Having had a 69 roadster with a four speed, my next one would be an 82 fully loaded with T-tops since they stopped the roadster in either 74 or 75. I don't know if ANY states offered it for sale with a four speed. My '69 looked beautiful, LeMans Blue, perfect body.
Here's an almost exact match to it:
It's what's underside that ruined it for me. In 1969 there wasn't any law for side beams in the doors so if you get t-boned, what's between you and the car that is about to kill you is a thin piece of fiberglass. Plus it didn't have ANY heat shielding so driving in the summer was torture (it didn't have A/C and from what I've heard, it wouldn't have helped much). They over heat stock so I had to put a complete '80 coollent system to keep the heat under control. Always keep the stock parts since they matter big time when you sell. The chrome bumpers ran from '68 to '73 but the 73's only had rear chrome bumpers. These cars demand a premium.
Next up is the C4 which was made from '84 to I think '96 there being no '83 model. They look like this:
I dislike the years from I believe 1984 to 1989??? because they have a funky all digital dash that is prone to problems. You most likely can find one in this style for your price range. Corvettes tend to get hammered on so take it in to a Vette specialist for a complete inspection before you buy.
Vette's are fun, they have a lot of clubs and rallys you can participate and get tech help. Good luck, the small block is one strong reliable engine and after the 1984 models, they went to real fuel injection so avoid the first years with cross point injection.