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Thanks, i know I'm bloviating, but be that as it may, I'm thrilled to have found this car. I've rarely seen factory paint so brilliant on a car this age.
Stunning. I don't think I've ever seen a Torch Red '96 ragtop with red guts. Great choice on the wheels. They totally transform the car. I would say it looks like a new car, but it actually looks better than new. Congrats.
Stunning. I don't think I've ever seen a Torch Red '96 ragtop with red guts. Great choice on the wheels. They totally transform the car. I would say it looks like a new car, but it actually looks better than new. Congrats.
Live well,
SJW
Thank you!
Honestly it's the only one I've ever seen, The cars a base, only option was the LT4 engine, which means, no power seats, no CD player, and no climate controls, just a tape deck, and manual air conditioning.
It has the base suspension, but it sure rides nice. as for the color combo, and the option list, probably not many if any? I was told on this forum it was 1 of 42 cars Red/Red , but that would include various options, My car has none.
I've seen one similar Red/Red 96, but it had all the options, He was selling it on you tube a few years ago. No idea what he wanted for it
For many years, I owned both a Torch Red '94 ragtop, six-speed, heavily-optioned car, and a low-option LT4 coupe. I sold the LT4 car a number of years ago, and still have the ragtop car. The '94 has power sport seats, automatic climate control, Bose CD & cassette. The LT4 coupe had base seats, base HVAC controller, and Bose CD & cassette. My thoughts about those options are these:
1. The base seats in the LT4 car were more comfortable, at least as far as fitting my body better, than the sport seats on the '94. The power sport seats add weight and complexity, and the lumbar bladders are prone to failure. Mine still work. I'd prefer the base seats over the sport seats any day.
2. The automatic climate controller in the C4 is also prone to failure. Mine has been replaced. The base HVAC controller is simple and works well. If I get too hot or cold, I'm not too lazy to move my hand from the shifter to the HVAC control to bump it up or down.
3. The entire Bose system sucks, as do nearly all Bose products. Nobody listens to CDs in cars anymore, and very few factory CD players still function in cars that are 25+ years old.
If the LT4 car had been a Torch Red ragtop, I'd have kept it and sold the '94. The LT4 was a fantastic car, but it was a coupe, and Competition Yellow. I was tempted to swap the seats between those two cars before I sold the coupe, and I sometimes wish I had done so.
Bottom line, IMHO your car is missing exactly zero desirable options. It has the only ones I would want on that car.
For many years, I owned both a Torch Red '94 ragtop, six-speed, heavily-optioned car, and a low-option LT4 coupe. I sold the LT4 car a number of years ago, and still have the ragtop car. The '94 has power sport seats, automatic climate control, Bose CD & cassette. The LT4 coupe had base seats, base HVAC controller, and Bose CD & cassette. My thoughts about those options are these:
1. The base seats in the LT4 car were more comfortable, at least as far as fitting my body better, than the sport seats on the '94. The power sport seats add weight and complexity, and the lumbar bladders are prone to failure. Mine still work. I'd prefer the base seats over the sport seats any day.
2. The automatic climate controller in the C4 is also prone to failure. Mine has been replaced. The base HVAC controller is simple and works well. If I get too hot or cold, I'm not too lazy to move my hand from the shifter to the HVAC control to bump it up or down.
3. The entire Bose system sucks, as do nearly all Bose products. Nobody listens to CDs in cars anymore, and very few factory CD players still function in cars that are 25+ years old.
If the LT4 car had been a Torch Red ragtop, I'd have kept it and sold the '94. The LT4 was a fantastic car, but it was a coupe, and Competition Yellow. I was tempted to swap the seats between those two cars before I sold the coupe, and I sometimes wish I had done so.
Bottom line, IMHO your car is missing exactly zero desirable options. It has the only ones I would want on that car.
Live well,
SJW
Thank you so much for the information, My 89 corvette had all the options you mentioned except CD player, it had an aftermarket radio when i got it. but the seats worked, sorta? the climate control didn't work at all, it just spun numbers in an incoherent sequence.
the windows rolled up at the breakneck speed of, 2'' per minute lol , but it was my first corvette i enjoyed it despite all the things that didn't work on it. my priority for that car was to keep it running top notch, and not worry about the cosmetic issues, after all, I kept the car in the garage all the time. It leaked like a sieve, and you could cut your arm on the window sweeps, the heater core was shot, and the air con didn't work anyway.
It leaked every form of useable liquid the car needed to run and drive, oil, replaced valve cover gaskets, [still leaked main seal] antifreeze [fixed] power steering fluid [fixed] brake fluid [fixed] windshield washer fluid,[not fixed] nothing from that ZF transmission though.
