C4s were a tad subdued in dramatic fender flaring than the vettes that came before them. C4s were also the beginning of technology infused into design. Those that grew up tuning and fixing their Corvettes and restoring them don't care for the technological tricks in the C4. Electronics scare almost everyone, and the C4 comes packed with enough to make anyone cringe. If you have a Corvette service manual, you know the second half of the manual is nothing but wiring schematics.

You have to love the C3 and especially the C2 cars when it comes to fixing and restoring them. Everything is just so simple. I had the pleasure of recently looking at 2 big tank 63' Z06s that were restorations in progress up close and man you wouldn't believe how simple Sting Rays are compared to C4s. And I don't mean that in a bad way, things in a Sting Ray are simply screwed in place while the C4 parts are riveted with unique rivets, welded and bonded as well. Fact is, the simplicity of a C2 or early C3 can't be beat and I think that's what a lot of enthusiast love about them.

With the C4 if things get dirty, corroded or rusty in tucked away places where it's riveted and welded in place, "Oh well, nobody will ever see it". With the C2 or C3 you can take apart that same area in an afternoon with simple hand tools and get it cleaned and refinished. Not to mention you don't have to wrestle with bundles of wires and cheap aged plastic fasteners that crumble apart no matter how gentle you try to remove them. Plus the C4s (C5s are getting there too) are the throw away Corvettes. You drive them, abuse them then sale them for another one and repeat.

I read an interesting article in Corvette Magazine a while back about the C5 as a worthy collector's car. The magazine took a brand new C5 to a classic car meet and let a lot of the diehard collectors drive one. Although very impressed when asked if they would buy one, the same idea was depicted: when you drive a technology based modern car like the C5 (or the C4), it gives the impression that you don't know jack about the car, you're just driving it.

For them it's more than just driving the car, it's knowing how every single thing works on the car inside and out. When it comes to the tech side of the new Corvettes, people just get burned out trying to know everything. And for some reason, collectors or admirers of old classics hate that perceived idea not knowing what they're driving.

If it makes the OP feel any better, a lot of car enthusiast world wide think the Corvette stopped being made in 1967.

 

Ok I had to throw in my 2 cents...
I fell in love with the c4 when it first came out and still in love with the looks. It looks European like a Ferrari; in contrast I think the C3 look disco'd and dated. I think the C5 and C6 look too boxy although I like the covered headlights of the C6. I do like the C2's 63-67's though, they have the classic lines of a Jaguar E-type. Anything earlier than that is just plain jane IMHO

 

Of course the C3 looks dated, the newest one out there is 27 years old! C4 looks nice, but more people look at the C3 when it's out, don't pay the C4 much attention. Must be more discos left out there than we thought......

Also, park a C4 next to a Red over Red 1958 and see which one gets the looks, it won't be the C4, a true car enthusiast will make a bee line for the C1 any time it's out, while walking past a fleet of C4s without stopping once. Plain Jane? You must be kidding comparing a car worth 10 times the average value of a C4 at least. Just reality IMHO....

 

You got it !

 

Different time periods thats all. The shark shape is what the public wanted for years. They got it in 1968 and it lasted 14 years. The car survived the fuel crisis with low horsepower in the mid 70s, but most performance cars back then were more stripes then yipes . They were slow, some had the same number decals on them. Olds still had a 442 but it was not 400 cubic inches but rather 305. Plymouth still had a Roadrunner, but the massive 440 was now 318 cubic inches.The C3 did well IMO for its time era. It handled well when equipped with suspension options and the optional L82 was performance fir that time era. Mustangs were fast back then , but they would get you killed on a turn. Comparing C4 to C3 is almost as silly as comparing a C6 with a 84.Technology always wins out.

 

i like that one and is probably the most accurate. I have been thinking the very same thing lately. They would not have kept them as long as they did if they were not tremendously successfull.

I like them all but the C6 is hard for me to warm to for some reason. just looks choppy but I'm sure I will warm to it, I always do.

 

I would like a c3 done right. big cubes and hoods blowers.... but a c4 is a performance car all around, if tuned or built right.

 

I have the biggest *****.

 

That is Sweeeet!

 

Sorry Jon, your C3 does absolutely nothing for me.....

 

Thats OK, believe it or not, I did not buy it for you, bought it because I like it, your opinion was not part of the decision................

 

Thats funny. I think the c3 is probably the best looking vette IMO...

The C6 does absolutely nothing for me

I think most c6 drivers are RUB's anyway.

