It can be tough to be objective about the cars of your youth; when you can remember when they were just an unremarkable, everyday sight, seeing words like “rare” and “antique” used to describe them can be a bit jarring, especially when it first starts to happen. Case in point for me is this ’84 Corvette. In my ’80s and ’90s youth, these were ubiquitous in pop culture—even Barbie had one—and none too scarce on American roads, seeing as over 360,000 C4 Corvettes were produced, yet now we’re finding them in barns and, I’m guessing in the case of whoever buys this one, restoring them. If the cognitive dissonance isn’t too much for you to handle, you can find this apparently-classic-now Corvette on craigslist in Gilroy, California, with a $1,500 pricetag.
This ‘Vette hasn’t been registered since 2000, so I’m guessing it won’t be crossing fires right away. That fire-breathing branding, by the way, is applied to the L83 V8, shared between the final-year 1982 C3 and first-year 1984 C4 Corvettes; the ’84 edition saw a bump of 5 horsepower and 5 lb.-ft. of torque to go with its slick new bodywork, bringing the totals up to a whopping…205 and 290, respectively. The early ’80s were still a tough time for power junkies. Mileage stands at 125,000, and the seller makes no mention of any attempt to even start the car, so no telling what may (or may not!) be wrong with it.
Those miles are especially evident on the interior, which is somewhat unusual in that it’s wearing the standard but comparatively rare cloth upholstery. Unfortunately, being a very low car with wide door sills, a C4 is a slide-n-plop-to-enter kind of car, and it’s clear that the cloth wasn’t up to that kind of wear on the driver’s seat bolster. Sticking out between the seats is my prime suspect in the mystery of Why Was this Car Parked: the 4+3 manual transmission. Essentially a four-speed with an automatic overdrive on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears, this novel piece was intended to boost fuel economy, but is also trouble-prone and expensive to repair, especially on early cars such as this one.
It may be sobering for me to see a C4 barn find—give me a few more years, I’ll get used to it, right?—but the fact is, this is a complete, unmolested first-year example of the second-longest lived generation of America’s most iconic sports car, so it should be saved, and at just $1,500 it probably will be. Seriously, though—tell me this gets easier….
I purchased a barn find ’84 Vette with 9k mile about a year ago. The interior and mechanical bits were as new, but the clearcoat red was shot and most of the bushings, rubber trim and hoses all had to be replaced. Still worth the while, but still ended up putting over $3k in her before the new paint. How many 9K mile ’84 Corvettes are on the road today?
Not many, I have an 84 that I bought with 53,120 on it last November. It now has over 58,500 on it because it’s my daily driver. I love it
2×4 hood prop, trashed interior and Meineke Discount Muffler shop exhaust are just the tip of the iceberg on what could potentially be a money pit with no return.
I hate being negative but these things sell for about 8 grand in mint condition and with reasonably low miles. Unless you’re specifically looking for a project or this is identical to the car you had in high school, it just wouldn’t be worth it. To its credit, it has the rare cloth seats. The vast majority had leather.
Not the prettiest corvette, but they did drive and handle very well…
The interior is rough and if the engine and trans are shot it’s still a good deal as a roller if you want to go the restomod route, not a shabby find if that’s what you’re looking to do.
Autocross.
Demolition Derby.
Due to its location in California it will always be subjected to bi-annual smog inspections, it’s a parts car unless sold out of state.
Steve R
Did the 1984 have a soft cam isue? I seem to recall it did but not totally sure?
Nope.
84 Bad Year I Owned One All Kinds Of Problems ,Mind Was Red ,I Sold Mind For 2,000. Water Was Coming Out The Tail Pipe, I Had To Replace Every Thing The Time I Owned It,Transmission,Fuel System, Injetors ,Pump,Cooling fan And Motor,A frames, Computor,It Was Something Ever Week So Many Thing I Can’t List Them All,I Owned Two other Vettes And Never Had Any Problem With Them 76,and A 79 But The 84 Was Nothing But Problems At The End The Motor Ran Great But All The Cool Fluid Was Coming Out The Tail Pipe.,They Didn’t make A 83 Because of 84 was the new Style And Fuel Injet Motor Cross Fire With Computor ,84 Was All The Mistakes.
Should have kept it. Sounds like the prototype that was headed for the crusher after testing.
You sold your mind? You got lucky. I lost my mind after I bought a low mileage 85. It was a money pit. I had fun in between old parts kept breaking. Sold it as soon as I could and didn’t lose much money but a lot of man hours. The person that bought it hasn’t had any problems. But then again I like driving and he likes cruising. Restoring a 1967 now. It is expensive but it will always be of value. Not many C4’s will ever be worth much.
