Not a year passed between 1968 and 1982 without at least one of the major auto magazines having that question on its cover, along with a spy photo or artist's sketch. Corvette features do sell magazines, but the editors weren't necessarily being deceptive. Chevrolet did start and stop several development programs for the elusive, all-new Corvette.

Each abort is a story in itself, but it can generally be said the Corvette suffered a priority penalty. Building and selling automobiles was a different ball game in the seventies, and General Motors had more important matters to concern itself with than creating a successor for its relatively low-volume sports car.

Zora Arkus-Duntov, the famous Corvette engineering guru, retired in 1975. If one of the Corvette programs started prior to 1975 had seen completion, the new Corvettes today would be mid-engine designs. Duntov, first and foremost an engine genius, saw the logical evolution of the Corvette leading it to mid-engine placement, because the rearward weight bias would put more of the engine's tractive power at the driving wheels.

Duntov's successor was David McLellan, brilliant engineer, veteran of fifteen chassis development years at GM's Milford proving grounds, and a graduate of GM's Sloan Fellowship Management Program. McLellan brought an open mind to the question of a new Corvette's configuration. After thorough analysis, he concluded mid-engine placement created more problems than it solved. While acknowledging the Corvette had grown obsolete, he felt its big front-mounted V-8 driving the rear wheels was still the best configuration to meet the Corvette's mission.

McLellan's vision for an all-new Corvette was at the same time conservative and radical. The engine and its placement would be traditional Corvette, but virtually everything else would be scrapped and replaced with the latest in state-of-the-art thinking. In 1978, McLellan's group began engineering work on the project that resulted in the 1984 Corvette.

Oddly, there was no 1983 Corvette model. What should have been a 1983 Corvette introduction in September 1982 was delayed until March 1983, a simple case of schedule slippage. In the interim, Chevrolet realized its "1983" could meet 1984 federal regulations and substantial savings achieved by just calling it a 1984 and forgetting about a model changeover six months later. This was much to the dismay of Corvette enthusiasts, especially those proud owners of the Corvette's first year, 1953, who'd written Chevrolet in hopes of getting a 1983 with a corresponding serial number.

The 1984 Corvette catapulted America's sports car into the ranks of the world's best contemporary performance automobiles. In fact, the cornering capability of the new Corvette was nearly beyond belief. You can almost imagine Chevy engineers, after reading endless magazine road tests during the seventies when g-meters and skidpad tests became the rage, saying, "Okay, you want a car that stays glued to the skidpad, we'll give you one." Did they ever! But the cornering asset turned into a liability when the public perceived the car's suspension as bone crushing, and resale values plummeted. Understanding this issue is one key to making a smart purchase of a 1984-87 Corvette. Here's the story:

One indication of cornering ability is how much force it takes to break the tires' adhesion. Magazine testers measure this with a g-meter (a "g" equals the force of gravity) on a skidpad. Where the family sedan might register a 0.70g or less, performance-oriented cars would be in the 0.75g to 0.85g range. Different skidpads yield slightly different results, but readings over 0.85g are always considered exceptional.

Corvette engineers worked with Goodyear to develop a tire-and-suspension combination that would yield very high skidpad adhesion results. Since high cornering adhesion requires minimal body lean, Corvette engineers specified very stiff springs, then combined these springs with other performance items in an option labeled RPO Z51.

Using non-stock camber settings and the RPO Z51, a prototype 1984 Corvette reached 1.01g in GM skidpad tests. Even in showroom trim, GM's tests yielded 0.95g for the Z51 and 0.90g for the base suspension. (Road & Track's" September 1986 issue road test summary put the Z51 Corvette at 0.91g, best of seventy five cars tested.) Even before the 1984 Corvette was officially introduced, news of its extraordinary cornering ability was out. The Z51 option had a magic ring; customers demanded it, dealers ordered it, and almost half of the 1984 Corvettes sold were Z51-equipped.

