It goes without saying that everybody should own at least one Corvette in their lifetime. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe C3 looks to be about the lowest point of entry to do so but will its era and condition make that point seem pointless?
Oh the debate that was had over yesterday’s Caddy 4.9-powered ’81 Citation. On one hand, some of you thought owning it would be like dating Courtney Love - the best kind of poor life choice there is. On the other hand, others felt that joining the Citation Nation in any way is akin to hacking off your own leg and then beating yourself to death with it. In the end, cheap is as cheap does, and that custom Chevy wound up with a 55% Nice Price win for its twenty-five hundred dollar asking price.
If, back in the day someone bought a Citation new, you can bet that the one thing going through their mind while they drove it off the lot was this: man, I wish I could’ve bought a Corvette instead.
A Corvette instead is what a lot of people think when making pretty much any major purchase. Whether it’s paying your taxes, or for that life-saving heart procedure for your mother-in-law, what will most likely go through your mind is, I sure wish I could have bought a Corvette instead.
And now, here’s you chance.
This 1980 Corvette seems to be a runner, and while its interior looks like a bar fight went on in there, the ad notes that the car comes with a new interior kit ready to be installed. That may be nothing more than a pair of those vomit-colored Pep Boys seat covers and a lemon scented pine tree air freshener, but then the whole thing costs but $6,000.
By 1980 the C3 Corvette was in its 13th year of production, the longest in the tooth of any Chevy car at the time. By then too most of the sport had been wrung out of the car, leaving it to be more of a gentleman’s GT.
There’s no mention of which V8 this one has, but neither the base L48 with its 190-bhp, nor the optional 230-horse L82 would let the car keep up today with… oh say a Chevy Cruze. Still, it’s only $6,000.
Considering its long production run you might have thought that Chevy was letting the ‘Vette run fallow, milking the model for its halo effect without improving it along the way. That would be incorrect, and while 1980 was a low point for SBC power, the company sought to maintain performance by going another route and lowering the car’s weight.
The ’80 ‘Vette is in fact over 200 pounds lighter than the previous model year. That’s owed to fiberglas bumpers, and re-engineered hood and doors among other pound-peeling measures. They say less is more, and in this case, the lighter Corvette will lighten your wallet by only $6,000.
White over burgundy was a thing back in the day and I think that might just be how most of Cleveland Ohio still is. This so appointed Corvette is claimed to have but 54,000 miles on the clock and comes with both an automatic transmission and T-top roof.
Polished alloys wrapped in BFG Radial T/A tires carry spinner centers and hold up each end of the coke bottle shape. The car also has the bubble back glass - standard for ‘80 -which improved both visibility and cargo access on the model. All that and it’s only $6,000.
We should now discuss this Corvette’s price. In case you have missed it, the asking is $6,000.
Yes, the headlights seem to be stuck up like Taylor Swift, and yes it does need that interior to be installed less people think you live in there, but that price still seems like a cheap way to get into a Corvette.
What do you think about this ’80 ‘Vette and its $6,000 price? Does that seem like a tipping point price? Or, does it tip it right into crack pipe territory?
You decide!
Raleigh NC Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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