Readers Rides
Is It Possible To Own A Bad Corvette?
By Mark Weisseg
The 1978 to the 1982 Corvettes are one of my favorite styles for the Vette. We all know there was not a 1983 as they were gearing up for the all new 1984 Corvette, but that’s another matter.
A friend of mine had an ’82 and called me one day to see if I wanted it. It was an automatic and he barely drove the car in the good weather and in the winter, it was sat there in his heated garage. I thought this would be an easy deal as he gave me his price, but first I had to drive it of course.
So, arrangements were made and he brought it to his place of business one sunny afternoon. I crawled inside like you do with most Corvettes and quickly noticed the car was spotless. He really knew how to take care of his toys and he had many of them.
I fired that mother up like the song says and off I went. Rode like a Vette with a bumpy harsh ride, but I knew that going in.
On the interstate the car tooled along quite nicely even though that long hood was bulging up and taking away the road I liked it. That is until when I got off the highway and drove it around town that my smile turned to a frown. This car with its 350 V8 engine was a dog. I mean the car looked mean and nasty like it would rip you up but under the hood was a weak and pitiful power plant. I mean the engine roared like a nasty lion and made all the right noises, but I wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry. Sure, I looked good but my shadow was not moving.
So, I wheeled back in the parking lot, fell out of the car in order to get out and told my friend there was no way I could do it. He understood and landed up selling it a few weeks later. But, I had to ask why he was selling this cool looking car with very low miles and his answer was the lack of power. Surprise!
To this day we are friends but we both understand that if you say you have a hot rod you better have a hot rod. This car just looks like a hot rod and when I see them at auction they sell for low money because the word has got out. A newbie will fall for it but those of us who have been to more than one rodeo know it’s got the looks but that is all.
In conclusion, not all cars are made equal. Each line of make and model have their good and bad powerplants, good and bad components and good and bad…..the rest.
So always make sure you go for a test drive before finally choosing a car. What looks good on the surface, maybe completely different in reality.
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