1982 Chevrolet Corvette

 1982 Collectors Edition Corvette. This car is being offered with 41478 miles. Only 6. 59 examples of this limited edition Corvettes were built. Rare by Corvette standards. All '82's came with the 200hp “cross fire” computer-controlled. fuel-injected powerplant and the new 700-R4 automatic overdrive transmission. Although 25. 07 Corvettes were built for 1982. the 6. 59 Collector Edition versions were created specifically to commemorate the ending of the model run

In many ways. the 1982 Corvette was the best C3 of all. Setting it apart were cloisonné emblems on the hood. rear deck. and steering wheel; silver-beige metallic paint with graduated shadow-like contrast striping on the hood and body siding; bronze-tint glass T-tops; and finned “turbine” alloy wheels like the ones first seen on the 1963 Sting Ray. Inside were matching silver-beige leather upholstery and door trim. leather-wrapped steering wheel. and luxury carpeting. A less obvious difference was this versions frameless lift-up glass hatch. which had been omitted from the 1978 restyle because of cost considerations. Incidentally. it was not available on the base 1982 Corvette. though several aftermarket suppliers had turned to offering this as a conversion for “glassback” models.

The car's most distinguishing features are in plain view. The Code 59 Silver Beige paint was unique to this model. as were the hood and body decals and accent pinstriping. Alloy wheels that recalled the '67's optional bolt-ons were part of the package. and special emblems further identified the special edition Corvettes as something special.

The interior also got special treatment. with a silver-beige leather interior and door trim. a leather-wrapped steering wheel and horn button (complete with a matching Collector Edition emblem) and upgraded carpet.

New for 1982 was the Collector Edition. with a unique lift-up rear window and specific paint and trim. It listed for $22. 37. versus $18. 90 for the regular coupe.

What's more. the Collector Edition carried the dubious distinction of being the first Corvette to break the $20. 00 price barrier. listing at $22. 38 — which was a far cry from the $4. 63 it had taken to buy a nicely equipped 1968 model.

With 10 extra horsepower and again blessed with fuel injection. the latest small-block Corvette showed definite performance gains despite being hobbled by the economy-minded automatic transmission. Road & Track timed it hitting the quarter-mile in 16. 1 seconds at 84. 5 mph and accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 7. 9 seconds.

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