I tried looking this up but couldn't find a thread

why did GM not make vettes in '83

 

I think they did.

 

Boy, I sure would like to have one!!!!

 

83. Something like 47 made and destroyed.quality and emission problems.

 

Actually, they did, but production time ran late so they waited for 1984 to introduce the new model.

 

44 were made 43 were destroyed. One, #23 ( a white coupe) was kept by GM and is in the Bowling green Corvette museum I believe.

http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/1983.php

 

44 were made, all were destroyed except for one:

"All were destroyed except one, VIN# 1G1AY0783D5100023 (white with medium blue interior), L83 350ci, 250HP V8, 4-speed Automatic transmission and was retired to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is owned by GM. It was saved from destruction by a few forward looking individuals who recognized the need to retain one 1983 Corvette for posterity.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_there_a_1983_corvette#ixzz1L2zzq6RJ"

No '83 production run was made due to delays caused by the introduction of the C4 (the first C4s available to the public were the 1984 model year).

 

Raffman,

To answer your question literally, there were thousands of 1983 Corvettes built, but they were all 1984 models. What you probably meant is "Why are there no 1983 model year Corvettes around?" Here is the reason.

The 1982 model Corvettes started production in October 1981, with 565 coupes built that month. At the end of that production model in October 1982, around 25,000 1982 Corvettes had been built. In November 1982, the production line obviously closed for some time to change over to the C4 body shape, and sometime in early 1983 some forty four "1983" C4s were built, but not released for sale as they were "test mules" and all but one were destroyed as previously stated.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet dealers across the country were selling what they had in stock, 1982 models, even in early 1983. As well, 459 were sold in Canada and 9 in Japan. By February 1983, the production line was up to speed with the revised "1984" model C4 and these were released for sale in Chevrolet dealers in March 1983.

As previously stated, these cars met all 1984 Federal emissions and other criteria, and Chevrolet General Manager Robert Stemple made the decision to label them all as 1984 models. Production continued for almost 18 months, by which time over 50,000 cars had been built. Bear in mind that these 1984 C4s had basically the same Crossfire TBI engine as the superceded 1982 models, but when the 1985 Corvette came out in August or September 1984, the engine came equipped with the TBI engine.

So, there are plenty of "1983" Corvettes out there, but they all look like 1984 C4s.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn

 

I've never been clear on what makes the companies need to title vehicles to a certain year. I should do some reading on it. Thanks for the info to everyone who answered. This is way more detailed than my general understanding of '1982 production ran a little long and 1984 production started early.'

 

The manufacturer determines which "model year" a production car is from. The car is titled according to its 'model year'. Model year is independent of calendar year.

 

They ran into production delays with the new Corvette (C4) and realized production would be delayed longer than they expected. Since the new car already met 1984 federal emissions standards, the decision was made to introduce them as 1984 models.

Per federal guidelines, an automotive model year can run as long as the manufacturer wants as long as it contains only one January. You can get 23 calendar months out of that if you set it up correctly. Begin production on February 1. Run eleven months through December 31st of the same year. Continue production into January of the new year (one January) and end production December 31st of that year.

 

also as a result there were no '30th anniversary' cars built... many many owners had put money down trying to get one when it was built...

 

with the addition that in the 1984 production year model a 4 speed manual was once again available.

 

AND as long as the vehicle's assigned model year meets or exceeds the Federal emissions rules for that year.

 

Humm I heard and read a story years ago that at the detorit auto show the 83 was suppose to be showed. While setting it up for the show the car continued to run and idle so rough with the cross fire that the GM enginners declared it a wash and did not want to ruin the corvettes image. I heard they worked on the car for a few hours prior to show and because it mis fired so much the enginners decided they would preserve the corvette s reputation. They decided it was not a worthy enough product to sell and let the public see. This theroy does kinda fit because of so many problems with the 82 and in 84 when they did think it was right it was only a one year project. In 85 the tuned port came out. The article also mentioned there were 2 saved not one. But its all politics so woh really knows. Richard

 

Probably Corvette myth BS. It isn't likely GM would have sent anything to a well known auto show which wasn't in perfect shape and running better than anyone could have imagined.

Where did you read this article?

 

On all counts.

I was very into working on cars from about 1982 to 1990, basically spent all my weekends wrenching on my own cars and cars of friends. In those years, there were lots of cross-fires around, and I never worked on one. This has always left me believing that the system couldn't possibly have been as bad as a lot of people say. If it was, my friends and I would have spent a lot of time on them.

Sounds more likley to me that Bubba got his hands on a few of them when they came out, and screwed them up real good so that even good mechanics had trouble straightening them out, and a bad reputation was born. I've heard a lot of talk on this board about the "bad cross fire", but if they were really that bad, I would expect a thread or two a month from an owner asking for help fixing his fuel injection system. I don't seem to see that.