Trapped in my ZR1

If you get the MP4-12C I think you will need a co-pilot to be sure you dont press a wrong button or get permanently entombed in the car. I'll help out if need be.

 

C4 came out in '83, as an '84 MY.

 

I hope you get the MP4-12C, Lee! It looks & sounds like a great car.

If you get it...post pictures...& drive it the way God intended her to be driven!

 

There was no 1983 MY Corvette, and the first pictures and magazine articles on the 1984 Corvette were presented in late 1982. I have all the original Magazines from Autoweek to Road and Track's guide to the all new Corvette also released in 1982. I saw the car in middle of 1982 with Michigan Manufacturers plates driving on Sunset Blvd. near Carney's back then. They were also holding the cars at the old GM Plant in I believe Wilmington prior to release. I know this because as a kid in high school, me and my buddies talked the security guard at the plant into letting us take a closer look at the car late in the evening.

 

Love it!

Sometimes young boys can go where auto journalists can't.

 

It is actually a hilarious story as I convinced my two best friends Brad and Ron, to drive too the plant where GM had closed, I think it was Wilmington Plant to see if the cars were hidden there. Remember, the C4 was a big thing back than and most Corvette owners were a different demographic back then. Anyway, the Sales Manager at the old Harry Mann Chevrolet told us that he had heard the cars were being stored there and would be released to the dealers at one time. So we go to the outside of the Plant and sure enough there is a few hundred of the All New Corvettes parked without any thing hiding them. We go up to the security gate and there is a Young Security Guy that was a rather large guy. We asked him if there was anyway to see the cars up close, and he says come back later tonight. So we come back at 11:00 PM on a school night and it was raining earlier, we ask the guy if we can see the cars and he says first to go buy him a Double Cheeseburger, some fries, some onion rings and a Shake and he would think about it. So we did, and he let us in and the cars had there doors unlocked. We got to sit in them and the since there was no one around the Security Guard after finishing the food took one of the cars that I guess had the keys inside and drove it around the lot. We never forgot that night and those two guys that went with me 28 years ago or so are still two of my best friends.

 

lucky day for that dealership.

I think ya over-reacted by selling it.

Most of the best things in life are completely unsafe.

 

What a great story!

 

Great story indeed! There was a lot of interest in what the new C4 Corvette would look like.
Regarding the 1983 Corvette if I remember correctly there were at least 25 built and 1 still exists today. That one (painted white) was found in Australia at a scrap yard. Why would a prototype Corvette be in Australia? Well it seems an Australian company supplied brake parts for the new C4 program and they had a car there for development work. After that the car was sent to the scrap yard rather than spending money to ship it back to the USA.
CH

 

The 1983 Corvette mentioned above>
CH
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http://autos.sympatico.ca/weird-automotive-news/8623/chevrolet-corvette-zr1-owner-locks-self-in-car-calls-911

 

Awesome pictures and story, Thank you.

I remember the Ugly Mule that Jim Dunne took a photo of that was on the cover of C&D back in 1980, it was a copper colored car. Their was so much enthusiasm at the time for the all new Corvette. Unfortunately, they should have waited for the 1985 as there were so many problems with the 84's from overly hard suspension, to Cross Fire Injection, and all matters of quality issues. I bought an 1986 and that car had a lot of problems as well, my 1990 was an excellent car that had most everything that was lacking in refinement finally up to snuff.

 

Yeah.....this just made Jalopnik.


http://jalopnik.com/#!5791811/corvette-zr1-owner-calls-911-after-locking-himself-in-car

 

Can't believe it made it on Jalopnik. Hopefully he keeps the ZR-1 as others stated before, I think this is truly the high point of the Corvette, and no Camaro on a ZETA platform (ZL-1) Included can compete.

 

If they read the forum, they would realize that Lee has decided to keep the ZR1.

 

Don't feel bad, Lee. I have done some seriously silly things because I didn't know better. It happens. As I get older (I'm 42) I tend to forget how to operate certain things if I am not around them much.

I can tell stories of junk I do that would make you laugh. Like drill into the power supply of my home intercom system the other day trying to run HDMI cables. Never occurred to me to look on the other side of the wall to see where it was! Isn't the first time, won't be the last.

Rock on!

RMX

 

Fair enough, maybe "silly" wasn't the best word...more like in my case I did something a certain way because I didn't know any better (I should have looked first). Won't happen again, I'm just glad I didn't electrocute the hell out of myself!

You live, you learn I guess. LOL.

RMX

 

Lee, you might be surprised how often internal corporate policies at major companies (whom I wont name) is violated because in the search to make things easier, things like this were completely overlooked... EG for every "on switch" there is a corresponding "off switch" and visa-versa.

Because of the battery issue, that is why we often leave the windows down on the C6 Corvettes in the collection. Nobody wants to crawl through the hatch. If only the batteries always lasted 36 months.

 

Has GM Design Chief Ed Welburn ever visited 'The Collection' for some inspiration? He is a huge fan of Bill Mitchell's 1959 Stingray racer for example.
Sort of one stop shopping with that array present...
CH

 

Not while I've been there, but it is likely he has. The '59 Stingray is part of the Heritage Center, however, Ken does own the first V8 Corvette made, with the Duntov Cam... raced by Smokey Yunick, a 1954 car driven to 162 mph

A fair number of designers have stopped in over the last three years. The 59 Stingray is gorgeous