oneownercollectorcar.com Writing and photography copyright D. S. Brown except for press announcement which is copyright Chevrolet. This is 1 of the 6,759 Corvette Collector Editions produced in 1982. Low miles examples of this model show up online for sale as time capsule cars but they rarely are seen on the street. This one has collector plates and seems to be a low miles original with a reading of 21,408 km showing on the odometer. That is a mere 13,302 miles. The only non factory item on this car seems to be the BF Goodrich radial tires. The press release for this model shown below mentions Eagle GT radials as factory equipment. The 1982 Corvettes were the final model in the long run of the Shark bodystyle. The so called 'C3' bodystyle of the Corvette is popularly known as 'The Shark' style because it was based on the Mako Shark II showcar. This bodystyle was in production from 1968 until 1982. The Collector Edition was created to maintain some interest in the car despite much anticipation 1 / 5
building about the new C4 modern Corvette that was in the works. The 1982 Chevrolet Corvette Collector Edition was much more expensive than the regular 1982 Corvette of the time which cost $18,290.00 versus the Collector at $22,537.00. The Collector Edition celebrated the final Shark using unique emblems on the hood, rear deck, and steering wheel. The exterior went much further than the 1978 Pace Car package which raised speculation and collector frenzy a few years earlier. The Collector used Code 59 Silver Beige paint that was unique to this model. The hood and body decals and accent pinstriping ranged through a silver-beige spectrum of metallic paint with graduated shadowed contrast striping. The interior followed the same color theme. The interior featured silver-beige leather and matching door trim, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and horn button with a matching Collector Edition emblem and upgraded carpet. The Collector was wrapped up with bronze-tinted glass T-tops and finned turbine style alloy wheels meant to evoke the 1967 Corvette s optional wheels. Although this final Shark essentially resembles the first Shark from 14 years prior much refinement and improvement occurred during the long run of this popular car. The regular production Shark was introduced for the 1968 model year and received some 2 / 5
tweaks for 1969. The 1970 model year added fender flares to the wheelwells to reduce chips in the paint due to rocks being thrown up by the wide tires. Big changes arrived in 1973 when the front nose lost the chrome bumper. The front nose was extended with a urethane bodystyle cover over a concealed 5 MPH bumper. In 1974 a concealed rear 5 MPH bumper was added. E missions standards forced the 454 engine option to disappear at the end of the 1974 model year. Chrysler canned the Barracuda and Challenger before the end of the 1974 model year. AMC killed the Javelin around the same time and Ford turned the Mustang into a Pinto based economy car for 1974. Suddenly GM held all the cards. The 'leftover' design Firebirds, Camaros and Shark Vettes were a 'sure thing' for GM. During this time car magazines speculated about mid engine Corvettes and rotary engine Corvettes. Enthusiasts lamented the holding pattern that the Corvette seemed to be frozen in. The underlying chassis used on the C3 dated back to the 1963-67 Corvette known as the C2. Many believed it was time for a thoroughly modern update. Chevrolet disagreed. Chevy could sell as many Corvettes as they could build and enjoyed the profitability of the car. The other contributing issue was the time and money siphoned away into the the task of meeting new Federal safety and emissions standards which left the Big Three overwhelmed and unwilling to re engineer vehicles unless absolutely essential. The irony is that US auto makers were formerly bashed for 'built in obsolescence' practices which placed so much emphasis on the 'new model' each year while foreign manufacturers just continually refined the same designs year after year. Now when GM did it they were lashed by enthusiast magazines. 1975 was a turning point for the Shark. The flexibility offered by T tops rendered the convertible superfluous causing it to be discontinued after the 1975 model year. All 1975 Corvettes used a single catalytic converter ending true dual exhaust for many years to come. The Shark carried on for a few years with very minor refinements. At the same time the 'F body' GM ponycars remained in stasis. The 1970 1/2 Firebird and Camaro design was allowed to stay in production with only minor variation just like the Shark Corvettes. 3 / 5
In order to maintain some freshness, Chevy redesigned the Shark for the 1978 model year by adding a fastback sloped rear glass window which instantly increased interior room and visibility. Anyone who has driven an 1977 or earlier Shark will tell you it's like 'wearing' the car and inevitably describe the interior as 'cave like'. In conjunction with the new rear glass, 1978 Corvettes finally received a glove box and redesigned door panels. The 1978 was offered as a Pace Car replica and Silver Anniversary paint scheme car both of which drew attention to the updated Shark Vette. 1980 Corvettes received the final revision made to the Shark with a lower hood, integral front and rear spoilers molded into the nose and tail (instead of the add on spoilers used optionally on 1978 and 1979 Vettes). Extensive use of aluminum removed 250 pounds from the Vette despite an ever increasing list of heavy standard equipment such as power accessories, tilt and telescoping wheel, and A/C etc. Computer controlled carburetors and an overdrive 4 speed automatic aided gas mileage and performance in the 1981 and 1982 Corvettes which otherwise remained visually the same as the 1980. Just like all the rest of the Corvettes for 1982 the Collectors Edition Corvette made do with a single drivetrain consisting of one 350 cubic inch engine rated at 200 HP hooked up through an overdrive 4 speed automatic transmission. There were no optional engines or manual transmissions offered. The so called Cross Fire Injection system is similar to fuel injection but also resembles the 1981 computer controlled carburetor in that it uses two computer controlled injectors on top of the intake manifold instead of injecting directly into each cylinder. The system gained the nickname 'Misfire' because it was essentially a crude first stab at fuel injection and not very sophisticated. At high mileage it became trouble prone. Most reports state that it works flawlessly in low mileage cars. The advantage of the Crossfire is that much less gasoline is introduced into the crankcase and a 1982 engine can enjoy twice the lifespan of the earlier 350 engines which are otherwise identical. ROAD & TRACK timed the 1982 Corvette through the quarter-mile in 16.1 seconds at 84.5 mph and 0 to 60 MPH in 7.9 seconds. The news release below dated October 29, 1981 is all about the Collector Edition features. 4 / 5
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