I own an 81 4spd, two-tone, very low miles (47K), all original (minus stereo--was attached when bought) and the engine/vin match. Was built in Bowling Green.

Did some "corvette black book" and internet research and I found statistics indicating they only made 5700 4spds and 5300 two tones. I'm a bit suspect to these as statistics can be made to say anything you want. Are these numbers true? Is it rare enough to keep original? I was thinking of improving its performace (H.P.) if not rare enough. I contacted the Corvette museum and they gave me the cold shoulder and were not to interested in helping.

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

 

Yes, it's a rare combination, but technically, most C3s are a rare combination of options. Build it the way you want, but don't do anything you can't reverse and hang on to all the original parts.

 

You can always go with a crate engine and save the original for later. In all honesty the car has to be rare AND desireable to be worth a lot of money. Although 47,000 miles is fairly low I don't think it's low enough to command a price premium assuming there was a large demand for that particular model (and at the moment there isn't). If it were my car I would just modify the current engine and have fun with the it.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

I'm not sure an 81, no matter the rarity, will ever be in high demand as a collector. At least that's the impression I've gotten. I say do what you want with the car and drive it. If you want to keep it original, do it, but do it because that's the way you like the car, not because you're worried about the collectability. If you want to get more than the stock 190hp, then go to town. Enjoy the car. For me, that's one of the great things about the early 80's C3s. No one's really gives you any grief about mods (not that most people here are all that worried about keeping their cars original )

It's your car. Enjoy it.

 

Relatively speaking, it's pretty rare for an '81 (I'd much rather have the 4 speed than my auto). 81's are not considered that rare though. Might be in 10 years or so. In the mean time, if you're concerned, keep the original parts and have fun with it. These cars are great, lower cost drivers.

 

Hey Scooter (and fellow two-tone owner) what color option do you have? I'm partial to the two-tone cars.

As for my .02...keep it original. Somewhat of a different issue for me with the cross-fire system but more and more '82 owners are modifying the system as it is a lame duck. However, as more '82s are modified, original cars like mine become rarer (only 25,407 produced). Look at it like this, of the 40,606 Corvette's built in 1981, yours is pretty rare. As you stated, the 4-speed and two-tone options were rare in and of themselves; combined, you've got a unique car. Will it be worth much later down the road. In original condition, yes.

Enjoy your car for what it is, a classic with 1981 technology. If you want to go faster/quicker, find a Vette that someone has gotten tired of and have fun fixing/improving/completing what they started. That way when you get bored you can pass that project along and still have your classic '81.

This is my second two-tone '82. I love the unique color and style but if/when I decide to go for more power it will be in another Corvette. At some point I will NEED two...or at least I keep telling my wife that...used C5s are looking real attractive.

Also, FWIW, take care of your paint, these two-tone cars cost a lot more to have repainted than a solid color car.

 

My two-tone colors are silver and dark blue. Interior is dk blue leather. Thanks for your comments

 

I have a charcoal '81 with 34,000 miles. The car has a four-speed transmission and and factory mirrored T-tops. People tell me the four-speeds models are worth slightly more than automatics. This site shows there were 5,757 81's built with manual transmissions: www.rogerscorvette.com/specs/81.htm

 

My 81 was originally beige and bronze two-tone with camel interior, but it'd been painted all red about 3 times (each on top of the other. Thanks Bubba!) since then before I got it. I discovered the original paint after much scraping. I will say that bronze paint was a bitch to get off :P