“Are we doing anything this weekend?” I lightly prodded.
“We should go kayaking Saturday. The weather is supposed to be really nice.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. What about Sunday?”
We’ve been together long enough that she probably already knew what was coming. She played along anyway.
“Nothing that I know of. Why?”
“I think I’m going to buy a Corvette.”
“Hmmm … Okay.”
There’s a reason I married her.
Still sitting there on the swing, I typed up a quick message to Ron, the seller of the Corvette. Knowing the chaos of messages Ron was likely getting, I kept the message clear and direct: I know what I’m buying, I have a trailer and cash, and I can be there Sunday, late morning or early afternoon. It was the laziest I think I’ve ever been when trying to buy a vehicle that was likely to have plenty of interested buyers. I clicked send on a Wednesday. The car was surely going to sell by Sunday.
Ron’s response was delayed. As expected, he was inundated with messages and interest. He promised to let me know if the Corvette was still available come Sunday. Fair enough. I forgot about the whole thing until Friday night, when Facebook told me that the price on the Corvette had dropped from $2000 to $1800. Suspicious, I sent another message to Ron.
When I read his reply, I could feel his exasperation through the screen. I repeated my offer: He could list it as pending and I would be there Sunday, easy transaction. That sounds nice, he said. Suddenly I was shuffling around town, grabbing a trailer from a friend and stopping by the bank just before closing time to prepare for my Sunday morning road trip.
The trip went so smoothly that I thought the universe was screwing with me. Ron was a kind gentleman who had bought the coupe, an ’85, in 1988 and drove it over 100,000 miles since. The tires are date-coded 1997 so he must have racked up a lot of those miles in the early part of the ownership. The car appeared to have been stored for a number of years and was exhibiting the symptoms of improper storage: a coolant leak, and the aforementioned total lack of power. It was perfect. I winched the Corvette onto the trailer and headed back north, smitten with victory.
C4 has been occupying a space in my head for a few years for the reasons you cite. I look forward to updates on this project.
Kyle, sometimes things work out in mysterious ways. She must have been ment for you or a scrapper would have grabbed her for parts, Please keep us updated on your progress. Note: Corvettes do rust, the frame is steel. If you leave her outside all winter make sure air can circulate underneath the cover and don’t let her sink into the lawn. 😉
Hi HelenC- The folks on the C4 team learned all about “birdcage” rust on the C3 edition and made sure the cage frame was made from galvanized steel to avoid that issue. You will also notice a lot of aluminum suspension components on the C4. No need to worry about rust.
Wow your wife sounds like a real winner. When I get a new purchase my wife always attacks my judgment. When I got the Fleetwood Talisman she drove into the parking garage and came into the condo and the first thing she said was why did you buy another junk car? Then when I got the Eldorado Convertible I parked it in a space I lease from an owner on a lower floor of the garage and I did not have the car three hours and she came home from work and immediately asked why I got that tan antique junk car that is parked in Kathy’s spot on the lower floor of the garage. She sees a mid seventies Cadillac in the garage an automaticly assumed it was mine.🙃🙃 which is always the case but they are not junk cars….
She’s the best. We’d only been together a few months when I bought a 1961 Corvair Greenbrier from a friend with plans to drive it from SoCal to Michigan. Stepped outside to take a phone call one Friday night, came back in saying “so I bought a van in California.” “No, an old one.” She’s seen and supported the most honest version of me from the start.
Pretty much any GM 1981 and on has computers…
Fortunately it is TPI and not a feedback carburetor (the worst of both worlds)
Pretty sure that that car has at least one computer in it – electronic fuel injection?
Your are right, I got a little too excited while writing. A computer is hiding in there but it’s darn simple and likely coming out…
I would stick with the TPI personally and not mess with the secret sauce too much. These cars tend to be a good mix of performance, reliability, and (relatively) decent fuel economy
There’s a ’90 convertible for sale on a used car lot in my town… it may be ok, it may be sketchy, but it’s mileage is under 100k and the asking price is under $10k. Unfortunately, I don’t have space or current funds for it.
Take your time. There are a bazillion C4’s for sale at any given time with lower mileage. 100K is the Twilight Zone. Be very careful.
Well the C4 is not really butt of jokes. It just did not age well. The car performance wise is a stop up from the C3 as it did have a dominate racing history in showroom stock. But some critical GM decisions hurt the car.
The C5 is the best of both worlds now. It is less complicated than the C6-7 but still has the new stiff frame but many of the old things like pop up lights and round tail lamps.
I was lucky to get a good example at a fair price in a C5 convertible.
I normally would say a Corvette can be a very rewarding car yo own but buy the wrong one it will be a nightmare.
Normally a cheap C 4 would be a nightmare. But here it looks not bad and at $1800 you have nothing to loee. You could part it out for much more than $1800 if things go south.
Good luck you may get challenged but I think you will be fine.