The wind screen had wiper scratches and after 108,000 miles was pretty well sandblasted to a dull haze, the rear view mirror had little reflection left, that didn't matter because the mirror shook like crazy. the seats had holes the size of sauce pans in it, [ izzy seat covers for Christmas] it was basically driven half to death by the previous owner, i got it cheap,and enjoyed it, but it never made dollars and sense to put a ton of cash into it.
the car i posted is the result of the sale of my 89 and saving for a few years for one with no issues [ so far so good ] I have no delusion that my car will not need maintenance and repair, but look at it! its worth keeping it up and making sure its taken care of.
By the way your convertible is absolutely gorgeous, i love rag top corvettes with a six speed manual, Shame you let the LT4 car go, i have a feeling some day, they might turn into somewhat of a hard to find car, and become one of the few C4 collectable cars, they just didn't make many, 5400 , other than some type of skunk work project with 100 camaro cars the following year? they retired the LT4 engine without so much as a whimper. 1 year, one car, that's the definition of corvette collectability
Thank you so much for the information, My 89 corvette had all the options you mentioned except CD player, it had an aftermarket radio when i got it. but the seats worked, sorta? the climate control didn't work at all, it just spun numbers in an incoherent sequence.
the windows rolled up at the breakneck speed of, 2'' per minute lol , but it was my first corvette i enjoyed it despite all the things that didn't work on it. my priority for that car was to keep it running top notch, and not worry about the cosmetic issues, after all, I kept the car in the garage all the time. It leaked like a sieve, and you could cut your arm on the window sweeps, the heater core was shot, and the air con didn't work anyway.
It leaked every form of useable liquid the car needed to run and drive, oil, replaced valve cover gaskets, [still leaked main seal] antifreeze [fixed] power steering fluid [fixed] brake fluid [fixed] windshield washer fluid,[not fixed] nothing from that ZF transmission though.
The wind screen had wiper scratches and after 108,000 miles was pretty well sandblasted to a dull haze, the rear view mirror had little reflection left, that didn't matter because the mirror shook like crazy. the seats had holes the size of sauce pans in it, [ izzy seat covers for Christmas] it was basically driven half to death by the previous owner, i got it cheap,and enjoyed it, but it never made dollars and sense to put a ton of cash into it.
the car i posted is the result of the sale of my 89 and saving for a few years for one with no issues [ so far so good ] I have no delusion that my car will not need maintenance and repair, but look at it! its worth keeping it up and making sure its taken care of.
Your '89 was not worth the cubic dollars you'd have had to pour into it to get it back into the condition that you'd have wanted it to be. You made the sensible decision to enjoy it mostly as-is for a while, then dump it and look for a better specimen. And you found it. This one is worth maintaining, regardless of what it needs going forward. That's the difference between a pristine example, and a dogged-out roach that has been ridden hard, put away wet, and just plain used up. If you stay on top of this one's needs, rather than letting problems pile up and generally neglecting and abusing the car as the previous owner(s) of the '89 did, it will continue to look and operate as it should, and you'll smile every time you look at it and drive it. Keeping it garaged pays huge dividends in longevity, especially with respect to paint, interior, and weatherstripping, all of which can eat up big $$$ quickly to restore.
By the way your convertible is absolutely gorgeous, i love rag top corvettes with a six speed manual, Shame you let the LT4 car go, i have a feeling some day, they might turn into somewhat of a hard to find car, and become one of the few C4 collectable cars, they just didn't make many, 5400 , other than some type of skunk work project with 100 camaro cars the following year? they retired the LT4 engine without so much as a whimper. 1 year, one car, that's the definition of corvette collectability
Thanks for the kind words. This car still looks damned good for its age, and still draws eyeballs and compliments. Although the opinions of others about it are not what's important to me, it is an indication of its condition and appearance, and it's always nice to get a thumbs-up or a complimentary word or two when strangers see it. It's still a joy to drive.
I'd have kept the LT4 car if I had an additional garage bay in which to store it, but I was maxed out, and it started to nag at me that it was parked outdoors full-time. It was starting to show the very early signs of decline from continued exposure to the elements, and I just couldn't justify keeping it any longer under those conditions. Circumstances had changed enough that I wasn't driving either car much, as I had made a job change that reduced my commute from 25 miles one-way to 2 miles, which had me rarely driving either of them daily. The fact that it was yellow made it easier for me to let it go. I didn't buy it for its color, I bought it for its condition which was near-perfect, and it had only 19,xxx miles on it at that time.
I've done numerous long road trips in each of them, and they both served me well. But, it was time to get the LT4 car into the hands of somebody who could garage it, and would use, enjoy, and maintain it as it merited. I sold it to friends, who did just that.
I've since gone the other direction, chronologically:
Sweet looking ride!
Spring cleaning