JMO....

Corvette Mike

 

OMG ! I really thought you bought it to impress Evan !!!!
wow...everyday you learn something new !

 

I can understand both sides of what the C3 represents. It can be a very emotional thing. When I was a youth, a cousin of mine drove over with his brand new 68 yellow convertible. I thought the car was wonderful. I think I fell in love with Corvettes then, and it didn’t matter what year. But as I became more of an enthusiast over the years, it was hard to see the Corvette lose its relative position compared with other cars it had so routinely out performed – cars like Porsches and Ferraris were actually slower than the Corvettes of the 60s. By the 70s that all ended. Performance seemed to dip from 72 to 74 and then it fell off a cliff in 75. It seemed as though the car tried to make a comeback with the 78-79 models, but the 80-82 cars just fell further off the curve.

Jon may love his 81 Corvette, and bless his heart, but for someone who was interested in buying his first Corvette, as I did in 1981, the new Corvette was an empty suit. Enthusiasts just weren’t interested in the new Corvettes at that point. I could have afforded a new Corvette, but purchased a 365 HP 64 convertible instead, because it was a performance car. The new Corvettes weren’t. It became, sad to say, mostly a poser car. And that is why I have a hard time with them even today. The late C3s were a symbol of Corvette futility that anyone of the time would have remembered.

Noted Corvette author Mike Antonick probably said it best. “Many sports car buffs came to the conclusion in the seventies that Chevrolet had already built the best Corvettes that they were ever going to build….Whetever the reason or year, by 1975 an awful lot of people had concluded that some earlier Corvette model was the one they wanted.” Mike wrote that in 1981 in his book “Corvette Restoration – State of the Art”.

The C4 Corvettes, unlike the C3s, were not a story of decline, but of advancement and slow refinement. Sure the 84 Corvette was perhaps too raw from a handling perspective, but the direction was clear – the Corvette was to get better – as a sports car. And that slow improvement was given a jolt in 1990 with the introduction of the ZR-1, a car that said that Chevrolet was serious about the Corvette again in a big way. It was a long drought between the late sixties and the 1990s, and unfortunately the C3 will always be remembered by the dramatic decline as a car while the C4 will be noted as the Corvette that clawed back into the sports car ring. And that’s how I view the difference between the two generations.

 

I think the C3s were the best looking Vettes followed by C4 (maybe a tie in some cases), then C5's took a turn for the worse but they are redeeming themselves in the looks department with the C6 (although I still think a C4 looks better an a C6). The C5 was too smooth and egg shaped in my opinion but then again no one cares about that but me lol. At the end of the day as long as I'm driving a Vette I'm happy!

 

I absolutely agree with you. I did not buy my 81 because I had delusions of a high performance sports car, I don't know why some people find it hard to understand why someone would buy an underpowered late model Vette, but it's the one I wanted. No doubt the C4 is a huge leap forward, that's why I bought one of them as well.

 

Bought "The Toy" in the spring of 2000 and have loved every mile behind the wheel. Bought "The Beast" in the fall of 2006 and have also loved every mile behind the wheel.

Which car do I prefer on the open road? The ZR-1 hands down. It is comfortable, fast, handles great and is (relatively) easy on gas when you behave yourself.

Which car do I prefer to take to the local cruise-in? The '70. It gets lots of and people come up to you and talk to you.

Which is better is a simply a matter of personal taste, regardless of the technology. The spec sheets do tip the scale in favor of the C4s as far as overall performance goes though.

 

If I were going to drive any distance and had to choose between C4 or C3, I'd definitely take the C4...but choosing between C4 or C5 for that same long trip, the C5 wins. The C6 beats the C5 for the long drive. I still won't be getting rid of my C4 anytime soon. For cruising around in the summer, I'd pick the C3.

 

This guy doesn't think so
www.corvetteswanted.us

From their web page
"We are among the Nations Leaders in Buying Corvettes. From project to show Corvettes we will buy anything from 1953 to the current year model except 1984-1989."
Discrimination

 

I have one of each in my driveway. Two very different cars that are both enjoyable for all the reasons above.

The last C3 was built 27 years ago -- that age puts it in the 'classic' category. The last C4 was built 13 years ago -- got a long way to go before being 'classic'.

The bigger question is, why are some Corvette owners compelled to dump on others because of the generation of Corvette they own? Its like listening to a bunch of nerds argue about which episode of Star Wars is better.

Drive 'em, race 'em, restore 'em collect 'em, -- whatever, just enjoy!