Has anyone heard of a special edition or a 81 that was sent in for tweaking? I'm hearing of a grey 81 convertable with low mileage that might be for sale.Did they still have carbs or were they fuel injected,the one I'm hearing about supposally is carbed? I might have to look at this car if its something special,I'm hearing second hand that it has some frame stiffing done,don't know much more,so anyone know anything about 81 Vettes getting some after market done from the factory? They thought it was something done by lingenfelter or some company like that.

 

Chevy didnt make any convertibles in 81, so that one is done by a 3rd party.
All 81 Vettes were delivered from Chevy with computer controlled carbs.

 

81's still used a carb, 82 went to FI.

There were no factory "tuner" type editions in 81. There were no GM built convertibles in 81 either.

There was a conversion done by ACI (American Custom Industries), that Zora Duntov lent his name to. They were known as the Duntov Turbos and were built in 80 and 81.

The Duntov Turbos had custom front and rear "wide body" fenders, a custom hood, and a modified nose with 2 single "fixed" headlights, instead of the stock pop-up ones. All Duntov's were powered by a slightly modified and turbocharged version of the stock 350 (or 305 for ones sold in Calif. in 1980). Duntovs were available in the stock 80/81 coupe body, or in a convertible conversion. The convertible one was made by using all new GM made 68-75 Corvette convertible parts.

Original plans called for 200 to be built, but in the end, I think less than a 100 actually were. The coupe started around $28,000 (a stock 81 had a base price of about $16,000), but the price could climb to $60,000, for a convertible with various performance up grades.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the appearance of the Duntov Turbo, but if it is a Duntov, it could be worth a few dollars.

 

I'm out fishing in the Bering Sea right now,but we're going to call the guy and get more info here in a little bit,I'll let you know what I find out,could be a deal I think the guy only wants like 12500 for it.

 

Unusual car in any case....

To be honest I personally would be interested in the car just for its uniqueness... I sure would not be buying it as an investment anyway...

I measure my cars by how many smiles per mile I get out of them NOT by how correct they are...

Bob G
64 72 76 79 88 and 98 Corvettes most correct but some not even close

 

What I found out so far is,it has a tag on the door sill stating that it meets or excedes 74 DOT for being a convertable,it has some sort of emblem on the back,gonna find out what that says hopefully later today,the guy who told me about it thinks it might be who made it a drop top.My only concern is I looked online and there was a 81 that had the convertable top installed in Texas,it was sold to someone in Wa state,i guess Wa State doesnt have a provision for a car that is modified that way,so on the title it says Salvage,I don't think I want a car with a salvage title,will find out what this title says today,also going to find out the mileage.

 

Somtimes they will use a donor car top half and install it on the late models. Maybe a 74 top was used. Sure its not a 74 with an 81 front and rear? LOL

 

I had an 81 convertible conversion that had to be retitled in Michigan as a rebuild title because of the significant work done to it.

There were no 81 GM built convertibles nor special editions that year. A Duntov would be white, not grey.

They car could be a ton of fun, and seeing how 81s arent worth much anyway, a tastefully done conversion could bring better $ than a comparable stock car. Mine did.

 

Could it be a 74 vert with a 80 front end grafted onto it? That was another popular conversion back in the day.

 

I haven't seen the car myself,but from what I understand it is a 81.The conversion was done by a shop that specializes in doing it,I read online they did use the parts off of 74 to do the conversions on all vettes after 74.Anyway still waiting to get the rest of the info before I decide if I want to buy it.