1978 vs 1982 Corvette

My dad is finally going to buy his dream car I think.

We have narrowed it down to a 1978 and a 1982.

Both are silver with mod red leather interiors.

Both have <50K on them, both autos.

Both are 2nd owner cars.

Pro vs cons of years?

I think the 1978 has a 350 with a turbo 350 3 speed tranny, while the 1982 has the crossfire and a 200-R4 4 speed I think.

1978 is a collectors edition, the 1982 is the last production year of the C3.

Do not turn this into a “get an F-body/civic” thread.

My dad has always loved this car for some reason and wants one.

Suggestions - GO!

1982 ftw. updated aerodynamics, better performance

Honestly not a fan of those styles, but 78 has more of a collector value than 1982.

And CrossFire wasn’t a huge hit with Vette people.

But they aren’t very expensive which is a good thing.

But if he gets a 78, try to get a pace car since those are worth a little more and are more recognizable.

BTW, for not much more, you can probably get a 71-73.

PM L8apex1 he has an 82 and has had it for about a dozen years now.

X…

Just posted today
http://buffalo.craigslist.org/cto/1044195468.html

That is one of the two he is looking at.

PM sent to L8apex1 thanks x

I don’t understand why anyone would want a vette of that year when you can buy a 97-99 in the ~13k range.I saw a few end on eBay at $10k.

Thank you, you incompetent fool.

My friends father had a 77 4spd and loved it, I would say go 78 over 82, especially due to crossfire… Is he stuck on automatic?

You see 78 Vettes for sale all the time. I think it was one of the higher production years. I would hold out for a pace car 78 if I was going to do it though.

The 78 pacecars are ugly.

My dad had a white on white 78 and it was fun to drive… slow, but fun. I could get it sideways in 2nd.

I had a black on red 78 auto…sharp to look at but I hated driving it.

Cool cars tho.

I recall alot of trouble with the crossfire set ups.
I like the style of the 78 better

I’d go with the '82

IMO better car

my dad had an 81, I guess the crossfire (82 was the first year) can be a huge pain if something goes wrong and costly to fix. Best bet is to get on a corvette forum and find out

i own a 79, L-82 4 speed, i looked at a lot of cars and ended up with mine, cross fire is what kept me away from 82. then again that wouldn’t of mattered because the org. motor is in my basement on a stand lol and there’s a 355 roller motor with vortech heads and intake and a nice lumpy cam in it. =) from what i under stand lowest production numbers were in 79 due to a strike at gm.

The '82’s look way better. Especially those two-tone color combos. The '78’s aren’t going to ever be worth a lot more than the '80-'82’s. The smog years are just never going to be desireable from an investment standpoint. Even the Pace Car models aren’t worth shit. Get whichever one looks the best. They are both kinda slow, unless he can snatch an L82 from '78. People that rag on them have never driven one. My mom had a 76 L82 that was a blast to drive.

another thing i forgot to add in the pm

don’t bother with any modding on an 82 its not worth it, where as the 78 is easily moddable (is that even a word lol). if he is not going to mod it the 82 has a about 40 more hp than the 78

My suggestion is to take his pile of money and light it on fire as it would be a more efficient use of it than buying one of those shit boxes. I have worked on them they are giant piles of shit.

80 ftw!!! if you can find an L-82 it is a semi rare. no computer either and looks waaaaaay better then the 74-79 imo