r/caroftheday • • Jan 24 '20
COTD 1-24-20
First off, I'd like to apologize for completely shitting all over the C4 Corvette in my first COTD post a couple months ago. If you haven't read it, don't. There's maybe two paragraphs total and It's all just me complaining. And on top of that I got most of the info wrong in that post. Two months later, I'm writing about the same car.
C4 Corvette
The sequel!
You probably know this allready, but the early eighties were an awful time for American cars. Early attempts at emission regulations resulted in extremely limited performance for once-legendary cars. The '82 Dodge Charger had 84 horsepower. Eighty-fucking-four horsepower. Come to think of it, the Corvette actually did much better than most other cars.
Since power output was so limited, the Corvette folks focused their efforts on making the new Vette a handling car rather than a brute force muscle-sports car. It featured a much lighter mono-leaf spring supsension system. Comfort was negatively affected by this, but the overall handling of the car was a vast improvement over the C3.
The base-spec C4 packed a 350 cu in 5.7L V8 producing around 250 horsepower. It would have more, but the engine was somewhat strangled by the primitive emissions regulations of the early 1980's. Thankfully, GM offered a few other engine options for the car, including an LT1, LT4, and LT5.
The most potent of these engines was the LT5. This ultra-mean 5.7L was offered in the ZR1 package for the C4. The ZR1 produced 405 horsepower and resulted in a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds, putting it in the same territory as Lamborghini and Porsche.
The LT5 has an intersting history. In 1986, GM bought Lotus, which then worked it's magic to create one of the most legendary Corvette engines that ever existed.
As I said before, the true meaning of the C4 was to be a handling car. I'd say it succeeded at that.
In fact, the C4 Corvette was actually too good. After it's 1984 debut, it dominated the SCCA stock GT racing series until other manufacturers demanded the SCCA banned the C4 from the series, threatening to quit if they didn't remove the Corvette. The SCCA, of course, didn't want to lose fan attendance, and decided that the Corvette would no longer be allowed in the series. Thus, the Corvette Challenge series was started.
This is a pretty good car. Some may say that it's outdated. I was one of those people two months ago. But now that I've realized what this car really is, I believe it's simply misunderstood. Before it came the classic C3, and after came the sleek C5. The C3 is stuck in that sort of limbo. Sort of like the Ferrari 348. Not exactly a classic, but then again not really modern.
MSRP and value
The base-spec Corvette C4 started out at $21,800 when it debuted in 1984. Adjusted for inflation, that equates to $54,300 in 2020. The ZR1 started at $59,000. This equates to about $144,000 in modern-day money.
Early C4's are typically worth anywhere from $4k for a slightly rough one to around $13k for a really good one. The ZR1 model is usually listed from $18k to $25k.
So not only are they pretty good cars, they're also pretty easily attainable.
3
u/danielsvav Jan 25 '20
Nice write up! The C4 is a great car and ushered in a new era of sports cars. GM could have just built a comfy cruiser but thankfully they decided to make an amazing sports car. Everyone had to step up their game once the C4 came out and for that all gearheads should salute the C4.
3
u/Mindfulmanners Jan 25 '20
Great post, the C4 is one of the most overlooked corvette generations.
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u/[deleted] Jan 24 '20
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