Other than the THING, I have also owned about everything he has listed. This includes a 1978 Porsche 924 and 84 Vette. While my 84 isn’t my favorite Vette I own, it is still a lot more fun to drive than my DD and still gets compliments. I will say I do love the Atari dash in it. It might by the second favorite instrument cluster of the ones I own, coming in behind the 64.

 

I personally have never seen a "worst" corvette from the factory. I've seen a few questionable modifications, but that's strictly personal preference. I do think the article, or at least it's title, does not belong on this forum. Frankly I am an enthusiast, and don't care for any derogatory comments about any corvette. I have a '77 an 85 and a 2005. All great in their own way. But there is something extra special about the C4. The beginning of cutting technology and a blast to drive. Of course, it's no volkswagon thing.....

 

It's just the typical ebb and flow of vintage cars.
Sooner or later they all hit their low point, which seems to come around the 25-30+ year mark. They're not quite old enough to be considered true classics and still new enough to not be considered true classics. Kinda between a rock and a hard spot. The C3's had the same stigma not that long ago. They were bashed by everyone, everywhere and you could buy one for a song. Luckily time heals all wounds and now the C3's are comfortably on the rise. People started to re-appreciate the body style and just how much of a classic car they were and you could buy in at a very fair price. That window usually lasts for a couple of years until everyone finally sees it, then the prices jump up and stay up....for good. Just look at how much a basket case C2 brings today.
The C4 is going through the same thing right now but I suspect, in the not too distant future people will re-discover this affordable gem and they will also get on the "Gotta Have, Classic" list.
The unfair thing about the '84 is not that it's so bad, it's more to do with how much and how quickly the Corvette improved over the next few years. They just out grew the '84 very quickly. But I remember back in 1984 when the first new Corvette rolled into the local Chevrolet dealer, every car guy in town showed up for a look and the car got thumbs up from everybody! The huge tire and wheel package, the lightweight aluminum suspension, that wild new digital dash, the most radically raked windshield of any American production car, the clam shell hood, the true race car feel of the driver's positioning, all new ergonomics, etc., etc., etc. ....and if you had a cassette tape of Van Halen's 1984 to blast over the all new Bose sound system, you were the coolest guy on the planet! It was all new then and there was nothing like it anywhere. Corvette was finally King of the Hill again.
The C4's turn is coming, they will offer every part needed to restore them just like the C1, C2 & C3 and I think the earlier C4's will be the best bargain.... for a little while. In a few years they'll be having the same conversations here that the the earlier Corvette boards have. "I remember when I could've bought a great running '84 for $2,000".
Better start looking now.....

 

I'm not sure this timing works for all Corvette generations. When I purchased my first Corvette, a 1964 365HP convertible in 1981, nice 67 435s were already more expensive than new 1981 Corvettes. That's only 14 years. That would be like saying that 1995 ZR-1s would be worth well over $100K by the year 2009 (a price that very few ZR-1s could come close to claiming). The difference between the two sets of times (1967 to 1981, and 1995 to 2009) is that the 1981 Corvettes were poor performers relative to the 67s whereas you could purchase 600+ HP ZR!s in 2009. People in 1981 thought that the performance era was gone never to be repeated.

 

Hmmmm?
Well, granted the year span is a fluid thing that can easily change. It was only meant for a reference.
And, while you've chosen the rarest and most expensive Corvette to make your point, I don't think they were bringing more than a brand new Corvette in 1981. A nicely loaded '81 Corvette would have been about $20K in 1981.
Here is a cross section of some of the most desirable muscle cars in America, listed for sale in a 1981 Auto Trader. None of them were bringing anywhere near $20,000.

 

Showing the muscle cars is somewhat irrelevant as they were a far different market than the Corvette market. But the two Corvettes that you do show are in the neighborhood of the day. That 65 would have been discounted because of the AT and 62 for a non-fuelie with non-original components at $8200 was a good price. The point is that this was little more than 15 years or so after those vehicles were built and that is significant but typical money for non-special cars. That would be like saying the typical 84 would be bringing $30-40K today - and you know that is not true. I spent $7,000 for my Corvette in 1981 (a lowly 64 but with the performance carbureted engine). I still remember the pricing for two coupes at a local show, one, a yellow 1966 425HP at $16K, and another green 67 435 at $18K (and green cars for all their beauty have always been the least expensive 435s). Considering that the 81 pricing you refer to is MSRP, most new Corvettes had significant price cuts at the dealers. 10-15% off was not unusual. I almost bought a 1981 but backed out because of the lack of performance feel so I am well aware of the pricing in those days. I would doubt if a single 1981 Corvette exchanged hands for $20K.

