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Excessive Aero: Chevy Celebrity Eurosport VR

In the world of performance sedans, the Chevy Celebrity is not often cited as an example of high-horsepower peope movers. And that’s OK – the Celebrity wasn’t intended to be a hot rod, and most of them served dutifully in their role as cheap, honest transportation. But then along came the Eurosport VR, like this example here on craigslist, which seemed to turn perception on its head. 

Thanks to Barn Finds reader Clark B. for this interesting find. The Eurosport VR was produced in limited numbers, and its big claim to fame was a factory-installed body kit and eye-catching color-matched wheels. Some cars featured wheels completely painted over to match the body, while others – like this one – featured body-matched inlays. Those dual exhaust may appear intimidating, but stock power outputs weren’t affected.

I have only once seen one of these Eurosport VRs on the road, and it was a rarer-still wagon version. With just over 23,000 original miles, the picture of this Eurosport being uncovered while in its long-term storage arrangement points to a car that doesn’t get used very much. It’s likely the lowest-mileage VR on the road, and this special edition is believed to be the lowest production example of any speciality car Chevrolet built.

What a face! This is definitely not the same Celebrity like my grandmother used to pick me up in, even if they produced similar horsepower output numbers. With a front end that likely has lots of unfortunate encounters with parking barriers, it’s nice to see this valence in uncracked condition. I’m not sure what you do with a car like this besides show it at club events, but this much is likely true: you’ll be the only one there in a Eurosport VR.

Comments

  1. Adam Wright

    The problem with a “limited edition” like this one is the car is was built upon was very boring. If it wasn’t this edition the car would be worth about $1000, so it’s hard to go over 10 times that for this edition. Unlike cars that were cool that had both normal and suped up editions like the Impala or Camaro, the Celebrity was just a lame car that no one would seek out these days. Sorry, $15,000 is just nuts, the thing is an oddity but for $15,000 you can buy a lot of cool.

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  2. sir mike

    It still amazes me that GM never went under in the 80″s selling these crap cars.

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  3. Woodie Man

    Poor seller is really in a pickle. While his car is nicely dressed up, its still a four door post malaise Chevy……with the ironically named “Eurosport” nameplate…..might sell to a GM assembly line veteran……though

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  4. Jeffro

    VR = very red or VR=value reduced. Take your pick

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  5. Rich

    I agree with Adam. Very col car, but not 15k cool. Maybe 8k tops???

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  6. Chad O.

    It seems this very car was listed in 2015, for $12,000…. And yet, still no takers. I wonder why…..

    Same pictures and as the story states, an all CAPS ad…..

    Hmmm….

    https://www.google.com/amp/jalopnik.com/for-12-000-this-1988-chevy-celebrity-eurosport-vr-cou-1745450865/amp

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    • jcs

      It appears that this seller believes in the old adage “If it doesn’t sell at $12,000 boost the price to $14,900”. Unfortunately for that adage, it seldom works.

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  7. M/K

    My parents had a eurosport, but it was a Lumina. 4 cams, 24 valves, 5 speed, FAST! this piles just a gussied up and polished turd, end of the model run so they threw gobbs of plastic an color to sell to the public at cheap prices. This is how auto manufacturers get rid of leftover stock that’s not selling.

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  8. The Walrus

    Apparently this car hasn’t been used much in the last year… it was posted on Jalopnik with many of the same pictures on 12/2/15… http://jalopnik.com/for-12-000-this-1988-chevy-celebrity-eurosport-vr-cou-1745450865

    While they did apply some screaming red lipstick to this pig, I’m dubious it went down a ‘special paint line because it was very expensive to paint’ as the seller states. While true red pigment is more expensive than most others, at an industrial scale the cost is irrelevant, and the difference in cost is negligible. It would be a highly unusual and impractical thing for a company to create a ‘special paint line’ for just a few cars. If anything they may have cleared the paint line and painted a batch of red ones at the same time, but I can’t imagine them creating a specific line for that, considering most of the parts tacked on to this thing would have been painted prior to assembly. Somebody drank some salesman’s KoolAid on the cost of the red paint…

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    • Keith

      Actually, they did have a special paint line and QA for the Eurosprt VR sedans and wagons.

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  9. Ed P

    I had an ’84 Celebrity w/v6. While not a muscle car, acceleration was ok for the time. The formal roof line was fitting for 4 doors. The 2 door Celebrities were just odd looking.

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  10. jaymes

    and i got picked on for my honda,lol

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  11. 68 custom

    This car left the assembly confused, did it think it was a sporting car, or a red econobox? it was confused. those of us who are car lovers know this was just a bright red box that may have been economical and reliable transportation or may have been a piece of junk. I love the little tachometer that was slapped on the dash as a afterthought, looks like you would have to contort your body to even read it while you were strolling along at a leisurely pace. 12k is laughable hell 8k is laughable. whats it worth? whatever someone is willing to pay.

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    • Ed P

      The tach is where the shift indicator would be for column shift.

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      • Steve

        I have 1988 celebrity Eurosport vr 2 door with 40,000 driven I summer about 1,500 bought 8 yrs ago with 26,000 miles

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    • Bob

      I owed a 1988 Red VR coupe with a 5 speed manual, talk about rare. I understand only two were made.

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  12. nessy

    You know, I said to myself, hmm, I remember this model, it’s pretty rare to find today. Then I saw the seller’s insane price.. 15 thousand bucks?? Keep it forever pal.

