sorry I bought the Buick Grand National, I worked for Buick and after a few mods I was easly beating most everything you named, the dealer I worked at wanted me to be one of the fastest cars in town and I was
Not around a corner LOL Grand Nationals are cool, but the vette and the grand national are totally different cars. Plus, the vette is a SBC. Stock for stock, the vette wins. You can throw boost at the GN, but a guy can put heads and a cam on a SBC. And then the Vette would still be beyond dominant when the road wasn't straight anymore.
The 1984 Corvette and the rest of the C-4 series were so good that the Porsche friendly SCCA ran it out of the showroom stock racing program and created an all Corvette series because the Porsche 928s and 944 turbos never managed to win a race in showroom stock when Corvettes were entered.
The Supra drove so well it transcended its numbers. Car and Driver did a big test comparing a lot of high end stuff, including 928, 911, 308, and concluded the Supra was a better driving car. Two of my friends had them in high school and I was really jealous. They drove GREAT. Sweet in-line six, with lotus tuned suspension. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Great fun - I think you're bang on the money.... The 928 is it's closest rival in my eyes (and I've had a few of the cars you've listed! Supra, 944, 928, 911, C4, )
Thats why they don't call 'em "The Corporation" for nothing - at least with Corvette GM knows how to read the market, apply the MBA middle mgmt might and hit all their KPIs. They aim to build the right product for the time. Very cool video - now please do one for MY 1996/1997 with the intro of the C5 , way different world with the likes of Viper, SS/WS6 F bodies, SN95 DOHC cobras...
1984 Corvette with the cease fire injection, not a horrible choice in '84 if you had to buy a new sports car. The looks were very fresh and futuristic, as was the interior. The main thing that sucked about these cars besides that fuel injection setup and the gauge cluster questionable reliability was the harsh ride quality. It's easy to see mediocrity from 40 years later, especially when they kept that body style for what, 12 years and kept improving the drivetrain, suspension, etc. but you're right, in '84 this was probably the one to get. Basically, we'd never seen anything like that before. In '84. 😛
Transams weren't too bad. I bought one. Still got still got 42803 miles fully loaded 305 high outlet 5 speed 2 tops all the dozen whistles. Medium? Royal blue
Guy I worked with back in the day ordered one new and was so disappointed with the rough ride he traded it back in on something else. He got the Z51 suspension it was like a gokart with no suspension at all and with the roads around here it was impossible to live with.
Agree! My 84 with the base suspension is a stiff ride, I think even more so than my 85 I had back then with the Z-51. New shocks and modern tires do help a good bit.
Oh I plan on doing more. I was going to take a look at the 1996 and it's competition next. There was a lot more competition in 1996 than there was in 1984.
I used to have a good time busting those 'vettes in my primered 72 Challenger. I thought one of them was going to cry. Chevy sure should have given it more power , cause i only ran 14.40.
This comparison is about new cars, also, your 72 challenger might beat it in a straight line, but it couldn't take a turn to save it's life. And I love old mopars, but credit where it's due.
Its amazing to think that just a year later they added 40-50 horsepower and shaved half a second off the 0-60 without an additional cost, which at that point why even bother thinking of the other cars?
I agree, but this is all about the eyes of 1984 at debut. The 1985 TPI car alone was a massive leap forward. I currently have a 1996 LT4, and it's obviously exponentially quick than a 1984 due to having 125 additional horsepower.
I thought about it, I love foxes, but the camaro was about the biggest stretch in terms of low end pricing i decided to go. The fox was great, I've had a lot of 4 eyes, but the camaro handled a lot better, and I think a guy cross shopping the vette would look right past it. Ironically the mustang is worth 4x as much today, but that's another video.