 

A 1984 here in Ohio is probably 98% or better sound in its body/frame/etc. It had to be really abused to have rust issues. The paint might be lacking, and also the interior, but the anti-rust coating more than likely did its job.

A C3 (well even a C2), unless it was kept dry in the garage, is really really likely to be in sad/sorry condition due to the frame and birdcage rusting out. The '69 my buddy just did, had holes in the rocker panel area of the birdcage that needed patches welded in. So was the frame around the windshield. AND so was the frame. It cost $17,000.00 to have the west coast desert sourced, powder coated and totally rebuilt frame/suspension delivered to Akron, Ohio. And that was just the frame, no installation, shimming etc. Just to have to crate delivered. And that was a bargain. I looked into aftermarket tube frames and such for him.

For $17,000 you can have lots of fun with a '84.

Not that I dislike the 2's and 3's. My dream car (other than getting the '65 back I had) is a 65 - 67 coupe, with an aftermarket tube frame, C4/5 suspension and a 427 BBC that has been fully rollerized and EFI'ed.

These people that are so enamored of the 5's and later don't take into account that without that '84 to get it all going again, there would be no later ones. It started a whole new thought process chassis wise and such.

 

Well, I read the article expecting a complete trashing of the C4 and 84 after reading the comments here. However, I found the article to be boring overall with reasonable tone toward C4’s, but the title and label as “worst ever” to be misleading. Click bait, apparently. It sounds like Webb wrote the article, which is not really interesting, and an editor made some changes to spice it up a little - to get some reader energy and talking points. Editors do that crap. And here I am writing a review on an article I would not even have read if the title had been, “My Thoughts on the 84 Corvette”

Anyway, based only on performance specs, the 84-Crossfire is not the worst ever. I checked Corv Sport specs info. If you look at a 1984 in the year 2022, 38 years, then it would be reasonable (not exact) to look at a 1954 in the year 1984, 30 years, and make a comparison.

The 84 out performed the 54. Woah!! What?! You mean the car from 30 years earlier is not a super car forever? You mean the 84 is not the slowest vette of all time? Those present-day evaluations of the performance of our 30 plus year old cars today are laughable. I usually stop reading or watching them.

I graduated HS in 83. The Corvette, stock, was king of the hill, period. I had friends with built Camaros, Novas, ElCaminos, etc. My old 70 Ford truck had a fresh rebuilt engine with valves I lapped myself. It was peppy. The one friend I had with an older brother with an 82 Collector Edition was coolest dude to a 16/17 year old year old with only an old beat up pickup. For that era, 82 was fast as a bat-out-of-hell right off the showroom floor, looked amazing, and actually had air conditioning - something none of me or my rodder friends had.

When the 84 hit the streets, it was like a Ferrari. Fast, sleek, smooth, handled like a dream. Then the C4 started winning races beating the Porsche all over. It was in another league to kids like us. I would never be able to write an article criticizing the early C4’s because I was in the middle of the craze when they came out. They were truly amazing in that time.

Anyway, I found the article to be uninformative. Not anything to make my blood boil. You can a take Ford Pinto and change the drivetrain and suspension and make it drive better and faster - ho hum, dude. No news there.

As far another Crossfire hater, sure go ahead. I like my Crossfire 82 BECAUSE it is special. I was quite aware of the performance specs of the CFI when I chose it. If I wanted a big block with 2500 CFM quad four barrel double stacked intake and 6 inch pipes for headers, then I would have gotten one. if I wanted a LT4 in a C4 then I would have gotten one. I wanted something different. Unless you got a great deal, why would one buy a 84 with a CFI just to change it to a carb, a TPI or an LS? Why not just get a C4 with a TPI or get a C5? Does he actually believe the engineers who designed the system did not realize they could get more power by increasing the port size? When he claims it was pre-maturely released, I guess he did not read the history and discover the C4 was actually delayed due to an upper management decision on design.

