There are just 23,000 original miles on this pretty 1986 Chevrolet Corvette that’s equipped with the preferred 4+3 manual gearbox. Said to be a two owner example, the second owner purchased the Corvette with just 10,000 original miles on the clock and then used it sparingly after racking up the additional 13K. The listing reports that it remains in excellent running and cosmetic condition, but it still has some rough edges here and there. Still, you likely can’t do much better for a low mileage muscle car with a stick at the current bid price of just over $7,000 here on eBay with no reserve.
The C4 Corvette rarely gets any love, as most collectors consider it so commonplace that there’s never any urgency to buy one. There’s also some grumbling about quality control and the overall driving experience, but for the price, it really is hard to beat. The C4 with a slushbox is a different story, however, especially if we’re talking about an earlier model from the same era as this car. However, with three pedals and a targa roof, it’s hard to beat as a fun, summer driver that will cost next to nothing to own. The bodywork is in excellent shape, no doubt thanks to its many years of living in Texas, but the taillight panel color appears just slightly off from the rest of the car, but that could be an effect of the sun.
Now, one area of concern for me is the fact that the seller claims the interior is in “…great shape,” which it mostly is. However, it’s clear as day that the driver’s bucket will at least need some work to look like new again, and that really is a surprising amount of bolster wear for a car that has been sparingly used since new. The carpets and door panels look as they should, however, along with the fake wood trim that reminds us those faux surfaces actually looked pretty convincing when they were new as opposed to after years of sun exposure and general wear-and-tear. Other details, like the inner door jambs, confirm how nice the original paint still presents in places.
Again, this is where the details fall flat for me, as the engine bay is not nearly as well detailed as I would expect for a car with such low mileage. This is a case of why it makes sense to bring cars like these to a professional detailer before listing them, as it’s not the kind of “barn find” you want to list with all of remnants of its past dusty storage still affixed to the exterior surfaces. This is a barn find, yes, but only in the literal sense of being stored in a dirt-floored outbuilding. Otherwise, it’s a low mileage time capsule that will still present incredibly well after the engine is steam cleaned and the body is paint corrected. A few hundred bucks on detailing would likely result in more eager – and higher – bidding for the seller.
The wood trim is a stick-on aftermarket item. Those kits were usually real wood veneer. Tacky, but real.
Remind me again, what exactly was the 4+3 manual gearbox? Was that a good thing? Why not a standard 4 speed? How many HP was that engine?
GM to meet emissions requirements hung an overdrive unit off the back of the 4 speed tranny. If driven correctly it was a good unit, if not it could be broken. I think that’s what happened to mine before I bought it as it had a Tremec 5 speed transplanted in it before I bought it.
Help me out here. (again)
Did both the owners of this ’23k mile’ Vette wear Scotchbrite on their butts?
I have never seen that kind of wear on a drivers seat in that amount of miles. Not even my neighbors 81k mile Yugo looks that bad.
Buyer beware. Again.
The 4+3 transmission was a 4 speed stick hooked to a computer controlled 2 speed automatic. In 2, 3, and 4 the auto trans could be engaged to “split” these gears giving a gear between each and an overdrive in 4th. It was actuated by a push button on the shift knob. In normal driving it would lock out certain ratios and provided a 4th gear overdrive. It was and still is an overly complicated but ingenious way to improve gas mileage.
Doug Nash was a famous Detroit hot-rodder in the 1960s, who, after retiring from racing, got into the engine and transmission business, eventually developing a manual transmission for General Motors’ mighty Corvette for the C4’s 1984 to 1988 model years.
Called the “Doug Nash 4+3,” the transmission was essentially just a Borg-Warner Super T-10 four-speed with an overdrive bolted to the ass-end. That electro-hydraulically controlled two-speed overdrive was automatic, engaging when the driver let off the gas (i.e. under low load), and could be turned on and off via a button on the top of the shifter.
The C4 Corvette was a good ‘bang for the buck’ car. It hasn’t had the attention the C3’s and C5’s have so it’s still a very reasonably priced car. This was the model that really started defining the Corvette suspension. In fact there are many replacement frames for earlier Corvettes that utilize C4 components to improve their handling.
With the L98 engine, it’s a solid performing car. Not the fastest one out there, but does well and is an excellent car for those curvy roads when you can find them.
If I didn’t already have an 86, I’d want to take a serious look at this one.
If I was closer to Ft Worth, I would definitely be interested in taking a looks. Nice value.
As far as the wear on the seats, the leather is really soft. The seats degrade pretty rapidly. One thing to check, on all but really low mileage cars, the seat had plastic gears that are broken in the adjuster. If the driver seat rocks a bit, yeah, that’s probably higher miles.
The GM dashes from that area are seas of plastic and not very robust. The wood appliqué is aftermarket and may help hold the dash together. Mine is cracked at every screw hole.
It’s a lot of car for the money. Buy and drive. My 87 convertible had 39k when I bought it in December 2019. It’s up to 54k now as a daily driver. Has the 4+3. I had to put a clutch in a few thousand miles after I bought it. I also changed the atf in the overdrive. THe forums recommend every 10k miles, and I agree. The overdrive unit is fiddly, and very expensive to recondition.
A blast to drive and easily runs up to 120 and can hold it for a while. I’ve made some 110 mph runs to the airport late for a flight in the middle of the night. Blows down the highway nicely. Make sure the tires are pretty new. When I bought mine the tires were several years old and it was like ice skating in the least bit of rain. New, soft rubber did the trick.
I’m baffled that a stick shift low maintenance rear drive V8 auto gets no respect. If a piss poor swing arm underpowered POS can attract slobbering admiration while this goes back of book…….
@Dave- The lack of admiration is what keeps prices reasonable and a boatload of nice C4’s available
Makes me want to find some time to get mine going. Have an ’84 C4 (worst year for C4) sitting in a barn right now. Needs starter installed and some wiring issues to get it running.
Being as relatively cheap as C4’s are to buy in many cases, it’s not a bad way to get into something sporty, especially with some engine upgrading.
Item location:
Fort Worth, Texas,