That Hurt To Read…. don’t they teach English in schools now days?
“so no telling what may (or may not!) be wrong with it.”
It’s an 84 vette, nuff said.
No need to go looking in barns, fields, abandoned airports, shipwrecks, and piles of dirt if you really want a 1984 Corvette. There are very reasonably priced 84’s available if you really want one you can drive and enjoy. If you rather go looking in barns, fields, abandoned airports, shipwrecks, piles of dirt, and pig pens for something that will frustrate you and drain your kids college savings, knock yourself out. Plenty of junk available.
Long, long ago I asked a guy with an ’85 what was the best year C4 to buy. He said ’95 or ’96 so I was lucky enough to get a creampuff ’95 for my first. I’ve been on this soapbox before, but hear me out. The C4 Corvette so thoroughly dominated the SCCA’s Showroom Stock Sports Car class that they had to start a series just for Corvette. (Sniveling Porschephiles can kiss my ….)
I always thought, before I owned mine and after I’ve sold it, that the C4 was one of the best-styled cars of all time. I know they built a ton of them but they built a ton of the original Mustangs and that design was chosen by the Museum of Modern Art.
There are a lot of ’84’s because it was a mid-year introduction since there was no 1983 model. The engine was troublesome but the L98 was actually very torquey. The ones I’ve driven were pretty satisfying though my LT1 was moreso.
The C4 remains a screaming bargain no matter what.
I agree with the comment – people don’t remember these cars dominating the class in racing. I have an 85 (for many many years) and it has been extremely reliable and a lot of fun – still looks new. Kids were chasing me down the street the other day to check it out. Parts are available and reasonable, no rust, and still not much can keep up with it from stoplight to stoplight. Z51 package shakes my fillings but it handles like it is on rails – bumpy pothole roads are awful in this car. Going to be a sad day when I have to sell it.
Then don’t sell it.
C4 = no $ . I have a 91 convertible w/ hardtop with under 8K miles , pristine car . Original window sticker $ 45 K + . Bought it with 1K miles @ 4 years old . I won’t live long enough to see half of the sticker value . I try to put at least 5 miles a year on it . Worst Corvette investment I ever made .
Its a car, not a stock. Drive the wheels off it and enjoy it.
If you’re buying cars as an investment you’re going to die broke my man..
84 corvette were the worst year for smooth riding vettes. They rode so hard it was like there wasn’t much of a suspension . Had many vettes in my time, still have 2 now a 89 and a 03. 84 was difenitly the worst.
You are talking about Z-51 optional suspension cars. GM went over the top in their attempt to have a car that could corner at 1.0g. Too many people ordered the Z-51 and hated the harsh ride and rattles. The 1985 suspension was softened considerably and everyone lived happily ever after.
Had a really nice ’84 Bought a low mileage (23K) 1 owner. owned it 13 years. Very few problems. Have later model Vette now…This car? 4+3 Dough Nash tranny is junk. You can buy a really nice ’84 for about 6k. This car is a money pit.
And no title.
The Dad of my best friend from high school pre-ordered one. Same grey but with leather interior. The dash, door handles, knobs and buttons all looked like they were out of the Chevy Cavalier parts bin. Within a year, the leather was coming apart at the seams, and all that dash plastic rattled like crazy. This was the first Corvette I ever rode in, and left a lasting negative impression on me for years. What a piece of junk! Definitely not worth the time and money it would need to restore it to its 80’s glory 👎
Like most American cars of the era the 84 C4 Vette was gutless. It’s 350 cid crossfire injected motor put out a whopping 205hp. What a joke! The following year it had the tune port which gave it 235. Its styling was revolutionary for the time though.
Maybe one day, Leno will stop hiding the video of Dick Guldstrand visiting his garage with a C4 with mad power. I really don’t know why Leno has hidden so many videos and gotten them pulled from the internet.
The C4 is a bargain, and with a LSx swap and suspension upgrades, its a sleeper.
All cars are a money pit. You can buy new and suffer depreciation or buy used and pay to fix it. An Auburn or a Cord are investments, not old Chevy’s.
It’s not hard to find C4s in far better condition for not much more money, even with the cloth seats. I have an ’89 and love it. I’ve put way more into it than I’m sure I’ll ever see back, but I’ve enjoyed it for 17 yrs now. This example might be worth $1,500 in parts, but in the photos it’s hard to see for sure.
Call face and the A-Team maybe they can come and buy the car
The fist year and worse year to own.
1995 and 96 models are the best C4 years. The LT-1 and LT-4 cars are a blast to drive and can be bought very reasonably.
I bought a clean 1996 collectors edition for $5900 bucks. Drove it 3 years and only maintenance was oil changes. Sold it for $6500 when it needed new tires.