The header is not a misprint. This car does NOT have 18,000 km on the clock. Here we have a 1986 Chevrolet Corvette 4+3 Speed Manual, with under eighteen kilometres on its odometer. Documents and condition support the delivery mileage only odometer reading. Please have a close look at all in the gallery. On release, the C4 was considered a huge breakthrough for the hallowed Corvette marque. The generation began with the 1984 model year after no Corvettes – save a few test vehicles – for the ’83 year, indicative of engineers taking the time they needed to satisfy themselves with their product. The 1986 model year saw the first C4 convertible and first Corvette convertible since model year 1975.
This NOS (New Old Stock, a term normally reserved for parts for our treasures) 18 km (not 18,000) 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 4+3 Speed Manual is a Canadian-market car and was delivered originally by Port Coquitlam dealer Kern Chevrolet Oldsmobile Ltd. It was a special-order item so the original owner wanted it to come to him just the way he wanted it, not the way other cars would have sat in dealer inventories – “Factory Order” is noted on the bill of sale from Kern Chev. This bill of sale, CCC image 067, is dated March 1986 while delivery documents, executed by both General Motors Canada and British Columbia licensing authorities, are dated August 1986. The bill of sale shows a price of $43,000 (in 1986 dollars), the window sticker an MSRP of $47,282.85.
Following the first retail buyer’s purchase, the car remained on display in a showroom until the seller’s purchase. It now shows 17.6 kilometres, this reading is photographed in our gallery – no driving videos for this one! The car is finished in its original Black with Graphite Leather and a black manually operated soft-top; a clean Carfax is included in our CCC Vital Info section. There are no modifications from stock so this car is powered by its original L98 5.7 litre V8 engine. This car has extensive features, especially when measured against the state of the art for 1986. The 16″ turbine-style alloy wheels are a familiar stock item. It was factory-equipped with air conditioning, power-adjustable sport bucket seats, a Delco-Bose sound system and retractable headlights – a mainstay on Corvettes from the split-window C2 in 1963 through the C5 in 2004.
The Black-over-black finish is complemented by fog lights, quad exhaust exits and heated power mirrors, all factory installations. There is a broken latch for the convertible top on the passenger’s side which needs replacement but does not affect function. The owner has it on back-order and will pay for the part when available. The headlights were repaired in Autumn 2023.
The 350 c.i. V8, with Tuned-Port Injection and aluminum cylinder heads, is mated to a 4+3 Doug Nash Manual Transmission responsible for getting its factory-rated 230 horsepower, accomplished at 4000 RPM, to the rear wheels via a limited slip differential. The “+3” in the transmission moniker is a reference to the three overdrive gears in 2-4, activated by a push-button control. Torque was rated at a more prodigious 330 lb.-ft. on delivery day, experienced at 3200 RPM. The owner reports that the 16” turbine wheels are outfitted with the original Goodyear Eagle Gatorback VR50 tires, ensuring this car qualifies as a museum showpiece; they are stopped by a four-wheel disc set-up with Anti-Lock Braking (ABS). Suspension is independent up front, there is a five-link system in the rear and an oil change was performed in October 2023. The fuel system was recommissioned in 2018 on the seller’s purchase at a cost of over $6,000, when other fluid changes were considered.
This N.O.S. 18 km (NOT 18,000) 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 4+3 Speed Manual is available with clean Carfax, service records and original factory, dealer and provincial regulatory documentation from the owner in Surrey, British Columbia.