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Cheap Collector’s Edition: 1982 Chevy Corvette

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We see a lot of the special edition Corvettes pop up for sale, but more often than not, they are a bit overpriced. It’s easy to see why – when they were new, there was a frenzy about the potential for these limited-production ‘Vettes to be worth big money in the future. Well, that hasn’t exactly happened, and this 1982 Collector’s Edition here on eBay is listed in a no-reserve auction, with nine bids pushing it just above $4,000.

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The seller says the Corvette runs and drives, but needs some work to become a reliable daily driver. I’m encouraged by the completeness of the engine bay, which looks remarkably clean for its years on the road. Of course, with only 40,000 miles from new, one would hope it’d still look this good. I don’t see any major deviations from stock, either. This iteration of the Corvette was crippled by the automatic transmission, but it could still hit 60 in a hair under 8 seconds.

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The interior clearly needs some work. The seats are tired, and it generally looks dirty. The automatic is disappointing, but this is a car you buy to cruise in, not tackle the road course. As I’ve been pricing out getting some seats recovered lately, I’m shocked at the cost of new leather. Perhaps it’d be easier/cheaper to simply find a good set for sale, or swap in some basic silver leather seats and keep the Collector’s Edition buckets on the shelf for a rainy day project.

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The Collector’s Edition was distinguished by its turbine wheels, removeable roof panel and lift-up glass hatch. The paint was unique to the car, too, so you’ll have to decide what that’s worth to you. Right now, the bidding seems pretty fair for a car that will need work to be a clean, comfortable driver, so hopefully one of the bidders comes away with a fair deal. What do you think it’s worth?

Comments

  1. Avatar Rich

    I always liked that color scheme. Good deal and hope it goes to a good home!

    Like 0
    • Avatar Roseland Pete

      Quite an article. Thanks for posting.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Donnie

    most anything that says collectors edition is not worth what people want it to be worth AMERICAN PICKERS

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jason Houston

      More than any other source, what finally turned me off about Corvettes is that every other year, it’s some kind of contrived collectors item. Just like attaching the word “classic” to everything, all it signals is an exercise in spending money. Forced collectibles NEVER are.

      Like 0
  3. Avatar Glen

    Several interesting cars in the shop.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Byron

    with crossfire inj. its easy to see the reason for low bids.i would pass on it for just this reason.if you change it you lose the originality of the car.but I think a carb was offered in this year,but that would have to be confirmed by someone with more vette knowledge.then maybe a swap could be done.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Metalted

      A close friend , is a gm mechanic, and your right on. Cross fire injection he said is terrible. Never runs consistent,
      He wouldn’t take one if it was given to him. And he loves gm.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Metalted

        But same thing with ford 6.0 diesel . They are many people that won’t buy a ford because of that engine.
        I love my 04 f250, with 6.0. Been great truck , 200k, and have had it for 7 years. Yes few issues.
        But like it more than the 2001 with 7.3 I had.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Lee

        Have him replace the fuel pump with a TPI pump and he’ll change his mind guaranteed. Fuel pressure (or lack thereof) is the single-biggest issue with CFI cars (F-body or Y-body).

        Like 1
    • Avatar Lee

      The ’82 Corvettes were only offered with the CFI. Last year for a carb’ed Corvette was 1981.

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Peterman

    The last of C3 bodies
    Great colors, graphics
    Sure she is heavy, slow
    But great handling n braking for a early eighties car and so swoopy n sweet
    She will turn heads!
    Clean her up, rock n roll to Las Vegas, if
    The A/C blows cold

    Like 1
  6. Avatar Tirefriar

    Like the car but beware of the seller with no performance rating. Last vehicle he sold on eBay was over a year ago and out the 5 he did sell one received an iffy review and the other one was negative

    Like 0
  7. Avatar rancho bella

    Big, ugly, heavy, ill-handling…..all the attributes of a fine car.

    Chevrolet should have been caught in the cross-fire

    Like 0
    • Avatar Axel Caravias

      Big?,,, not really. C3 are very small cars. Ugly?… well, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ill handling?, as most 80’s cars : )))

      But have to agree on the 82 being the worst c3 year with the CF engine.

      Axel Caravias

      Like 0
  8. Avatar Jim

    I can’t think of any other vehicle like c3 Vettes in that they are all basically the same body (sans chrome bumpers etc) and yet 68-72 are bringing big bucks and 74-82 are very reasonable (the jury is still out on 73’s). Do you know of any other collectible vehicles in which the same situation exists.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar AMC STEVE

    I’ve always wanted one of these although they were dogs they were really styled in a futuristic scheme. With the silver seats and fade stripes they all blended very well into each other nicely and it worked well together, I think.

    The engine design was a precursor of what we see today but failed miserably as the plastic crossfire injection system warped and malfunctioned with regularity in climates that changed.

    Most were converted over to carbs or engines were pulled in place of better options.

    I say they aren’t worth that much right now and an engine swap will do you wonders in this otherwise beautiful car. In this case original is a detriment and this one is the right candidate.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar MountainMan

    Cheap entry to Vette ownership. Make whatever changes to ensure drivability and shelf the original components

    Like 1
  11. Avatar Kevin

    great car, wrong engine

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Rick

    Have one of these. Love it, regardless of the engine. I’ve never had an issue with the engine at all, even at 65K miles. With this one, all the parts are available for the interior, the NLA parts are the wheels and rear hatch. Love driving it when I can, turns heads every time it’s out!

    Like 1
  13. Avatar Gary I

    Crate engines make all problems go away and they come with warranties. Better than what follows for several years. Cheap for a decent Corvette. Better than a lot of what you could get for five grand or so.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Axel Caravias

    As always… check for birdcage rust, frame rust, rear suspension and differential. In that order.
    Price is not that great but fair unless you are a diy and are willing to do the paint job and interior yourself. Corvettes are very difficult cars to paint.
    If you have to pay for restoration on this one expect to pay around 15-20k in labor for a frame off restoration and some 5k in parts.

    Axel Caravias

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Tirefriar

    $25k is actually not a bad deal for a frame off nuts and bolts resto. High end quality paint job usually START at $7k in my neck of the woods and only go up from there…

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Lee

    A few thoughts…

    The hardest part of the resto will be locating a set of the center caps for these wheels. They were specific to this model and year only. Recently a complete NOS set of these wheels showed up on Corvette forum for $2K…yes, that’s $2K for all four. So, the caps ain’t gonna be cheap. The seat covers and carpet are readily available.

    For ’82 all C3 Corvettes were equipped with the (new) 700R4 automatic. All ’82 Corvettes were CFI powered and the LU8 350 was never intended to be backed by a manual in this chassis. The pre-’88 700R4s are very weak and this one is the worst. It would need to be gone thru top to bottom and be upgraded across the board.

    Finally, while the CFI system gets a bad rap the single biggest issue is the lack of fuel pressure. The best thing you can do for an CFI motor (’82 or ’84 models) is to replace the pump with a 1985-1991 TPI fuel pump. It cures the idle, drivability and hard cranking issues immediately. The 2nd thing to look into is having the TBIs rebuild and bored out. After this you can look at a Renegade intake and aftermarket heads (or even a set of #0113 Corvette aluminum heads). CFI gets a bad rap when really a small bit of research and a few bucks will net you a reliable motor that performs respectably.

    Like 0

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