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  13. gene

    These were very well build cars.
    Reliable and cheap to fix.
    somewhat “sporty”
    Yes , most definitely not for everyone but these days it is an interesting car.
    No it is not worth a lot of money, unless you were young when these were made
    and you wanted one. Here is your chance to buy it. I know many people who
    spend more money on worse things, including my self. :)

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  14. Greg

    I’d like to find a pontiac 6000 AWD.

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    • Mike H. Mike H

      I always thought that the badging on the trunk lid said either “GOOOSTE” or “GOOOLE”. Imagine the fun of finding repair parts for that AWD system. . .

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  15. gbvette62

    I had 2 Celebrity’s (an 85 and an 87), both wagons, and both free since they were company cars. As company cars neither were Eurosports though. They really weren’t bad cars, compared to other cars from the era. They handled well, and with the optional FI V6, they had decent acceleration. They were much better cars that the Chrysler K-Cars and Ford Fairmonts of the era.

    The company allowed us to pay for any options over the normal ones the company provided (PS, PB, air, cruise, AM/FM, etc), so I had gauges, buckets, aluminum wheels, and upgraded suspension.

    I was crewing for a Trans-Am racer at the time and we used those wagons for everything on race weekends. We chased parts with them, took the team to dinner, hauled tires and fuel in them, and even towed the pit cart to the pits with them.

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    • PRA4SNW

      LOL – that reminded me that I had a Celebrity wagon as a company car. Back then, I worked for a magazine company and I dubbed it the “Rackmobile” because it was always filled with those metal grocery store magazine racks.

      Quit that job almost immediately, and best I can say about it was the use of a free car, racks and all.

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  16. Joe Nose

    At least you can be assured of exclusivity at any event…

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  17. RichS

    There is currently a well-used white one running around Sacramento. I think the 1986 Buick Century Gran Sport may actually be the rarest FWD A-body however – If I remember correctly 1000 of these were built. I tried to buy one off of ebay in the early 2000s but it was on the other side of the country and shpping killed the deal

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/ride-1986-buick-century-grand-sport-140035253.html

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  18. Mitch Member

    Good on this owner for holing out for a reasonable price. I’ts a very low production car, a decent car in the time it was produced, unbelievably well preserved with super low mileage. This car should be in a collection of GM special editions. Those who say a car is only worth what someone will pay for it are getting only half the equasion. It is worth what one person will pay and the other person will accept.

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  19. Car Nut Seattle

    The Celebrity is rather rare today, I haven’t seen very many of these. The Eurosport is even more rare. I’ve seen pics of the Celebrity Eurosport, but I’ve never seen one in person.

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  20. JoeBazots

    I doubt that the seller will get anywhere near his/her asking at this point in time. Having said that, it is kind of cool to see one of these in such a great state of preservation. You don’t see these around much because most of them ended up in the crusher. Good luck to the seller – and, if you don’t get an acceptable offer now, cover it and try again in another 5 years.

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  21. Keith

    The wagon is the model to get if you’re going for one of these. I think the seller has this priced high but….it is super rare, most were not saved, it’s got very low miles, and all the “add on” pieces are there and not broken (and impossible to replace). Not everyone’s cup of tea to be sure, but at least it won’t be “another Corvette” at the local car shows.

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  22. Fiete T.

    Ranks up there with the guy selling the ’80 Aspen/Volare police car for $25K. Well, except the cop car has some torque. Is more cool-

    Both are way too overpriced

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  23. mars2878

    here is some info on the VR model. it makes mention of the special paint line for the code 81 red paint.

    http://autosofinterest.com/2012/05/17/1987-88-chevrolet-celebrity-eurosport-vr/3/

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  24. Adam T45 Staff

    When you look at a car and realise that the speedo is only marked up to 85 mph, you can be fairly sure that you’re not dealing with a high performance vehicle!

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    • PRA4SNW

      Adam, not necessarily. In the States for a period in the 80’s, every car had to have a speedo that only went to 85. 55 (the national speed limit at the time) was usually clearly marked in a different color. This all was intended to make you drive slower.
      I had an ’81 Camaro and it was easy enough to get inside the speedo and remove the pin that stopped the needle at 85. So you could literally bury the needle.

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      • Adam T45 Staff

        PRA4SNW, thanks so much for that. Our governments come up with some “interesting” ideas don’t they. Our State Government currently has a campaign with a stated aim of achieving zero road deaths. I haven’t exactly worked out how they expect to achieve it, but they want to. I can see a lot of walking in my future! I think that 55 is a totally unrealistic speed limit, but I’m not going there. It’s a relief that car manufacturers allow the owners to have a bit of discretion by allowing people to do what you did!

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  25. Steve

    I have a red two door vr that I got with 26,000 miles 5 years ago now has 35,000
    All original all the paper work,and yes $15,000 sounds a little steep but I was offered $8500 3 years ago, it’s just a cool car to take to car shows since you have the only one!

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  26. Bob Hays

    My local dealer had some of the first 1987 VR’s 4 doors they couldn’t sell, and ended up giving to a High School for drivers training vehicles. I had to fight the same dealer in 1988 when I ordered my Red 2dr VR with manual transmission, saying if I didn’t take it, they would be stuck with another one they couldn’t sell.
    Bob H.

    Like 0

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