There’s not much to say about this 1984 Chevrolet Corvette that the seller claims has been sitting for 15 years. That’s hardly a surprise considering the condition on display here, which suggests it spent those 15 years outside in the elements. The thing is, I can’t help but dig it just a little bit with it sitting there on those color-matched wheels that are straight out a 1980s accessories catalog. We all know this generation of Corvette is cheap for a reason, but I still hope this one gets back on the road and not parted out for someone’s swap project. Check it out here on eBay with no reserve and bidding at $1,100 at the moment.
The thing is, if the seller had just bothered to hit it with a pressure washer, the Corvette would look several times better. This phenomenon of letting cars look like barn finds, or otherwise “as discovered,” works well for valuable specimens or ordinary cars that look more alluring when surrounded by bales of hay and other farm implements. But an otherwise average car just removed from the driveway it was sitting in and then left in a parking lot? It really doesn’t work, nor does it make potential buyers think anything other than if the owner isn’t even willing to wash it off, why should I want to buy it? Looking past the dirt, the bodywork does look fairly clean with no major damage that I can see.
What makes me cringe all the more for this Corvette is that it has the best (in my opinion) color combination featuring white over red leather buckets and carpeting. Unfortunately, the seats are beyond destroyed and will need complete upholstery replacement, likely due to years’ worth of sun exposure. The funny thing is, however, the dash plastics don’t seem all that bad, which usually goes hand-in-hand with a car that’s been left outside. But when you see the odometer reading, it becomes clear the seat damage may be from years’ worth of use, as there’s almost 180,000 miles on the clock. That’s impressive for a Corvette of this generation, and it points to car that may, in fact, be relatively healthy if it made it this far before an owner died or otherwise stopped driving.
This is all rampant speculation, of course, but I can’t help but be optimistic. The seller doesn’t provide any more info beyond that it does not run and the left front tire will not hold air. Beyond that, we just have to hope it was loved before sitting for 15 years. I always look at tweaks like the color-matched wheels as a possible sign that this Corvette was someone’s pride and joy 20 years ago, and then an illness, divorce, injury, or otherwise caused the car to be parked. It will go quite cheaply, of that I’m sure, and if the engine isn’t locked up, there could be a fun weekend cruiser underneath all that grime. But given how cheap these cars can be found in running condition, the color scheme will have to sell the car as there’s not much else here to write home about. Would you rescue it?
“I always look at tweaks like the color-matched wheels as a possible sign that this Corvette was someone’s pride and joy 20 years ago, and then an illness, divorce, injury, or otherwise caused the car to be parked.”
Yup…the 4 D’s to a good deal:
1) Death
2) Divorce
3) Disease
4) Delinquency
Unfortunately, all four of those wouldn’t make this a even a mediocre deal. Hard pass.
Sad. Always had a thing for the C4 as they came out when I was in high school. Hope someone rescues this one, but I think I’d rather have one in a bit better shape inside and not a 1984. Would make a cool YouTube restoration although somebody’s probably already done that.
Oh my goodness. What an unfortunate looking vehicle. If the seller had bothered to hit it with a pressure washer the paint probably would have come off!
On a certain level I feel for this car but after 30K minimum restoration probably to even just make it a runner/Driver your still going to be left with a base model automatic C4. Found one online in 30 seconds nearly identical, same color combo, running and driving with 81 K on it for $6995.00 Might be worth picking up by someone with a Corvette resto business for parts
I’d clear-coat the “patina, install plastic lawn chairs and drive it as it is, provided I could get that cross-fire injection motor started..
‘Cease-Fire’.
Pretty obvious why it hasn’t been hit with a pressure washer. There would be pieces of fiberglass all over the parking lot. The owner should consider donating it to those charities that will take any vehicle running or non-running.
Cross fire injection always sounded like a fault code diagnosis.
The seats are fine. When you don’t have a cup holder and you spill your beer between your thighs ,the foam will absorb it better.
Too bad, but it’s a parts car now
Who would you sell them to? If you look at NCRS classified ads there are rarely any base C4 parts listed.
not even a good drive train to salvage… PASS
GM’s Crossfire Injection system isn’t that bad. The idea was that long runners would help the torque and drivability. The fundamentals are all there, but it suffers from dramatically low air flow, with the 225 cfm TBIs being the primary culprit that are mismatched to the rpm level required by the intake. In an article about GM’s Cross Ram used on its Trans-Am Camaros, it was mentioned that those cross rams were best when operated above 3000 rpms: Try that with 450 cfm of air flow and see where that gets you (Nowhere in a hurry). Edelbrock is correct in saying you need to match all components to make the engine perform. At one time the Corvette Clinic had a kit that used 2 Holley Replacement TBIs with a flow rating of 600 cam total and a set of headers.
Crossfire Injection is good for a few things: Mounting the 2 Throttle bodies on an inline 6 is a good start, as a smaller engine doesn’t need as much airflow.
The question is will the top of a Offenhauser Cross Ram fit on the bottom of the GM Crossfire ram manifold? If so, then get the 2×2-bbl TBI kit from Howell Fuel Injection if you want to keep it simple. Otherwise, pick up any GM 2-bbl TBI and intake from a junk yard, swap it over and enjoy cruising in a very low cost Corvette.
put that car back in the barn!
It’s taken 23 bids to get to $1,550, and I think the buyer will have remorse.