Vehicle Description
1981 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
1981 was the first year Corvettes were ever produced in two
factories at one time. The new Bowling Green, Kentucky plant
produced its first Corvette on June 1, 1981, meanwhile the St.
Louis plant was producing its last Corvettes. The last St. Louis
Vette was produced on August 1, 1981. All St. Louis Corvettes were
painted with lacquer paints while the new Bowling Green plant had a
brand new paint facility and used enamels with clear top coats.
There are a number of reports that about 100 models were produced
in St Louis that had the new enamel base coat and the friendly to
the environment clear coat. These cars were not sold however, they
were given to GM employees. 1981 was the last year a manual
transmission was available until late in 1984 with the C4.
For consignment we offer a St. Louis made car this 1981 arrest me
red fiberglass covered car, now converted to a convertible from a T
Top. An overall clean car, with equally as stunning red interior.
The white convertible is a nice contrast to all the red.
Exterior
A nice red over red freshly ceramic coated painted exterior with
some black accenting for the rockers, and front quarter gills, Coke
bottle lines undulate not only up and down but also side to side on
these fenders and doors. The neoprene, in very good condition,
making up the front and back of all cars by this time are every bit
sans bumpers in chrome. The front of the car is very sleek and
undulating with the front quarters nestling up to the hood. Hidden
head lighting and the gill cove along with the side crease add
additional textural visual interest to the overall design. On back
is the small spoiler right off the trunk lid and the iconic by now
as the design round tail lighting all inset, then the neoprene
continues below to form the rear roll pan and remainder of the
bumper. Never offered in convertible form, this once T-topper now
has a top is now white canvas and presents as new with no soiling
and a plastic rear window. 15-inch polished and dished wheels are
wrapped with Goodyear Eagle GT2 raised white lettered tires which
are 225/60R15's all around.
Interior
A spaceship like red leather wraps Michelin man-esque buckets which
are amazingly comfortable. Nice rounded puffy bolsters create deep
coves for the tuck and roll inserts to reside as well as your
bottom, which is held tightly when you carve a curve with this car.
These buckets flank a center console which has a red glovebox cover
in plastic. The console then uses black to house the shift lever
cover plus power window controls, then it gently rolls up into the
dash. Here we see an AM/FM/8-track player, gnarly. Scanning our
eyes upward we note the climate controls and the cluster of
monitoring gauges along with the air vents. Looking in front of the
wheel, an angled steeply raked dash front are the analog tachometer
and speedo within a black rectangular panel, surrounded by red. The
dash is fronted by an original steering wheel wrapped in red
leather. Carpets are all clean and red including the back space
under the flip up tonneau cover which remains un faded. The door
panels are sleek and frame the outer edges of this interior. Note
the carpeting next to the center console has come loose from
underneath the console top and some wiring is showing.
Drivetrain
A 190hp 350ci V8 which is fed by a single 4-barrel carburetor and
is backed by a TH350 3-speed automatic transmission. The engine bay
presents in overall clean condition and shows no corrosion or
patina, just black surfaces with the shiny mill in the center. The
rear axle is a 2.87 geared limited slip type.
Undercarriage
Very typical of a well kept/garaged car from 1981 with some surface
rust on scraped areas of the framing and on the exhaust piping.
Some wear off of the undercoating, and plenty of weight loss parts
for this year made from carbon fiber, or cast aluminum. Power 4
wheel disc brakes are onboard as is 4 wheel independent suspension.
Factory style dual to single to dual piped exhaust is on along with
stock replacement mufflers.
Drive-Ability
I slipped into this red rocket ship and it fired right up. Off I
went to the test track where it performed nicely with smooth
acceleration, good handling, and an all functioning interior for
the controls. The power disc braking on all 4 corners makes for a
quick and bias free decelration on the panic stop test.
This is a nice used 'Vette for the enthusiast who wants to enter
the Corvette game for a reasonable price. 1981 Corvettes have been
fairly solid cars, and are sought after by the person who likes the
Coke bottle body style from the early 1980's. It is a nice color
combination now with the white canvas top in contrast to all the
red, and the interior screams early 80's with its rounded over
bolsters.
1G1AY8760BS403613
1-USA
G-General Motors
1-Chevrolet
A-Manual Belts
Y-Corvette
87-Coupe
6-350 ci V8 4bbl
0-Check Digit
B-1981
S-St Louis, MO Assy Plant
403613-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
