‘82 Corvette Collector Edition Was Swan Song for C3

Unfortunately, the chassis was outdated by the time the C3 generation ended in 1982. The soon-to-follow C4 generation would be a far superior performer in every way.

Nevertheless, 14 years of service wasn’t nothing, and Chevrolet decided to send the C3 off with a special 1982 Corvette Collector Edition like the one recently for sale on eBay in Mount Clemens, Mich.

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Beautiful Yet Impractical

The C3 was a product of Detroit’s hubris in postwar boom times. General Motors almost had its thunder stolen when Hot Wheels released its version of the C3 before the actual car was unveiled. After its release, Car and Driver famously refused to test a 1968 model because the quality was so shoddy.

But the C3 Corvette symbolized American prowess at a time when our greatest heroes were test pilots risking it all to win the space race against the Soviet Union. The fact (actually a bit of clever marketing) that the most famous pilots drove C3s when not flying rocketships only fueled the Corvette myth.

The styling took after Chevrolet’s Mako Shark II concept. The C3’s bodacious curves were like nothing else on the road. The fenders rose like pontoons in the front, while the quad round tail lights resembled afterburners at the rear.

While it looked gorgeous slithering down the street, it wasn’t very practical. Space was limited, the fiberglass body would make you itch if you had to do work underneath, and it didn’t have an opening trunk lid. Plus, the oil shock and emissions regulations choked its massive V-8 engine. At its nadir, the C3 produced only 165 horsepower from its 350 small block.

A Graceful Exit

By 1982, things were looking up again. Power was back up to 200 horses, its automatic transmission had four speeds (though no manual option), and after nearly 20 years, GM finally decided to add an opening glass hatch.

To cap off the C3’s long run, the 1982 Corvette Collector Edition was only offered in silver-beige paint with unique aluminum wheels. Customers flocked to it, and out of the 25,407 Corvettes sold in 1982, a full 6,759 of them were Collector Editions.

The 1982 Corvette Collector Edition for sale on eBay appears to be in excellent condition. The listing states that the car has only 44,456 miles and has had just two owners in its lifetime. It comes with a stack of maintenance records and the original window sticker.

At $24,500, the price is on the high end, as examples with four-digit mileage have sold for around the same price. The lack of power compared to a new Corvette will be noticeable. However, a new model will never compete on style.