Anyway, if you read this post to the end, then you have endured enough pain from both the article and this (probably worse) review of the article. But thanks anyway. I’m done.

 

Yes, I found the thread, the 84 was a rush out the door job. Should have continued the C3 for 83, skip 84 which would have bought them 2 years. But no, they rushed it out in 84, and the 85 is different then the 86, and the 87 is different.....etc. They got the c4 right in 89. Its a bummer for guys who work on cars. Then there are the unique factory service manuals...I wont beat that horse to death. lol

 

GM (and the other ones) do that all the time. They put out the Duramax with RPO code LLY in mid-year 2004 (called it a 2004.5). There were lots of overheating trucks. Ours would run hot at 58 mph pulling a 6500 lb trailer (rated for well over 10,000). 62 mph would cool it down. We unfortunately due to family circumstanceswere not able to get in on the lawsuits but I fixed mine, cost a couple 1000 but we had bought it for $10,000 less than sticker new, so it wasn't so bad. They got it right in 2006.

 

The bean counters usually overrule the engineers and the mistake gets passed down to guys like us. Dummies like me keep buying their stuff but here is an interesting thought about the worst vette mechanically and economically: In 1975, a DECADE before gm went with multiport injection, The Japanese had multi port injection on their 280z, mass air flow device and all the same goodies. Porsche had it too on their 914's. How could GM be asleep for a decade. That nap caught up to them in 84, even earlier then that.

 

Really wish I'd have picked up a C3 instead of the C4.

But now that the C4 is pretty much done, as far as I want to go with it, I might start looking around for the right C3.

I've learned quite a bit with regard to how to shop for these things, unlike going into the C4.

 

As I recall, the C4 is the reigning Corvette of the year in both modified and unmodified categories here on the forum.

Theres' still probably a lot of folks really salty about that, as trivial as it is. Ha.

 

where exactly do you mean? picked an 84 4+3 up as a starter track car for my kid. thnx.

 

My carbed 84 would run circles around the 76 L82 I had. 76 had very poor handling compared to my 84 with Z51 stock suspension. I had no problems with my xfire set up but I just prefer a carb system.

 

I know what you mean. I owned this '80 for 14 years before I made the mistake of selling it in 2009. I grew up with the C3s and C4s and always had a thing for the '80-'82 body style. I enjoy my '86 now and just like to cruise around in it from time to time. I am familiar with the L-98 from having owned an '89 IROC-Z.

Attachment 48331946

 

You can make 2's and 3's handle really good. It all depends on how far you want to go. Back in 1982, I was collecting teflon bar ands and machining sway bar and shock bushings for the '65 I had. The steering was superbly quick as I also put good gas shocks and wide tires, with lightweigh aluminum rims to cut down the unsprung weight.

There are new replacement suspensions that bolt to the 2 or 3 frame that really change the way the cars handle.

As I have mentioned, a fully rollerized 427 big block with sequential fuel injection, coupled with suspension enhancements make a C2 OR 3 a real beast and are ULTRA COOL.

Turn up your sound


Also a while ago I had a thread up about the World Block that used the LS heads. That block has enough meat to make a 427 small block (427's have a unique sound, whether Ford or Chevy, something about the displacement in my opinion). So you take that 1984 Corvette that everyone hates (tongue in cheek), swap in a World Block 427, coupled with a good transmission and a Dana 44 rearend and you will have another beast. Seeing as 84's (and 85's) are relatively inexpensive, they are a prime candidate.

Even take that 84, gut the electronics, go with a good trans and a Dana 44, good heads and (if you really want to be cool) get a 3 deuce setup for it or to be a bit historically correct, build a 327, which also has a unique sound.

This is what started it all for me

 

The C4 is not a bad looking car, its clean and smooth but the engineers that worked on it must have come from Atari. Its the corvette version of Knight rider.

 

Hey, Knight Rider was the King of Cool back then. Hasselhoff rules! 😜

 

Unfortunately, all too typical of articles we find, from the "Corvette Forum Curator". They're terrible...."articles". No research, no new info, no tech, no info, no....knowledge of the subject at all.

At BEST, they're regurgitations (love the link about the engine! ) of decades of misinformational "tid-bits" the author finds, then re-packages into dog-**** and thinks he wrote an "article". Guy should be embarrassed.


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