1985 Corvette’s Appearance Oozes Period-Correct Charm

Not only does this C4 look great, but it also packs a serious engine under that fiberglass hood.

This 1985 Chevrolet Corvette got a few of us Corvette Forum writers pretty excited when we saw it on Mecum’s Las Vegas docket for its November auction. Not only does it pack a serious punch, but it also looks perfectly 1980s.

The three-tone combination stands out from any other C4 we’ve come across. As best as we can tell, Chevy never offered any 1985 ‘Vettes from the factory in this combination. The GM Heritage Center lists three two-tone options: Silver/Gray, Light Blue/Medium Blue, and Light Bronze/Dark Bronze. As you can tell, none of those describes this car.

That said, we think these are all factory Corvette colors used in a custom paint. It could be a dealer paint job, though we think that’s unlikely. We figure Corvette enthusiasts will have mixed feelings about it, but the red over bronze and black accentuates the angular C4 bodywork nicely for the CF crowd. And the best part just might be the matching woven-style Riken wheels. How cool are those?

While we at Corvette Forum geeked out about its appearance, others will find more appeal under the hood. Gone is the tuned-port-injection 350 V8. In its place is a nicely built 383 cubic-inch Small-Block Chevy. The Mecum listing gives the number at 440 horsepower, which should scoot this bruiser along.

Do you know more about this color combination? Tell us on the forums.

That power would probably be wasted on stock components, but this C4 also features a custom-built TKO500 five-speed manual gearbox. The Z51 suspension package will also help carry big speed around corners to match the healthy dose of horsepower. So what you do think? Is this the kind of early C4 you could lean on? Or does the abundance of colors churn your stomach?