The C4 Corvettes generally aren’t the most desirable under normal marketplace circumstances, but if you’re looking for something truly unusual and unique from this era, it may be hard to beat this one for guaranteeing a crowd to gather at Cars And Coffee every time you raise the hood. It seems what we have here is the first-ever attempt at an electric Corvette, and with the upcoming E-Ray being rolled out later this year maybe the seller thinks his timing is right to bring this early effort out of hiding and get it back on the road. Such an oddity does not come cheap, as the asking price for this 1987 Corvette is set at $100,000, but it is a 1 of 1 and the future owner can rest easy knowing that nobody else will have anything even similar. The car is located in Gurnee, Illinois if you want to go take a look and can be spotted here on eBay.
Mitchell G., thanks for the great tip here! One of my first surprises was to learn that Motorola had ever taken an interest in electric cars, but it seems adequately documented from this diagram dated 1993 that will be included along with the 12 pounds of other pages and schematics the buyer will end up with regarding the build. The story goes that a Motorola team was put together at their Northbrook, Illinois facility to engineer this car, but I’m not sure it garnered a whole lot of attention, at least not long-term as the Corvette is said to have been in storage for the past 30 years. It’s also non-functional at this time, as the batteries are drained, and who knows if just replacing all those units will get the car going again.
From a cosmetic standpoint, the car looks beautiful on the outside, and with the hood closed you’d never know there was anything unusual about it. The red paint is said to be in wonderful shape overall with the exception of some clear-coat fading on just the hood. The white canvas on the convertible top seems OK as well, so there’s probably not going to be too much attention needed on the exterior. Oh yeah, and if you do get the car driveable, don’t forget to raise the former fuel-cap cover when you’re at car shows!
Not a whole lot of clues are present on the inside either to let an unsuspecting passenger in on the secret power supply, not when the car is off anyway, but I’d probably ask the driver first thing what that red switch on the console was for. I understand this Corvette is a 1 of 1 and significant in being the first electric attempt, but for a hundred grand, I can think of several other ‘Vettes I’d prefer spending that kind of cash on that are ready to be driven. But that’s only my opinion, and if you’ve just got to have it the price is negotiable, as the seller states he’s seeking a fair and reasonable offer. How much would you be willing to pay for this one?
Why?
You have a one off car, no idea of the range when it did run, no idea what it will cost to get it running (if at all possible) and they want $100K for it. I’d like to know what they’ve been drinking or smoking.
The no one asked for ever.
….and still don’t.
Great idea………FOR SOMETHING ELSE!!!!! Isn’t the Corvette supposed to be America’s original sports car!? What a disgrace, even for the most undesirable model Corvette made. I know electricity makes for great torque and speed but where’s the sound? I’m sure someone will like it but I seriously doubt at that price.
Test mule for the C9 generation Corvette?
Gurnee? That’s where Cousin Eddie ran out of gas money for the RV!
Back to the car. For the right price…alot lower than the ask, someone could do a refresh/update of the motor and batteries…watch Jay Leno’s Baker Electric episodes.
Its a manual ! 🤝
Save the manuals 🙌
Wild car, personally i love seeing weird efforts like this. 👍
Yeah I noticed that too. Kind of odd, since electric cars don’t have torque curves. I wonder if you just set it into a gear and go. I suppose that drivetrain would be easier to convert to electric than an automatic.
I think there was a write up in Car and Driver forgot what year. The problem with any electric vehicles are.. batteries which needs replacement. And computers and other electronics devices are very old. Even if you replace the batteries there is no guarantee it’s going to work. This should be in a GM museum. I doubt it will be sold unless some Geek with money wants a toy. 🐻🇺🇸
Swap a Coyote in it and see how people react
100 Grand for that!Best laugh i’ve had all day!
Not to plug someone else’s site, but TheDrive.com has done an excellent series of articles on this very car. I don’t know if it’s worth $100K because it may take that much again to get it running, but this is a significant piece of automotive history.
If you get a chance, it’s worth checking this out.
LS swap!!!
Ah, HVAC handiwork under the hood. You know, the battery is the heart of an electric car. Unless you can put a modern battery into this, it’s going to be a ‘non-starter’.
I just accepted delivery on a C8 Stingray 70th anniversary convertible. It is officially the longest running model of any American vehicle in history. Last year before the E-Ray as well. Zero to sixty in 2.9 seconds. 11.3 sec quarter mile, 500 Hp and 195 mph top speed. Was on the waiting list for 15 months. I will be keeping this one!
I believe Corvette is actually the World’s longest running CAR nameplate, whilst longest running truck’s is…Suburban!
Btw, check out the Swiss e-conversion of a ’62 Corvette: https://durotelectric.com/en/ecorvette-dinora/
I’ve seen it up close, it’s really fantastic craftmanship!
congrats on yer Vette :)
the Suburban in the longest running model ;
both time (1935) and longevity ;)
Yep, Suburban is overall. But Corvette is longest living CAR nameplate!
This is how a lot of electric cars are going to end up. Still nice and beautiful, but too costly to fix once the batteries go dead. No thanks, hard pass at any price.
I had an 87, would never want another, especially this one. Good luck seller, and be prepared to drop your price way down low!
I don’t know why and I don’t want to know…
For $100K, I’d buy a slightly used C8 instead.
Shop a new C8.
Your $100K will make some dealer happy.
Would really like to see the other 7 pages of block diagram, it’s pretty interesting…
No thanks.
NO! NEVER! Let it go to next tree-hugger!
Tree huggers are starting to reconsider EVs with large batteries due to the environmental damage of lithium mining and processing, as well as the potential child labor situation in African cobalt mines.
It could be fun. Probably lead/acid batteries as most electric conversions were in the 70s and 80s. I think it would be a nice toy for about $1,000. Let’s face it, that’s all it’s worth. You’d have to reverse engineer it completely if you ever hoped to get it on the road again.
Undesirable crap bucket to start with, and then build it into a mockery to all Vette owners of the world? You’re out of your mind.
I’m a little confused…it may be the only one built, but did GM sign off on Motorola creating this car? If so, then yes, it is significant and should probably be in Bowling Green. If not, then not exactly 1 of 1…right?
Why would GM sign off on anything to do with this car?
That’s the question. Maybe they were trying to get into the electric car market? If they didn’t, the car is an odditiy, but not significant. Is there a Motorola Museum? lol
This kind of foolishness happens all the time. Someone gets a bright idea and then thinks they will make a billion dollars on it but then falls flat on it’s face. Quite frankly, it’s worth nothing.
Why does it still say Tuned Port Injection on the fenders? lol
We had an old geek show up at a local cruise in with an old S-10 that he converted to “coal power.” 20+ lead acid batteries in the bed, and under the hood. He probably wondered why people just chuckled and shook their heads at his handiwork. There’s always one in every crowd. And some Mister Wizard type will spend his retirement cash on this thing, just to say he owns it.
I don’t think I would criticize the guy. That took a lot of where-with-all to create that truck. Maybe it doesn’t have 800 horsepower but he’s showing a different form of hot rodding. Creativity is limitless. I commend him for thinking of another way to do things.
I don’t think ANY of the guys who did things differently came unscathed from showing their stuff to others. Some we never heard back of, some turned out as famous inventors. Only those who do nothing avoid that …risky chance!
Tow it to a museum so people there can get a laugh…