Posted on 02/21/2025 3:56:11 PM PST by maddog55
Truely a nice car, but I will stick by my '57 fuelie.
I’m glad that I don’t have any regrets about Corvettes. It doesn’t bother me a bit. In fact I never even think about that time that I passed up on that 1962 Vette. It had a hardtop and soft top. The interior was good but the engine was all stock. It also needed a paintjob. There was no way that I was going to pay $250 bucks for that, no siree. No really, I never regret that at all. That was back in 1974. I have completely forgotten about it though because it doesn’t bother me.
My favorite of the dozens of cars and trucks I’ve owned….an ermine white ‘66 Chevelle SS convertible with red buckets and consolehp 396 with factory three speed…not four….though I did install a four speed eventually. It was my second car and I was a month shy of nineteen years old. Now I drive my Ford model Ts and 84 Vette. The c4s get a bum rap in the Vette world but they were true super cars of the era with the ability to get a full 1G while cornering. No other production car in the world could do that at the time. The EPA made Chevy put detuned crap engines in them hence the ridicule. One point regarding the first poster….by 1971 the 427 was history, replaced by the 454.
Don
You should get a 1983 Corvette.
Oh scratch that. Production was so bad back then, they didn’t even make 83’s.
Wow, what a powerful machine. From a dead stop you could punch it and completely turn around on a highway without going outside the white lines. Fun, but it was hard on those rear tires.
I was never a gear-head. Didn’t even bother to get my drivers license until I was to report for active duty as a butter-bar lt in ‘71. But I love good engineering. I have a ‘75 FJ40 Landcruiser, bought with special duty pay, that received a crated small-block Chevy V8 after the Toyota copy of the stovebolt six self-destructed.
Wrenched for years for friends that tracked their C5 and C6 ‘Vettes at recognizable raceways, After retiring and moving south, browbeat a friend into restoring his factory A/C ‘67 convertible. Finally bought a C7 2014 Z51 ‘vert in Limerock Green. [this from someone who claimed anything I bought that was fiberglass would have wings and twin engines]
Love my C7 still, at 40k miles. For practical purposes does well against C8s, but then I’ve been rallying since grad-school MGB days. I prefer the lines of my C7 when compared with C8 ‘verts - lower, sleeker. Would post photos but don’t have time to put them on web server. Doesn’t really matter as drag coefficient for convertibles sucks.
Too cheap to plunk down the cash for a C8 Z06 but what a triumph for Detroit engineering.
They did.
500 of them.
Proof for the new body style for 84.
I had a chance to buy one.
AI says there were 43. All pre-production models.
Only one is left. At Bowling Green, of course.
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/which-year-did-chevrolet-not-m-4fj4p1O9R.aUwb35iIT1Rw
I’m not a big fan of the boat tail Vetts. I had a friend in the Navy with a 58 Vette. It was really nice
First year of the fuelies. Got pics?
Read later.
I have a ‘74 Vette with a factory stock 454.
I may have missed out on that ‘62 Vette but I too got to enjoy the raw power of a 427. I picked up a 1967 tri-power 427 to go in my ‘68 Camaro when the engine was stolen from it. The 427 plus a wide ration Muncie and I was good to go. I added a tilt up “glass” front end and a few other goodies and I was able to get in a lot of trouble with it. Ahhhh, those were the days. The Chevelles were nice too. I had a buddy that collected all of the SS ragtops.
That’s funny, the car goes fast enough to not worry about people behind you, there won’t be anyone there if you are on the gas.
Yep. I got a ‘deal’ at MSRP (!!!) back when guys were paying $30K over... Oh well. I love the look, esp. as I described— looks better, to my eye, than similar offerings from Ferrari and Lamborghini. They are an absolute KICK to drive. If you’ve never had the opportunity, and don’t mind spending a wad of cash, you can actually RENT one from Enterprise at certain locations, as I did. Wanted to see if I fit (6’1”, 215), could get out, if there were any fatal flaws, etc. That sealed the deal for me, and I ordered one up exactly the way I wanted it. Got it in Hypersonic Gray Metallic (discontinued), with Natural interior— a very classy, Old School European combo— and I get compliments every time I take it out. People flock to the C8, which is kinda fun! Friends with C7s love their cars just as much, AND, as they’ll all point out, they get to have a manual transmission...
Thats my advice
LOL. Are you even a man if you don’t have at least 1 car you should have bought, or shouldn’t have got rid of? There was a 1972 Challenger that I wanted to buy so bad in 1992 but i couldn’t sell my Trans Am in time. A buddy of mine from HS bought it and jacked it way up in the air to put headers on it. Then he got in some trouble and went away for 6 months. That car is STILL in his moms backyard. Saw it last in 2021...
My First Sergeant retired and went to work selling Chevies in Elizabethtown, KY.
He called me up to ask me if I wanted to buy one of these cars.
He had a Corvette and knew I liked them.
That was the kind of car you buy and store.
I couldn’t afford that.
Wish I could have.
He doesn’t deserve it. You distract him and I will drive ithe Challenger off. then I willl turn it over to you, but you will have to help me grab one of my buddies Chevelle’s.. Fair enough?
just kidding, of course. :)
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