This 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport VR is an exceedingly rare example of the hotted-up version of the Chevy’s bread-and-butter sedan. Though no quicker than any other Celebrity equipped with a wheezy V6, it certainly looked the business with aggressive aero seemingly all over the place, from a custom front bumper to a rear apron that completed the look out back. Sure, it wasn’t exactly an M5 killer, but it looked the part. This example is a true barn find that was parked years ago due to a failed A/C compressor – that’s it. The Celebrity runs and cleans up very well, and is listed here on Facebook Marketplace where the seller is accepting offers over $3,000.
The Eurosport VRs got the side skirts, rear spoiler, front air dam, rear bumper skirt, and unique wheels, along with a red pinstripe all the way down and around the car. Despite being sold as a limited-production model and at a fairly hefty price premium (for the era) over non-VR models, these stylistically-enhanced Celebrities didn’t become collector’s items. They weren’t socked away in collections for a rainy day, and the very few I’ve seen still on the road are totally haggard, like the owners don’t know how rare the car is that they’re driving. This one is honestly one of the more complete examples I’ve seen, with the body kit in good condition and all graphics and decals still intact.
They made the Eurosport VR for two years, and one of the downsides of the 1988 models is the interior. In 1987, you got a sweet cabin with red carpeting, custom door panels, and a few other unique touches. Presumably for cost reasons, Chevy reverted to the standard Celebrity interior for ’88 editions, which to me, is a real kick in the teeth for a limited production car that offers no performance enhancements over the standard models. If you’re going to put lipstick on a pig, then go all the way. The ’87 models certainly did this, as the wild interiors just seemed to work with the aggressive exterior enhancements. Regardless, the listing photos confirm the interior cleans up nicely with a quick detailing.
Overall, I am super impressed with how well the body kit has survived on this rare Eurosport. Even on six-figure collector cars, the front air dam is always smashed to bit or scuffed if the car sees anything resembling occasional use, but the kit on this example appears to remain in mint condition. The reasons for parking the car seem odd, but if the owner was slightly OCD about his rare Celebrity, there’ s a good chance a very minor issue may have prompted him to park it until the car was whole again. Mileage is listed as being a mere 82,000 and the seller notes that since removing it from the barn, it fires right up and runs fine. While some people just see another Celebrity, anyone who is a fan of 80s-era customization will recognize this Eurosport VR as something special.
The big three were playing checkers while everyone else was playing chess…
There are no memorable Reagan-era cars from either American or Japanese manufacturers. Only the Italians were making an effort to keep performance cars alive. This car is a holdover from a time when cheap plastic and gaudy graphics packages spoke “performance”.
Someone looking for a cheap ride will scoop this one up.
Whaaaaaa?
I remember a few……
Buick Regal Grand National
Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Ford Mustang GT & SVO
Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
Honda CR-X
Toyota MR-2
Toyota Supra
Pontiac Trans Am
Pontiac Fiero GT
Pontiac 6000 STE
Oldsmobile 442
Nissan 300ZX
Mitsubishi Starion
The Buick I’ll spot you. The rest were all emasculated pretenders (the 305 HO in the NASCAR Monte is a good example) and Ford started hanging their hats on turbocharged 4 cylinder motors.
I remember Chrysler turbos of that vintage being pretty tough on the street. (if the head gaskets didn’t blow!)
Couple of points- first, the Grand National/GNX was a great motor wrapped in a dreadful automobile. Car and Driver said in fact: “One of the best motors all-time, in THE worst chassis ever.” I drove a MK I VW GTI in the ’80s, and right now a really nice one fetches 400% of sticker, which bests most, if not all, of Italian cars of the ’80s. There was a curvy road by my house and I would just sit there, waiting to pounce. I knew precisely every corner, etc., and with that car could stick the accelerator to the ground and rocket between the curves. Not once, ever, did someone pass. A buddy of mine bet me his dad’s ’85 Trans Am would win handily… it wasn’t even close. My fun ended when I successfully ran from an unmarked cop on that road; I spent the night in jail in fact. Ultimately the case was thrown out because the lady cop never activated the lights and she lied on the stand so it was reduced to a “speed hazardous” citation that is in a photo album.
You’re being kind. The big 3 at :15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJIjoE27F-Q
Good luck ever finding that missing piece of the body kit, in front of the rear wheel…
A weird remnant of the 80s, for sure…but if nothing else, it’s a rolling monument to how little effort Detroit spent on most of its cars at the time.
The close up pictures on FB show some serious rust issues on the driver’s side door, and front fender, there’s probably more. A close personal inspection will be needed.
Hopefully they didn’t lose the fuel filler door that is missing on the cleaned up pictures. Air conditioning repairs can be very expensive. The seller was probably quoted a huge price to fix it and just decided to park the car.
Looks like the fuel door is there, just open, perpendicular and “blending”.
1 of 2000 …..that kills me!! Like is a 69 Trans Am or 70 LS6 Chevelle…..thanks for the laugh!!
LOL !!!!!
3,000??
Blast from the past! I’d completely forgotten these existed until now.
