The C4 was a big deal when it debuted in 1984. After fourteen long years of the C3, ‘Vette fans around the world waited breathlessly for a new generation Corvette and they weren’t disappointed. Jam packed with the highest tech GM could muster including a space frame, forged aluminum suspension components,uni-directional Goodyears tires, electronic gauges and a .34 drag co-efficient.

This video we’ve dug up on YouTube requires ten minutes of your life but is an interesting glimpse back 30 years ago at an auto industry that straddled high tech and old school, and no longer exists. The talking head delivers an old school broadcast narration with a dab of Brylcreem and a helmut haircut. We get a peek at some archaic graphics and some rare shots of a “1983” C4 with the never produced standard wheels.

We also get a glimpse at the new Bowing Green Assembly line with it’s then state-of-the-art manufacturing processes. Hold up, wait…Are the guys in the paint booth NOT wearing masks?  Maybe not so cutting edge after all.  Be sure and check out the pitch about the Cross Fire Injection motor that for all intents and purposes, is a “boat anchor” now. Resto-mod  guys will dig the footage of the front and rear suspension that underpins most aftermarket C2/C3 frames that have proliferated on the market.

The 1984 Corvette was a huge hit and Chevy sold over 50,000 of them. That probably hasn’t helped resale value, but who would have thought back then, that this era of Corvette would assume the bottom of the heap today in ‘Vette desirability? The good news is, early C4’s can be had for dirt cheap and can be a great entry point for ‘Vette enthusiasts to jump on the bandwagon.