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« Last post by Vettech on September 10, 2023, 11:21:45 AM »
Had an owner contact me, looking for C4 info, I hope I helped him.
BUT!
Potential buyers need to be well versed in the vehicle they want.
Some buy the Marquee, some buy the nostalga, some buy on price. AND some get stung.
There's an old adage, you know it - "buyer beware". In the States a lot is put on "matching numbers", not so here, but should be.
C4's can be divided into roughly two groups 1. 84~89 and 2. 90~96, easily distinguished at a glance by the dash. The early group has a flat dash c/w digital instruments, whilst the later group has a wrap around curvacious dash with mixed instruments. All cars have switchable instrumentation from Imperial (US) to Metric, HOWEVER the Odometre ALWAYS reads in Miles not Kilometres. First point new buyers get stung on.
In the early cars, the 84 stands alone, whilst a new 5.7 L98, it was a throttle body injection with a large magnesium cover over it's cross-fire injection system, from then on C4's are Tuned Port Injection. When buying a car always check the Vin # matches the Engine #, if not sure try refering to books like "Corvette Buyers Guide" or go online to many sites in the US.
Wheels, the C4's have a range of OEM wheels, depending upon years, there could be up to 5 different pattens available, some only available for special cars like "Callaway" or 35th Anniversary. Some look great - others not so. But most are interchangeable. The best way to find out is to go to a site in the US - "Mirrock Corvette" who specialise in C4 stuff and have a picture file covering all C4 wheels by year/model giving all the spec's, sizes, colors and finishes, offsets and OEM tyres fitted. A good site. Then the 2nd Sting.......
"my car is a 94 because the compliance plate says so", the Used Car mob just love this, but when you get it home, you find out its actually an 87, imported at some time, converted and complianced in 94. This is in part due to our state RTA systems not being able to differentiate between manufacture date and compliance date. In fact a lot of C4's have had the original GM compliance plates removed or covered by new Aust compliance plates done in Qld, S.A or Vic - and all three of these have differing laws and rules. (Obviously a lot has changed over the last twenty odd years.)
I hope I have not put a damper on anyone thinking of a new C4 purchase, these cars can't be compared to C1's, C2's or C3's, they are refined, handle great and are rocket sleds, cheap off the shelf needing no mods, a great little drivers car. A hidden gem for small dollars.
Regards.
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Well written Doug. 
