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C5 electronics and rearend scared me. C4 was a great platform for many years to enjoy or improve upon. No matter how I built a mustang it never felt like a c4 could. I've had 2 c4's. I did not keep the '89 long.
Me also. In 2016 the only C5's I could afford (price has since fallen into the basement on C5's) were ones that were getting into the realm of new clutch/other maintenance time. I ran searches on what folks were paying for clutch replacement and saw $2000.00 was what was being posted (some more, some less). Plus being hard to work on because I do most of my own wrenching. That $2000 would go far towards a lot of parts (and it has).
Now, I am really enjoying learning what to do and how to modify my '96 A4 car to at least perform as well as the base model later ones, at a fraction of the price.
I also really like the way it feels when climbing in.
If/when we can afford it (and after I get the '96 done) I want to get an M6 car and tweak it out a bit also.
For a all-around hot rod it stops got lots power and easy to add more looks good drives great won't break the bank to buy one or make it supper cool either easy to work on about it . Was looing at an old 72 Camaro body the other day
sitting under an old shed all tires flat paint gone no RS or SS auto 2 barrel crab been stetting for years and looked it RUFF, $7500.00 . I got $9,000 in this 93 do the math ..
Yes, makes sense. F bodys my favorite ride period they are just too much $. They will come down over time though.
That color looks great, hard to go wrong with a nice C4. Easy to get the LT1 to break into 12s pass smog & still be reliable while getting good mpg. Cant say that about many cars.
Teh C5s are right there too. Member recently picked up a high miler for $3500!! It was well maintained though, looked and ran great. Thats beat up Silverado money.
Yes, makes sense. F bodys my favorite ride period they are just too much $. They will come down over time though.
That color looks great, hard to go wrong with a nice C4. Easy to get the LT1 to break into 12s pass smog & still be reliable while getting good mpg. Cant say that about many cars.
Teh C5s are right there too. Member recently picked up a high miler for $3500!! It was well maintained though, looked and ran great. Thats beat up Silverado money.
Your right ,if got the money go for it but the deal is people build these F body's when after they spend $30,000 what they have is a C-4 corvette in a F body .. be new but still to me just cut to the chase and buy a Corvette .. The old Camaros are going for nice ones $25-30some 45-50 and the real nice ones $60,000 up.. I just sold a 04 Comm Z 550 RW- HP up grads as long as your arm for $25,000 would out run and out look any $50,000 Camaro I have ever seen . I have like most been wanting a old Camaro but the old Corvettes keep pulling my back in .. O-WELL
I was a long term C2 owner back in 2008 when I purchased my 1995 ZR-1. Having had my 1967 435HP coupe since 1995 and a 1964 365HP convertible before that from 1981 to 1995 I felt that the Corvette hobby had split between the C1-2-3 Corvettes and the newer C4-5-6 Corvettes. I wanted to try a newer Corvette to augment my C2. Looking at all the options back in 2008, I became enamored with the LT5 engine and even though I could purchase the C5 Z06 or the new C6 Z06, I preferred the look and feel (and unique engine) of the C4 ZR-1.
As Alex Trebek says "Price, Price and Price". $8000 for a 1985, 40k mile, garage kept beauty that just required some tlc. I looked for years and finally bought this a car show trophy winning, race track running, tons of fun Corvette! So much fun I bought another 1985 project that turned out to be a Z51, so I wouldn't destroy the other car. $2300 and have about $5000 in it as of now.
Classic, understated styling
Performance bargain of the century
LT1 + ZF6 = heavenly... God I love driving this car
Very reliable, if maintained well
Very good fuel economy, for a sports car
Unusual to see other C4s on the road, around here anyway
Has a spare tire
I was a young Navy man when the C4 came out. Loved the look of the car. To me it had a combination of a TRON look and a retro look to art deco. Either way it looked cool. I literally walked into my car when a local used car guy had one up for sale. Entered it in a car show a week after I bought it and won a trophy. Love the car and how it handles.
Don't get me started. Aside from the obvious ones above (the power, the seats, the view from the driver's seat, the BARGAIN!), I even love weird little things like backing up. I love turning around and seeing all that nothing - the 'bubble canopy' hatch is so cool. Opening the hood on some unsuspecting person who doesn't expect The Clamshell has also turned out to be fun. Plus, it has these secret shapes and curves that aren't always readily apparent to the casual observer...there's an angle I probably can't quite describe accurately when I look at the "gills" as I'm climbing in - with the fender flares, it looks more C2 than C4, and you'd never know it if you didn't own one. Can't wait to get mine out for a photo shoot in the summer.
