Which Version Of ‘America’s Sports Car’ Is For You? 1977 Chevy Corvette vs 1986 Chevy Corvette

I had two boring, modern sedans picked out for today, but I just couldn’t bring myself to write about them. So instead, I present to you a pair of cheap black Corvettes. I mean, if you’re talking about American cars, you eventually have to get around to the Corvette, right?

Yesterday it was Ford’s turn in the spotlight, and we looked at two inexpensive stickshifts. It sounds like a lot of you wanted to like the Taurus SHO, but its condition put you off. The convertible Mustang was no prize either, but its easier-to-find parts gave it a narrow win.

I have a soft spot for the SHO, but between these two specific cars, I think I’d go for the Mustang as well. I’m not a huge fan of the SN95 styling, but it looks better as a convertible than as a coupe. And somehow, out of the fortyish cars I’ve had over the years, I’ve never owned a V8 with a manual. That ought to change someday, I feel.

Corvettes, frankly, piss me off. Not the cars themselves; they’re actually pretty cool. But the larger-than-life mythos around them is really annoying. GM’s protectionist attitudes towards it, not allowing any other production car to be faster than the Corvette, has robbed us of some really cool cars over the years. And they’re grossly over-valued on the used market, because every owner thinks their car is special. But if you’re willing to put up with a little roughness around the edges, and you’re happy with a base model with an automatic, you can find a few here and there that are decent deals, like these two. One of them just barely sticks its head above the $5,000 ceiling I set for this week, but I bet you could talk the seller down. Let’s take a look at them.

1977 Chevrolet Corvette – $5,500

Engine/drivetrain: 5.7-liter OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Syracuse, NY

Odometer reading: 64,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

The 1970s were a ridiculous decade, so it’s only fitting that it gave us a ridiculous Corvette. Yes, I know the C3 came out in 1968, but back then it was cool. As protest songs gave way to disco, and horsepower ratings dropped like a stone, the C3’s wasp-waisted profile became a caricature of itself. And yet, somehow, like disco, even though it was ridiculous, it came across as… kinda cool? This ’77 has seen better days, but it still has some life left in it.

1977 wasn’t the low point for Corvette horsepower – that happened a couple of years earlier – but it still wasn’t great. We don’t really know how much horsepower this one has, though, because it’s not the original engine. It’s a Goodwrench crate engine, installed in 2004. It’s probably close to the stock output, but there is some weirdness going on. It has mismatched valve covers, for one. The left bank has a basic stamped steel cover like most stock small-blocks, but the right bank has a tall cast aluminum cover. No idea what that’s all about. The seller says it runs and drives well, but it does have a minor power steering leak that should probably be addressed.

The interior, like most low-priced C3s, is a bit rough. I’ve seen worse; this one I would at least be willing to sit in. It could be tidied up, but it may not be worth it if you just want a cheap Vette to bomb around in. It does have one big drawback, though: it has no air conditioning, and looking at the controls in the console, I think there’s a chance it never did.

I can’t tell if it has been badly repainted, or if the paint is just dull and faded. Either way, a weekend with a buffer would probably do it some good. I actually really like the wheels on this era of Corvette, and the white letter tires just look right on them. The “Salt Life” sticker on the back window has to go, though. (What is that, even?)

1986 Chevrolet Corvette – $5,000

Engine/drivetrain: 5.7-liter OHV V8, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Henderson, NV

Odometer reading: 33,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

For enthusiasts my age, the C4 is always going to be the “new Corvette.” It was such an advance over the C3 that it felt like the future. But as we all know, the future becomes the past much more quickly than we want it to, and now there are four generations of Corvette newer than the C4. I found a dozen automatic C4s for sale in various places around the country for five grand or less; these cars have hit the low point in their depreciation curve. I chose this one for two reasons: it has low mileage, and it isn’t red like most of them.

And here we see the trouble with Corvettes: Most of their owners don’t drive them enough. Any other 1986 Chevy would have racked up a bazillion miles and been used up and junked by now. But because this is a Corvette, it has just under 33,000 miles on its odometer. It’s practically begging for some exercise. The seller says it runs and drives well, but I don’t think they know very much about it. It has markings on the windshield as if it came from an auction. Be prepared to give it a really careful inspection.

The ad doesn’t have any better photos of the interior than this. We can see that the seats are trashed, but I can’t tell you much more than that. I imagine, if this has been a desert car all its life, that the damage to the leather is sun-related. It’s not shown, but the dashboard top is probably cracked, too.

It looks good outside, but there is a blemish in the paint on the hood, near the right headlight. The paint is dull and faded on the rear deck and rollbar, too. I doubt the seller’s “always garaged” claim more and more the closer I look at this car. But it’s probably good enough for a cheap driver Corvette.

Corvettes aren’t supposed to be treated the way they usually are. They’re not built to sit in garages, only driven gingerly to car shows and back. A ship in port is safe, the old saying goes, but that is not what ships are built for. And if the value is going to drop to this level anyway, what are you saving it for? Get it out on the road and enjoy it. Which one of these would you put some miles on?