This was ridiculous. The Z51 spring rates were much too hard for everyday driving. After the hoopla surrounding the introduction died down, owners started complaining about the Corvette's harsh ride. The car magazines, universally euphoric at first exposure to the new Corvette (at a smooth Riverside racetrack in California, by the way), changed their tune after extensive road testing. They became critical of the Corvette's ride quality, Car & Driver calling it an "F16" kind of car, unsuitable for "civilians." Rough ride wasn't the only problem brought on by the hard suspension; the 1984 was notorious for squeaks and rattles.

Chevrolet reacted quickly. The springs for both Z51 and base suspension 1985 models were softened, so that the Z51 in 1985 rode much like the base suspension of 1984. In 1986, the base suspension was softened again. In 1987, RPO Z52 combined softer base suspension springs with performance items previously part of the Z51 package; things like wider wheels, heavy-duty cooling, and quicker steering. To keep hard suspension models out of unsuspecting hands, Chevrolet started making four-speed manual transmissions mandatory with the Z51 option starting in late 1986. Even as spring rates were reduced, the Corvette's handling improved overall (skidpad numbers did drop a bit) as engineers were able to tweak and tune other chassis components.

Chevrolet specialists scrutinized every assembly process to eliminate potential squeaks or rattles. Overall construciton, including paint quality, improved steadily through 1984 and 1985 and stayed there. By the end of 1986, the Corvette was consistently vying with the Nova (the product of Chevy's joint venture with Toyota) for top spot in Chevrolet's internal quality audits. Engineers were concerned enough about the negative perception of the 1984 Corvette that they made sure magazine writers got 1985 test vehicles well in advance of normal previews. The motoring press reacted favorably, admitting the improvements left little to fault in the Corvette.

Meanwhile, enthusiasts reacted positively to the new Corvette with only a few exceptions. There was criticism of its appearance similarity to the Camaro. There's little argument that the Corvette's exterior was a magnificent design (as was the Camaro's), but the looks comparison was valid, no doubt because both vehicles were designed in the same studio, Chevrolet #3, managed by Jerry Palmer.

The interior's instrumentation also got a mixed reception. The latest in electronics was certainly dazzling, but the graphic speedometer and tach displays were difficult to read quickly. Cost was yet another common complaint, enthusiasts feeling Chevrolet had priced the Corvette beyond reach of too many of its traditional customers.

Here's the bright side. The public's perception of 1984 Corvettes and the number built (51,547) combined to drive resale prices down, and subsequent models got caught in the downslide, though less drastically. Considering the performance capabilities of these automobiles, some used 1984-87 Corvettes are outstanding values. But not all.

To select one of these Corvettes, first ignore the investment angle. Some will eventually appreciate, but selection should be based on personal driving enjoyment criteria. As others learn to do the same, yours will be that much more valuable.

Unlike earlier Corvettes which are sold primarily between individuals and specialty dealers, used 1984-87 Corvettes are mixed in with everything else in the used-car market.7nbsp; This means that a good percentage of the selling dealers aren't any more knowledgeable about Corvettes than the scores of other models they deal with. With Corvettes, they know reds and blacks are strong sellers, blues aren't, and other colors are somewhere between. They think automatics are easier to sell than four-speeds, and leather interiors are easier than cloth. Beyond that, they figure the more options, the better. These aren't bad criteria, just incomplete.

Color might be a resale consideration for a buyer who doesn't plan to keep a new Corvette long. Beyond that, it's not so clear. The popular colors are the safest choices, but the scarcity of some of the low runners can be an advantage in the long run. After all, some of the less common colors, like 1984-85's Dark Bronze and 1986-87's Silver Beige, are quite beautiful. Then again, a lousy color is a lousy color, scarce or not.

Like the popular colors, automatic-transmission Corvettes are the safer choices. Chevrolet sold about four automatic Corvettes to each four-speed in the 1984-87 period. But if hardcore enthusiasts are drawn to used 1984-87 Corvettes for their performance value, and if hardcores prefer manual shifting, four-speeds could be in short supply.

