Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Corvette has an appealing color combination and a ZF six-speed manual. Let’s see if its price appeals to our sense of value.
When it comes down to it, being a weird little fish in a great big pond is not the best thing to be. The 1958 Jeep FC-150 “Forward Control” pickup we looked at yesterday is a weird little fish, what with its odd-ball styling, fit-for-a-farmer ride, handling, accouterments, and plausible use scenarios. That all conspired to cast a cloud over the $22,000 asking price its seller set for the little pickup, despite our general consensus that, in addition to being odd, it is also undeniably cool. The problem is, there are plenty of other less-odd but equally cool vehicles out there for that kind of money. Ultimately, oddness overcame cool, which resulted in the Jeep getting jilted in a 64% No Dice loss.
In contrast, it’s inarguable that Chevy’s Corvette is a cool car. Well, except for the 454-powered cars of the early 1970s. Those tended to get really hot, causing the carburetor to vapor lock. Fortunately, that era’s Sting Rays were amazing to look at even standing still, so they were still cool even when they were hot.
A bargain classic
Regardless, when it comes to Corvettes, the question typically isn’t “Is it cool?” It’s “How cool is this version?” Some are cooler than others. The C4 Corvette of the 1980s and ’90s suffers from a reputation for being one of the less cool Corvettes. That is unfair since even the earliest, creaky, and comparatively slow versions of the C4 are lightyears better than the last dying gasps of the C3 edition, which in its later years had grown fat, lazy, and overly garish, attributes that today some collectors find “charming.” Initially, the C4’s out-and-out performance wasn’t all that much better than the C3, but its handling and livability were much improved.
The thing is, Chevy didn’t just drop the C4 on us, chest-bump Pontiac, and then head off to the bar for a brewski. Instead of letting the car fend for itself, Chevy raised it right, making incremental improvements across the board every year so that the later editions developed into exciting and noteworthy versions in their own right.
The right stuff
By the time this 1996 Chevy Corvette left Bowling Green, pretty much everything that had been wrong with the C4 had been righted. As an example, when introduced for the 1984 model year, the Corvette had a milquetoast 205 horsepower. This car’s LT1 V8 sports the same 5.7-liter displacement but rocks 95 horses more. For a manual gearbox, that original C4 came with a weird “Doug Nash” four-speed that forced drivers into higher gears during shifts to achieve higher fuel economy, a concept generally foreign to most Corvette owners. This ‘Vette offers a solid six-speed stick from ZF with no shenanigans in the shifting.
This almost-the-end-of-the-line edition is also fairly modern in a lot of ways, featuring airbags in the dash, more modern r134 refrigerant in its A/C system, and antilock brakes to tame those 300 ponies under the hood. Handling, steering feel, and ride also were improved over the years to the point where these later C4s are extremely competitive with similar sports cars of the era while still being an analog throwback to that slightly simpler time.
Combo plate
This one also comes in a very handsome color combination of metallic Polo Green (named for the field, not the pull-over shirt) over a camel-tan and black interior. Not only that, but it looks to be in fantastic condition. That’s not always the case with these cars, as they have been undervalued for so long that many owners haven’t seen the payout in maintaining the looks.
That’s not the case here, as while the car only has a mere 74,500 miles on the clock, it seems not to even show those few. The plastic bodywork shows no flaw, nor do the corner-specific factory alloys. Those wear fairly fresh rubber that the seller says was fitted just 3K ago.
The cabin is just as nice, showing no wear on the leather seats or any of the tactile surfaces. A heavy tint on the glass has helped keep the sun from wreaking havoc in here. When new, these cars did suffer from some obvious cost-cutting in the design and build of the dash, but at least it is clean and tidy here, and while purists might balk, the upgraded touchscreen stereo that has been installed does offer added convenience.
Vette to the core
According to the seller, this ‘Vette was bought as a summer toy but is now ready for a new play date. It comes with a clean title and the assurance that everything on the car is in working condition, right down to the dash electronics. A reasonably new clutch is yet another perk touted by the ad.
All that comes with an asking price of $13,500. That is on the high-end for a C4 coupe that doesn’t have a fat butt and a ZR1 badge, but then this car looks to be in phenomenal shape and rocks all the proper kit for a standard ‘Vette. Arguably, this is also a Corvette that won’t be looked down upon by any but the snootiest of marque mavens.
What do you think? Is this well-optioned and even better-maintained C4 worth that $13,500 asking as it sits? Or is this generation of Vette not yet ready for its day in the sun?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
1994 Chevy Corvette for $13,500
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!
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