1982 was the last year of the C3.
Ronald Reagan was president, the C4 was just about to explode onto the scene and MTV was a hot commodity.
If you’re a Motorweek fan, check out veteran automotive journalist/talking head John Davis! He is a young man here, but still has the goofy hand gestures and sing-songy voice-over style that makes him instantly recognizable.
Sharing the bill with the swan song C3 is the funky, oddball orphan Renault Fuego, which Davis touts as “Quite a car…”
The video starts with Davis comparing his personal 1978 Corvette with the new Collector Edition ’82. His angle on the story is to investigate whether the 1982 test model which costs twice as much as his 1978 model, is a better car. Davis and his Motorweek posse set out to find the answer.
The old ’82 acquits itself quite nicely although it’s track numbers would be smoked by any modern minivan today. The quarter mile rolls by in 16 seconds flat with a trap speed of 84 mph. Usually, old cars look like listing schooners through the slalom course but here the ‘Vette looks poised with it’s beefy, raised white letter, Goodyear “Eagle GT” rubber that were the hottest tires on the market back in the day.
Who’d a thunk this last-of-the-breed Corvette would one day be worth more than the demonstrably superior C4?
For now, sit back and watch this old C3 squiggle through the cones.