#1 for me, though, is probably the cockpit. I feel like I'm putting it on more than getting into it. That dash cluster (the later version, I have a '96) is more fun & has more cool factor than anything else I've driven.
I also grew up dreaming of a C4 above all else, although there were others on the wish list. But of my childhood dream cars, it's the only one that I could ever probably afford (see: Countach, F40, F355, DB5) or take care of even if I could (ex: '67 Camaro, C2 Corvette). I don't think I'd trade mine for any of those right now.....maybe a ZR-1, though.
I really wanted a C3 ( the prettiest generation of Corvette IMO) but every C3 in my price range needed work. For the same money I was able to get a much nicer, ready to go car with the C4 (more bang for the buck).
St. Jude Donor '13, '15-'16,'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Another thing about the C4, you can get in it and drive to the store or cross country and be comfortable. Along with having fun and even getting great gas mileage, it is just a great platform.
I had always planned on buying a C5 for my first vette. As I was getting ready to purchase a C5 I found out it just did not feel like the right car for me. This was a big surprise as I was really focused on the C5 but when I actually started to check them out and sit in them etc. i just knew it was not the right fit. This is not taking anything away from the C5 but rather to say I found that the later C4's fit me like a glove-I mean literally like a glove as I am 6' 4" tall so as others have said you feel like the car is wrapped around you.
I will be the first to admit that getting in and out of the C4 is a bit of a pain and the ride can be harsh on certain roads and it feels a bit uncivilized and it makes me think on a hot summer day in traffic it is on the razors edge of overheating. You get the idea but it is all these reasons that makes me feel connected to the car.
Driving my C4 is more like an event and the best way I can explain it is to say my C4 is like a older Harley-there are smoother and faster rides but just like the Harley my C4 makes me feel more alive and engaged and that is something that a newer more refined ride just does not do for me. My guess is as I get older I may ad a newer more refined vette for every day driving or to have a vette that my wife can actually get in and out of but if I am able I plan on keeping the '95 around for those times when I need to get my heart beating a little faster and for me that is what it is all about.
I bought mine new in 1993. Corvette was having a few problems and the brand was almost lost I had a 75 roadster and a 77 L-82 car at the time and figured Corvette needed the business so i ordered mine The day i picked up the car i drove to Corvette of Carlisle a fun ride and was i surprised with the gas mileage it was in the high 20"S. I still have the car and have only changed the water pump and Opti This Torch red beast has given me a lot of fun and trophys from English town to the Budweiser plant in New Hampshire, would i buy again yes!
The C4 was new back in my elementrary school days riding the bus. It was very intriguing to me the proportions of the car versus all the other commuter cars on the road. Then the C5 hit in 97 and I disliked the C4 as much as the OT guys do. I always chuckle at the C6 guys that got pissy about Tadge stating the C6 was obsolete compared to the C7. First off, that's a given as technology improves and secondly, they must've forgotten how bad Chevy ripped on the C4 every chance it got while rolling out the "clean sheet designed" C5. As I got more and more into Corvettes, I started checking out the magazines and while the then-new C5 looked nicer to me, the engine bay was underwhelming.
That sounds nitpicky, but I only mention that because I saw a picture of an LT5 and said, "whoa! how come the C5 doesn't have an engine that looks like this?" and the rest was history. The more I dug into the history of the C4 from start to finish the greater my appreciation for the generation grew. A lot of guys stuck their necks out to take some very big risk for cars like the ZR-1 that nobody knew they even wanted or had-to-have. The whole unfolding of the car from start to finish and touring of France with the press cars and overall community impact of the car isn't something I've seen since the C6 Z06 unveiling. Now, if GM tried to offer just a base Corvette, the world and internet forums would be on fire in hours of the announcement.
I like the C5 Z06 a lot but I never got that warm and fuzzy feeling of lore that comes with the ZR-1. I've got an 85 rat rod with a bit of money in it and a 91 ZR-1....both cases I could've picked up a C5 or C6. The ZR-1 was the end goal which I got to WAY faster than I thought (right place, right time, right number of years of stalking the car) .I have one last C4 to complete the "madness": a 1996 Grand Sport. Maybe in a few years.
Last edited by 1985 Corvette; 01-12-2019 at 11:41 AM.
01-09-2019, 01:41 AM
