brassplyer

Anyone have insight into the design change from the C3 to the C4? I see the sales numbers attributed to the '84 are about double what they were for the '82 but wasn't the '84 basically offered for two years since there was no '83? I assume the drop in sales from '81 to '82 had to do with people waiting for the new model to come out.

But did either GM or customers really think this



Was an improvement over this?

BarryB72

That later c4 with black wheels is not a good example of how hideous the 84s were with their salad shooter wheels. (And we had an 85 in the mid 90's and I actually liked it)

BarryB72

Try this one

Aerovette

Those two cars, from a performance and engineering standpoint, couldn't be further from each other. The 84 was an insane leap forward. The 83 was a new skin on a 20 year old chassis.

rcread

The '84 was a huge improvement over the C3. Handling was much improved from a chassis that hadn't changed since 1963. The body was much more aerodynamic and modern looking. The real drawbacks to the early C4s were the harsh ride on the street and the 4+3 transmission, but they made great track cars.

vettebuyer6369

Looks-wise, the ‘84 was just another shaved down wind tunnel car bar of soap like the Firebird and Camaro of the day.

It was the 80s. Don’t think too hard.

Gold Dragon

Progress, and pushing the brand into the future. The C-3 design ran its natural course. We are experiencing the same thing again with the C-8 IMHO. An improvement? I have always been a fan of the C-4. I know they have issues, but what vehicle doesn't. Its the perfect daily driver for the corvette enthusiast.

doorgunner

Firebird leftovers......close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades.

itsonlyairandfuel

But, the 83 was a very rare car.

av81

I went from a 81 and 82 to a new 85 , trust me it was night and day , the c 4 was a much better car. I am not talking today I am talking 1985 climbing out of a 82 vette getting in to a brand new 85 vette was a huge improvement in every aspect , today I have a 1981 No interest in a c 4 all these years later they are ratty now.

brassplyer

But those nowhere, blah lines... egh.

Dunno, they can be had so cheaply, maybe when I get everything squared away with my '80 I'll look into getting a C4 just for grins to see how it compares.

RJ1AZ

I had a 95 coupe for awhile about 12 years ago. Performance-wise, it was a relatively fun car and light years ahead of C3's. I sold it and got a C5. Again, a jump forward in performance. I still miss the C5!

gbvette62

The excitement around the introduction of the 84, was every bit as crazy as the excitement about the 2020 today. People were clamoring for them, and the car magazines couldn't say enough good things about them. The car was hailed for it's ability to pull one G on the skid pad, and the 4+3 was considered innovative. About the only negative heard at the time was the ride harshness, which was thankfully later improved.

It was only after people lived with the cars for a few years, that the real world shortcomings of the car became obvious. Besides the awful ride, there was the awkward 4+3, the difficulty of climbing in and out over the high sill, the junky plastic headlight motors and their plastic gears, the coating that peeled off the glass tops, and the space age digital dash that could be hard to see and often malfunctioned, to name a few. And let's not forget the Cross-Fire, and the slightly better Tuned Port injection. The later years, especially the 92-96's with their better dash, improved seats, decent ride, modern 6 speed, and LT and LS engines, were actually very nice and well developed cars, and their current values compared to earlier years, reflect this.

I was one of those people caught up in the excitement around the 84. I came very close to trading in our 81 on an 84, so close that the order form was completed, and a trade in value had been put on the 81. We had to wait to place the order, because the 4+3 was initially on a production hold. It was only after a three day trip with a friend of mine in his new 84, that I started to have doubts about buying one. The seats, the awful ride, and the climb in and out convinced me to wait on ordering the 84. The 81 was my wife's daily driver, and by early 84 she was pregnant, so we decided to keep the 81, and buy her a "regular" car. It turned out to be a good decision, since we still have the 81!

brassplyer

From what I've been reading a C3 can achieve 1G as well with no mods other than the right alignment and stickier tires.

I just don't get the same eyeball gratification I get from a C3 from any other Vette, with the C2 being a close second.

derekderek

everything about the c4 engineering wise was an improvement. but it was and is fugly. C4maro.

Rescue Rogers

If it was feasible to drop a C3 body onto a C4 I'm sure alot of people would have done it. I"ve heard track day stories of pe0ple heavily and expensively modifying their C3 suspension and laying down a personal best. Then getting into a buddies stock C4 with good tires and besting his time...Technology and CAD programming cant be beat in development time and cost, but I prefer looks over function on this one. C3 wins

Easy Mike

Insight aplenty.

L-46man

I went to the roll-out/ reveal on the C-4. 1983

I walked away COMPLETELY unimpressed....even to go so far as go out (next door) and Buy a 1983 Trans-AM WS6, LOADED for $11,000 less. I had the 69 at the time and still have it.

What bothered me about the car;
1. Huge 'leap' over the ENORMOUS side sills in getting into the car....just uncomfortable.
2.. Terrible, terrible, terrible video game dashboard that could not be seen in daylight.
3. 'Breadloaf' passenger dash...after the 82's glove-compartment. No storage.
4. Massive intrusive central tunnel.
5. Fantastically plastic-ey interior, that was assembled by blind people.
6. 5 hp more...all due to the fan re-configurement. Big MEH!
7. Dreadful salad shooter wheels....which are worthless today. (The Trans-Am had Turbine wheels)
8. The touting of HUGE weight reductions....which basically didn't happen....Chevy said -500 lbs....was more like 200....which was immediately...100....then parity to my 69. at 3200lbs.
9. Looked WORSE than the GM F-bodies....I thought it looked like a poorly assembled model car after PEP-Boys put 'rub-strips' on it!....with the big seam running around the car.
10. Single headlights.
11. Horrifically clunky 4+3 Doug Nash with NO OVERDRIVE!
12. Z-51 suspension rode like a truck with solid tires.
13. Clamshell hood which was NEVER seen again...jacked up the insurance by a LOT! I thought there was LESS room to work on the car...not MORE.
14. Paint quality at the reveal was ATROCIOUS...terrible zebra stripes in all the metallic paints shown...I mean REALLY BAD! Like, "I'm not going to take delivery of this car and I don't want the dealership to re-paint my BRAND-NEW car"
15. Price...was $24,000 THEN and you could buy a '82 CE (Msrp) for $22,500.

What they did right was the following (in my eyes) Good HATCH! Round Taillights (take that! C-7!)

This is why 60,000 mile C-4 CONVERTIBLES go for $4000 down here.....you could buy 3 of them for the price of a 'nice' C-3.

The C-5 was MUCH, MUCH IMPROVED.

Unkahal

chstitans42

You can't view this from 2019. You have to see it from 1983.
Did you know at one time the C1, C2 & C3 Corvettes were trash and EVERY SINGLE 1984 Corvette was worth more money?!?!?!
Did you know at one time people removed the chrome bumpers from the 68-73 cars and WANTED rubber bumpers?!?!!
Did you know at one time people removed the split window out of a the 1963 and put in a 1964 a newer window?!?!?
Did you know at one time all the big block corvettes were considered gas guzzlers and unwanted?!?!?
Did you know at one time fuel injected Corvettes in the 60s were considered garbage and most went to a carb?!?!?

69autoXr