The Best Corvettes of the 1980s: No.1 – The 1984 Corvette

1. REALLY ???? The 1984 model ?? That’s my last choice if I was buying a C4. With the quirky Cross- Fire Injection…and if you wanted a manual, a cobbled up 4 + 3 gearbox, and lets not forget the ugly “Pie Pan” wheels. If you compare the 84 with all the other sport cars out at the time…when we were deep into the Performance “Dark Ages”, then perhaps, it wasn’t too bad. But if you are comparing with the later C4 models,
   especially the last 3 or 4 years of production , when they had the C4 dialed in with the styling, engineering and
   performance, then the 84 model was the Ugly step child of that generation..

2. What irks me is the fact that a great number of so called Corvette aficionados are so down on the C4s. I rather like them and have since day 1. They were a kind of “Gateway” car to better things for Corvettes to come. Thank you G.M.

3. I have nothing against the C4, in fact we have two of them in the household, both 94’s a coupe and a convertible. It was the C4 generation, that brought the Corvette back from the dead, after those terrible
   days back in the mid to late 70’s. My problem was this poll. Having bought a 57 Corvette when I was 18
   and having owned cars from all the generations up through the C6, I feel I have had a enough experience with Corvettes, to know the better models in all generations. So, I was commenting on my thoughts on which is the “best” years for the C4 generation. I still enjoy driving my 94 very much, its still fun to drive, and its been a good reliable car.

4. Jeff, thank you for weighing in. It has been a pretty common misconception that we are doing the best of each generation (which has been done) but we are actually counting down by decade. I agree that the later C4s were vastly superior to the early ones but only models from ’80-’89 were eligible this week. Stay tuned for the best of the ’90s next week and thank you for reading! If you still take issue with the ’84, substitute the “most significant” for the word “best,” and it is hard to argue against the first C4. I agree that they brought ther ‘Vette back from the brink.

5. Sweet! I’m gonna go buy me a collection of ’84 Vettes. I should be able to this because most are selling for $1,000-$2,500 each. What a great way to get into the lucrative collector Corvette market. I’ll just need to convince pretty much EVERYBODY that they’re really the #1 Vette from the 1980’s.

   Uh…never mind. ;>)

6. The only reason they sold a lot of ’84s is because there was no ’83 model and the ’84 went on sale March of 1983 and just like people today lining up to get a new C8, back then a lot of people were waiting for the new C4. Down the road probably many of them were disappointed as the car just wasn’t that good.

7. I bought a new 1985 Corvette which was very loaded (>$29K). For it’s time it was a fantastic car technologically and looks wise, only Ferraris & Lamborghinis were as good looking. The ’84 being the first and much more advanced than the C3s is I guess is why it gets the nod as it was a game changer for Corvette. My ’85 tuned port injected Corvette with 4+3 transmission was much quicker than the 1984 and the ’86 with its aluminum heads and anti-lock brakes was even better still. A friend had his 1989 red on red coupe out last Saturday and it’s not that much more advanced than the 1986 Model, but it does have 15 more horsepower and other refinements.

8. This is where going by decade makes it tough.
   Best C4 I ever drove was a ’95 Coupe. Love to have one.
   Worst was an ’84…

9. my 1st C4 was an ’84 and it was the the worst Corvette that I have had the pleasure of owning. The handling and ride were way to rough, and the cross-fire was very quirky, a friend of mine bought a new ’85 and it was like night and day, the ’85 was improved so much! I only kept it a year and went back to C3 until ’92 when I got a Black Rose coupe, Love the later C4’s

10. I took delivery of my early production 1984 Corvette with much enthusiasm and excitement. But that was soon diminished as I had to have it towed back to the dealership the first day and that was only the beginning of the most horrible car ownership experience ever. After 29 documented service events, Chevy bought the car back. I have since owned 8 Vettes beginning with the C5, all of which have been near perfect, and I have a C8 on order. ’84 C4 in my book is a poor choice for Vette of the decade.

11. So many people just hated the flat ugly pizza pie pan flat wheels. Back in Dec. of 93 I was at large flee market in Orland FLA and one dealer had stack’s of them for sale. You put a hot set of wheel’s on a early C4
    and you have your self a good looking Vette.

12. I have the Y2K wheels, thin spoke, polished, standard wheel on the C5, on both of our 94 Corvette.
    It gives a much lighter look then the Late C4 “saw blade” wheels

13. I’ve had 20 Corvettes over the years, and 5 were C-4’s. Two of those were ’84’s with Z51 suspensions. Both were so rough riding that I had to apologize anytime I took someone with me in the car. Then the window regulators started to break, In total I had six drivers window regulators replaced, two dash board rebuilds, four rear glass cylinders replaced, and countless tires with the center treads worn away before the edges (all set at factory pressures). Finally and the end of the line was an electrical fire under the hood. But I will concede that the two cars could corner exceptionally.
    My ’88 roadster was fine and the 2 ’92 ZR 1’s were sensational. Talk about technology breakthroughs.

Comments are closed.