The Tale Behind the Missing Year of the Corvette
Of the 43 pre-production 1983 C4 Corvettes made, only one lived to become a part of the National Corvette Museum in 1994.
The future was around the corner in 1982. The first-ever computer virus is created, infecting Apple II computers via floppy disk. Adobe Systems is born. The first compact discs are made, followed by Sony’s first consumer-level CD player. The Commodore 64 is launched, and the computer itself is chosen as Time‘s ‘Man of the Year.’
Missing from all of this, though, was an all-new Corvette. The previous C3 era drew to a close in 1982 after 14 years that carried the name from the swingin’ Sixties through the jaded Seventies to the hope of the early Eighties. The C4 was originally supposed to appear for the 1982 model year in 1981, but as History explains, a few hangups in its development and production delayed the new generation of the icon until early January 1983 for the 1984 model year.
While the C3-era closed with features meant for the C4 era of the Corvette, like an all-new four-speed automatic and a new fuel injection system for the 5.7-liter V8, History says the next-gen ‘Vette was hindered in part due to its T-top. The new car was supposed to have one, but Chevy’s general manager Lloyd Reuss wanted a one-piece targa instead. That one change took around a year to implement, as engineers reworked the frame and body to be stronger.
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Once that was fixed, 43 pre-production ‘Vettes were made to sort out what needed to be sorted out before everything went down the assembly line for real. And though the cars were supposed to be destroyed (as they weren’t legal to sell), one lived on to be found by a plant manager, cleaned up, and draped in the good ol’ red, white and blue. That car, dubbed RBV098 and assembled on June 28, 1982, would later be donated to the National Corvette Museum as the sole 1983 C4 ever made, minus the all-American paint job.
After the C4 era of the Corvette truly began, History notes that Car & Driver gave the reborn American icon high praise.
According to the magazine’s March 1983 issue, the new ‘Vette “is all that the fevered acolytes so desperately wanted their fiberglass fossil to be — a true-born, world-class sports car loaded with technical sophistication.” The C4 bested the Porsche 928 in braking and acceleration in their tests, and with a then-impressive 140-mph top speed, it was declared one of the fastest production cars in the world at the time. Some things are just worth waiting for, indeed.
Photos: History
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