1987 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible - You Can't Have it All

For years now I've been on an on a semi-serious, on again off again search for a fourth-generation Corvette convertible. I need to be careful because at the rate I'm going I'm bound to find what I'm looking for. Especially this time of the year with some folks bailing out of their old cars before they store them for winter. This 1987 popped up on my Facebook Marketplace feed and it checks several "must have boxes". 

Most important box checked being if I'm ever going to own a C4, it has to be a convertible. And a convertible with the L98 engine and an automatic. Something please go wrong here because otherwise I might find myself in a stressful spot where I have to make a decision. 

It even comes with a set of leather trimmed seats to replace the yucky cloth ones. Another bonus is it's in the town I live in - no need to travel thirty, sixty or ninety minutes just to kick its tires. That's refreshing. Just 50,000 miles on its thirty-five-year-old digital ticket too. Help!  

Oh, but you know me. I'll always find something wrong enough for me not to pull the trigger and the big one here is the poster of the ad has this listed for $14,000. Can't fault them for asking that much but I'd chafe at forking over half that for this. If this was listed for five-grand I'd really be in a pickle. I'm also not crazy about the color but I could live with this for the right price. And fourteen-grand is far from the right price. NADA pegs this average retail at $8,750, high retail $16,300 so they no doubt think they'd be cutting someone a deal. 

Fourth-generation Corvette's debuted in the spring of 1983 as 1984's, due to delays there was no official 1983 Corvette, and while they were a stylized updating of the swoopy, shark-body third-generation Corvette, underneath they were a remarkable, dare I said near watershed updating of the Corvette just about everywhere else. 

Except the engine and automatic transmission. For 1984 and 1985, C4's carried over the infamous 205-horsepower, L83, "Cross Fire Injection" V-8 engine. The 700R4, four-speed automatic carried over as well and was used through 1996. The 700R4, essentially a four-speed version of the GM Turbo Hydramatic 400, was renamed 4L60 in 1990. 

Our neighborly subject here, again, has the more powerful, L98 that made 230-horsepower. While certainly no powerhouse in the modern sense, it has enough torque down low where I like it to make things interesting. Even with the 700R4. By the way, I'd avoid any C4 with a manual made before 1989 unless you enjoy manuals that are unnecessarily complicated to operate and challenging to repair. Those fuss buckets are known as the Doug Nash 4+3 manual. 

C4's, made from 1984 through 1996 and incrementally improved upon over the years, are a star-crossed lot. They don't command the money that early C3's do and even some later C3's that are original and unrestored get more love. Million reasons for that too ranging from the obvious to the nuanced; you either understand why one model year of a car, regardless of whether it's a Corvette or not, is worth more than another or you don't. 

Go to any car show and the C4's might as well be stuck out in the parking lot. Meanwhile the junkiest of C3's get fawned all over like an aging Super Bowl hero. My 25-year-old, fairly car savvy son is all about my 1977 Corvette and wants nothing to do with C4's; no matter how hard I try to convince him that they're pretty sweet performers.  

It boils down to what you prioritize in your weekend toy - engine power or handling prowess. Or just simple to-die-for good looks. And, sorry, life isn't fair. You can't have it all. Unless you're willing to pay for it. 

I was all of twenty-years-old when GM dropped the "new" Corvette, and at first, I was delighted that GM had finally done a complete do over on it. Styling was evolutionary, it was certainly no earth mover like the second-generation to third-generation Corvette was, I 've always found the fixed roof C4's had too much 1978-1982 fastback in them for my taste. The convertibles, which were launched starting in 1986, cured most of those ills. In fairness, fastback styling is generally not my thing too. 

Top up or down, these are cool cars. The fact they can pull g's like a Porsche and are really affordable makes them quite the bargain if you ask me. 

This one, is not bargain. And for that I'm kind of grateful. But like I said, if I try hard enough, I know I can find one right in the sweet spot of what I'm looking for. Thing is, I need to stop looking.