These are the kinds of barn finds I like to see. I’ve seen enough $20,000 rusty ’69 Chargers to last me a lifetime. Would I buy this? Probably not, but it’s cool it exists.
A fine example that shows that rare doesn’t always mean valuable….or desirable.
More forgettable fiberfab from Detroit. In the eighties the Big Three were busy playing catchup (with European and Japanese automotive technology) while trying to meet emissions standards and ramping up quality control to compete with Japan and Germany. This joke must have looked like easy money to the executive who conceived it (not to mention a good career enhancer). Just speculating, here!
Granted the Big Three were building junky cars back then, but in reality so was everyone else -Japanese cars all seemed to have those cheesy plastic interiors, and while they for the most part had bullet proof little engines , they rusted ( at least on the East coast) badly and had a short life span There were lots of forgettable imports in the 1980s , Tercels , Rabbits , Le Cars , etc. I think most every company built some decent cars in the 80s , but everyone seemed to have built a lot of crap too
We’ll see more junk like this for sale as people try to figure out ways to bring in some money to keep the lights on.
True
The Pontiac 6000 STE was a far more interesting car. This was just too boxy and pedestrian, kind of like sticking decals on a LEGO car. The lack of bucket seats & a proper console/shifter just puts the final nail in the coffin of “uniqueness” for me.
OMG, that’s just awful.
Yup, another “not a classic”
Oh my gosh, I had to use my asthma inhaler after looking at that interior!
The mold on the dash ran out of room to propagate. So it jumped to the steering wheel. I wonder where else?
Cheap azz detail job. C’mon seller put a set of good tires on the car instead of Blech-White on those outdated 88 tires. Oh man, the rust bubbling under the graphics and moldings. And, speaking of molding….that interior looks just as uninviting cleaned up as it did in the barn! Carpet makes me itch through my computer monitor.
I’d almost forgotten about the Celebrity. I had a friend that had one, he loved calling it “the Celeb.” One day he hit a bump that glove box door fell off.
I remember Car and Driver wondering aloud (in print) about that strange front panel with its’ charcoal-painted section around the bowtie, why did they go to so much effort to make the VR a bottom breather and then paint the panel to look just like a grille?
Chairs and flares, or in this case skirts and spoilers, do not make a car “ hotted-up”.
Tarted-up might be more accurate.
IF the frame section was good. Take off the rear spoiler–the decals. Strip the tires–interior–motor–transmission. Put a small block v-8 in it .With a 2 barrel .A good set of tires on it. Then you have a sleeper to have fun. Drop it in second gear and have fun, I had a 79 Caprice I done like that. It,d do 80 in second gear. On the hills is where I,d have fun-run clear off vehicles coming up behind me.Some people would ask me what I had under the hood .Plus it needed a paint job bad. That was another thing that set people off.
About 2000 more than what should have been produced…
These are so pathetic that they are actually cool. The fact that GM even thought that these were an alternative to the BMW 5 series is an absolute riot. I will say, that the Pontiac 6000 STE was a pretty cool car, but not this. As an owner of a 1988 BMW M5, this Chevy isn’t even in the same zip code in terms of engineering, performance, or looks.
Battery charger connected is ALWAYS a big selling point.
Seriously. I hope someone rescues this thing. It will obviously, if there’s rust repair required, cost more than it will ever be “worth”–which important only if you view enthusiasm as as ROI–but examples need to remain of this era.
Am I going to do it? Nah. But this is the true example of the “special interest car.”
I heard that these were very cheaply made and that the fact that they had issue’s with them over heating in Hotter Climates Like Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and California One simple solution I would have done back then was to have the front panel where the Bow Tie is Customized so that it would allow more air flow into the Engine compartment and channel some of that air flow into the intake to boost the HP
Laughable
Still one of my top five Car and Driver magazine lines ever: “Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport- a little Euro, a little sport, not much of either.”
Another “pinstripe performance car” Woo Hoo!
As AW11 said if there were 2000 made, I’d say that was 2001 too many. I owned one of them. Within 13,000 miles I put 4 engines in it and they still wouldn’t take it back under the lemon law. They just extended the warranty for the drivetrain to 30,000 miles. Ten days after getting it back from the 4th engine I sold it.
After the speed limit was reduced to 55 max for all states and the government took over so much control of American automakers decisions, i.e. 5 mph bumpers, additional smog, etc. Enthusiasm for America’s love affair with the automobile diminished for customers and the manufacturers at that time.
Not diminished. Unrequited.
I had a black station one LOVED IT!!!!
Johnny, I,m 73 and started wrenching cars when the flathead Fords were still around. I modified many engines since then but I NEVER heard of going to the trouble of changing engines just to put a small block engine in and just keeping/ Putting on a 2 barrel carb. instead of at least a 4 barrel high cfm carb. on it. LOL
Can I place 15 or 20 more up-votes, please?
My 1988 vr coupe 40,000 all og code 81
I still drive my ‘88 Euro VR coupe occasionally. Enjoyed it on the autobon in Germany. Not that fast, but still fun.
I’m scared to ask if it even reached 85mph and how it felt. Were the doors and windows still attached?! Ooff
I got a red vr with 41,000 miles. All original driven abit 1500 miles a summer then garaged all winter