I have had my own path eith my car snd look forward to yours.
Nice score. I have a 1990 and the thing is a complete weapon of a car. Parts are not an issue…insurance is cheap…and everyone thinks it’s a slug. We’ll it ain’t. Thing flies and handles like a gocart. Fix it up and enjoy it.
That’s how they find you, by accident. I was Lemons racing an S-Class Benz and finally had too many issues keeping it on the track. During a race, I announced, “I think it’s time to find a Corvette” and the week after, I was musing to a fellow Lemons nut about how hard it is to cage a C4. He said, “oh, I can help with that” and since I’d seen his work on a few cars (top notch) I thought, cool, that will make this easier to justify.
Two days later he sends me a link to a roller, caged C4 located over 1000 miles away from my house.
Two weeks later, it was on my driveway. Now, my bright idea was to put in a breathed on LS, so it took a couple of years to make it run, but here we are. You’d be amazed how hard it is to put a Chevy V8 in a Chevy.
Keep it TPI, but aside from that, solid choice. They’re a storied badge, have SBC tunability, they’re all targa tops, and have clamshell hoods. Jeez, what more do you WANT for a few grand?
My late Dad owned but one GM product in his life, a ‘65 Corvair. I’ve had the C4 and 50 other cars not made by GM, so I think there’s a certain something about these that appeals to the offbeat car nut. Looking forward to the next installment!
What were your main hitch points on the LS-swap? Other reading says it’s not too bad, but those builds usually aren’t on Lemons budgets.
I have an 84 I’ve had for 8 yrs paid 5000 drove it home replaced some things rack,full pump,rear weel bearing.i wouldn’t trade it for two mustangs! It’s made top 20 at some local shows.
I’ve never really jumped on the Corvette bandwagon and kind of stopped being interested in them after the C2. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect them for being the icons that they are. And I certainly don’t HATE them. Yeah, some are more iconic than others, but the nameplate alone commands attention from anyone in the car enthusiast world (well, except for maybe a few FoMoCo diehards 😉). So, even though I won’t say I’m envious, I am looking forward to your progress reports and I sincerely wish you all the very best fun and success in this newest journey!
I owned an ‘89 Corvette for 25 years, enjoyed driving it and used it as a “regular car” for much of that time. Did some things break as the car aged? Sure, but nothing that was beyond my (moderate) ability to fix, Corvette forums are full of info on common issues and parts prices remind you it’s a Chevy. It was fun to drive on the back roads of New England and it would cruise all day on an interstate without complaint. The heater kept the car warm and the A/C handled 100 degree heat with no drama. If you want to go really fast, a whole industry exists that will help you go as fast as you wish. All in all, it was an easy car to own, and if you can find one in decent shape for a good price, worth considering.
Certainly difficult to pass up at that price! Once upon a time, a simple C4 that just needed some TLC was one of my considerations, too.
If I’m not mistaken, the C4 was the last ‘Vette with the same size wheel/tire size on all 4 corners, which has its advantages.
Fortunately, you’ve avoided the ’92-’94 C4 with the 1st gen. “Optispark” distributor (improved in ’95), which would fail due to oil and/or coolant seepage (refer to the carwizard video of the ’93 C4).
Trivia: in 1990, the C4 offered the ZR-1, with the exotic, Lotus-developed, aluminum block DOHC LT-5 (0-60, 5 sec.), and, in 1996, the rare GS.
@Mikey- GM started playing with tire sizes in 1984 with the Z-51 suspension option and continued playing until 1996.
It’s nice to hear from people who have actually owned the car. So many trolls disparage the C4 with no first hand knowledge. My first Corvette was a 1995 black coupe which I purchased with 10K miles on it. Bought tires, did a brake job, replaced a window motor and regulator, fixed the disintegrated headlight pucks, and various other minor fixes. The guy I sold it to still keeps in touch and has offered to let me buy it back – at a profit to him.
I loved that car.
I now drive a 2007 LeMans blue convertible, which I also love. But if the circumstances of my life ever warranted another toy car, a C4 is at the top of the list. Keep us posted.
I’ll admit I’ve made some jokes about C4s but finally came around and decided I should experience it for myself to see if it’s as bad as “they” say. It was too cheap to not buy it just to form my own opinion.
You sit so low to the ground in a C4 that you’re looking up at most door handles on the road. Getting in and out requires acrobatics like a proper 80s exotic. The hood opens up clamshell style like an E-type or F40. You can go for months without seeing another one on the road.
I know the C4 has haters, but I’m usually too busy rowing through the 6-spd and listening to the roar of the V8 to give an eff.
That’s the spirit! This ‘vette is just as low as the Austin Healey Sprite I had a few years ago and requires the same strength for entry and exit. A lot better seats and road manners though.
My FIL has an 85 he bought new. 19k miles. He has spent more shipping it to his various houses over the years than what it’s worth.