Many of you many have already seen this, but I never did. It came out in 2019. It’s about this company in Long Island that’s considered one of the best Corvette restorers around and them creating their concept of what a 1983 Corvette would have been like. I’ve heard of them and seen a couple cars that they did. For those that don’t know - In 1983 Chevrolet didn’t make a Corvette - even though it was their 30th anniversary. So, Chris Mazzilli and his crew decided to create one. He even had input from Dave McLellan - retired Corvette Chief engineer. While it may not be what everyone thought GM WOULD have produced back then. It is an interesting concept. It’s won quite a few awards.
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Even with Dave McClellan and Rick Darling’s input, that car is more an enhanced 1985 Corvette than what the actual 1983 Corvette was. The split window, IMHO is silly just as it was in '63. Bill Mitchell insisted on it but no one else wanted it. Even Mitchell agreed to drop it after he had to back the car out of a parking space…
The real 1983 Corvette still exits at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green KY. See link below
The actual 1983 car would have had the throttle body Crossfire fuel injection making 205 hp, slightly more than the 1982 Corvette that previewed the engine. Direct port fuel injection was not ready yet. It would have been equipped with the digital dash, not round gauges. The shocks would have been black Delco units, not yellow Bilsteins. Bilsteins only got released only for the Z51 suspension package several months after the introduction of the '84 car.
Basically the '83 was the same as what was released for the 1984 Corvette with different style 15 inch (not 16) wheels. The car was late because endurance testing wasn’t yet complete due to supplier delays. And as the above article describes… because Chevy kept changing its mind.
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I wasn’t impressed either. But it was a good show to watch on the History Channel. Never saw it before.
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