Twas the Night Before Christmas - Corvette Style - Description ...

Along with the arrival of the new front and rear bumper covers in ‘80 came some serious engine
restrictions. In ‘80 the 4-speed manual transmission could not be ordered with the performance 230-HP L-82
engine. For ‘81 there was no performance engine available and California buyers could only get the 180-HP 305
LG4 regular production engine. Then for ‘82, not only was there no performance engine available, but all
Corvettes came with the new Turbo Hydramatic 700 R4 4-speed automatic. This was the first time since ‘54
that a Corvette was only available with an automatic. However, it must be pointed out that the ‘82 Corvette
engine and transmission was not only an early introduction of the C4’s drive train, but the reintroduction of fuel
injection into the Corvette line. Throttle Body Injectors were first introduced in the ‘80 Cadillac Seville. While
not the same kind of F.I. last seen on the ‘57 to ‘65 Fuelies, the system was well received and provided drivers
with fuelie-like quick throttle response. Another old performance trick was the addition of a solenoid-operated,
cold-air hood system that opened up during hard acceleration. The Bowling Green plant came online midway
through the ‘81 production and built 8,855 of the 40,606 ‘81 Corvettes. By ‘82 all Corvettes were being built in
Bowling Green. This turned out to be one of the best things to happen to Corvettes. The old St. Louis plant was
shuttered in the fall of ‘87.
To send off 15 production years of Mako Shark-styled Corvettes, Chevrolet offered the $22,537 Collector
Edition Corvette, the first production Vette costing over 20 grand. This was a sweet package that offered
features only available with the Collector Edition , with two totally unique items – the lift-back rear hatch and
the C2-like knockoff-style aluminum wheels. The hatch feature should have been introduced back in ‘78 when
the fastback rear window first arrived and the 36-fin wheels could have also arrived sooner too. The overall
package was a visual delight, with silver-beige paint and black-to-gray hood and side stripes, along with subtle
pinstriping. The interior seats, door panels, steering wheel, and horn button were trimmed in exterior-matching
silver leather and silver-gray luxury carpeting completed the interior. Unique emblems wrapped up the package.
Despite the steep for it’s day price of $22,537, 30-percent of the ‘82 production ,6,759 units, were
Collector Edition cars. While not the stump pullers from 12 years before, the last of the Shark Corvettes was a
refined, polished road machine. For modern retro hot rodders, all an ‘82 Collector Edition needs is a GM crate
engine, a modern 6-speed manual transmission, a stout rear differential, and suddenly, it would be 1970 again!
Texas Wildfires Burn Corvettes and other Classic Cars
John Chapman and his family are
okay after one of the Texas wildfires
ravaged his property in Bastrop.
His house got singed by the flames
but came though okay.
Unfortunately, the fire burned his
collection of 175 classic and vintage
cars including a dozen Corvettes.
The fire burned a garage and
several pole barns containing his
car collection. In addition to his
Corvettes, some of which can be
seen in the above photo, the fire also
burned several mid-’50′s Chevys, a
Shelby Cobra, a 1947 Studabaker
pickup truck and a 1966 Pontiac
GTO.
What’s most inspiring though is his attitude remains upbeat despite the massive destruction of property.
“You can either laugh or you can cry,” Chapman told the Houston Chronicle. “You might as well laugh.”