Leather seating has been preferred to cloth in the 1984-87 Corvettes by about the same eighty-percent margin as automatics to four-speeds. There were three seat choices with 1984 models, a base seat in a muted cloth, a base seat in optional leather, and an optional "sport" seat in a not-so-muted checkerboard cloth. Midway in 1985 production, leather became available in the sport seat, so for half of that model year there were four choices. For 1986 and 1987, the sport seat was available only in leather, and the base seat in cloth or optional leather as before, except that the cloth was the style previously used for the sport seats. Got that?

The earlier cloth was the better looking of the two. The most comfortable combination was the cloth sport seat of 1984 and 1985. Leather seats had a certain mystique and sold best because they looked better when new than the cloth choices, but they didn't wear as well as either cloth.

Chevrolet was selected for the Indy 500 pace car privilege in 1986 and used the occasion to showcase the return of a Corvette convertible, the first since 1975. Designed by Chevrolet with assistance from the American Sunroof Company, also factory-built by Chevrolet, the ragtop arrived as an interim 1986 model and all 1986 convertibles sold to the public were designated as pace car replicas. The actual Indy pace car was yellow, a new Corvette color for 1986, but the replicas could be any solid Corvette exterior color.

Anti-Iock braking also arrived with the 1986 Corvette model. An adaptation of Bosch's system, the Corvette's ABS employed rotational speed sensors at each wheel to feed data to a computerized Electronic Control Unit. Brake line pressure was then automatically distributed under panic stop situations for optimum braking without wheel lockup and loss of steering control.

There were no engine choices during the 1984-86 period, but there were engine refinements each year. The 1984 engine was a carryover of the 1982's 350-cubic-inch V-8 with cross-fire injection. Despite the name, the fuel delivery system was more carburetion than fuel injection. Real fuel injection came in 1985 with the debut of Corvette's tuned-port injection, a nifty change of hardware that yielded an increase from 205 horsepower to 230 horsepower, and ten percent better fuel economy. Aluminum heads were included with the 1986 models, but not during the first months of production (all convertibles didn't get aluminum heads). In addition to weight savings, the aluminum heads had a more efficient design that added another five horsepower.

For 1987, roller valve lifters were added to reduce internal engine friction in the standard Corvette engine, yielding five more horsepower than the 1986 aluminum-head motor. For the high rollers, Corvette engineers worked with Callaway Engineering to develop a 345-horsepower twin-turbo Corvette capable of 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 175 mph. Chevrolet shipped completed Corvettes to Callaway's shop in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the engines were swapped for new units built from scratch by Callaway. Chevy dealers could order these ferocious machines by specifying RPO B2K. Additionally, the Callaway turbo Corvettes had street-legal emissions equipment and the regular Corvette warranty. The option cost for the twin turbo package was $19,995.00!

Speaking of warranty, Corvettes built during the 1984-87 period carried GM's twelve-month, 12,000-mile coverage, plus a General Motors Protection Plan warranty for three years or 36,000 miles. At extra cost, the original owner could buy additional coverage, the most expensive plan extending the Protection Plan to five years with unlimited mileage. These warranties are transferable to subsequent owners for a nominal fee. Repairs under the extended plans aren't completely free, and not all components are covered, but they're excellent insurance against most high-dollar failures.

So while the Corvettes built between 1984 and 1987 may look similar, there's a lot to consider when contemplating a purchase. Suspension, transmission, warranty, seat materials-all have to be weighed. There weren't engine choices during any of these model years, except for the ultra-expensive Callaway twin turbo in 1987, but improvements to the standard engine year to year were significant.

The used-car market seems to have put the big value break between 1985 and 1986, considering 1984 and 1985 to be the less desirable models. It's due to the addition of ABS braking to 1986 models, but the biggest refinements came between 1984 and 1985, so look at 1985 as the underpriced value leader of the four years. There are also great values in 1984 models, especially late production cars with base suspensions. Steer clear of the 1984 Z51, unless you have racetrack duty in mind.

The 1986 and 1987 models are the most refined of all. Remember, all 1986-87 convertibles had aluminum heads, but early 1986 coupes didn't. The 240-horsepower, roller-lifter engine of the 1987 made it the most powerful Corvette since 1974 (again, excluding the Callaway), and 1987's RPO Z52 suspension option was the best of the 1984-87 period for spirited street use.