1981 Corvette C3: Regular Car Reviews
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- čas přidán 10. 03. 2024
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here's comes a Corvette C3. Ready to hook up with BIG WOMEN
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> The Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the USA (including D.C, excluding residents of Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, and New York)
wait, what?
What are the odds of winning 2 cars in a row? Also, whoever detailed the sti did a pretty stellar job.
A identical car in year, colors, and build as I had in bought used in 1984 as a youngster, even the miles on it when I bought it was 16,900 then. Sad! LOL!! But was destroyed by a tornado. Never had fully insured it so total loss. Took me over 6 years to recover the loss paying for it even after it was gone.
Drinks Busch Light and eats bush heavy
HELL YEAH BROTHER
BIG 1970s BUSH
The perfect comment doesn’t exi…
Hello, I'm from the future, and this comment still makes me laugh.
we need @RegularCars to say that in the V O I C E
"This is a 1 of 1 C3 that was considered for Knight Rider till they went for the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. I don't have the paperwork, but a crew member on Knight Rider claimed it was so, so I believe him. I know what I got, no lowballers!"
😂
Rare. One of only 10 black cars made on a Sunday in April.
knightrider historians could verify that. just slide them some hasselhof hair as a bribe, who's going to argue with them about it
For Knight Rider??? I had no idea.
At one point, I read somewhere that a 280ZX was considered.
1981 C3 Corvette: The official car of "No razor will EVER go down there. My ladies love the birds nest of mess!"
The unofficial car of "why would I comb it? It's just going to get matted when I see Marge tonight."
I CALL IT THE "LOVE NEST" 💪
[Muffled Welcome to the Jungle playing in the distance]
@@JPR3Dfixed: _[muffled “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” playing in the distance]_
BIG, HEARTY BUSHES THAT COVER THE BIGGEST ROAST BEEF FELINE YOUVE EVER FUCKIN IMMMAGINED U MILENNTIAL LI-LI-LI-LIBBBBERRRALLL
I still remember standing next to the street as a three year old in 1981, and seeing a guy with a ‘stache and a mullet roll in with a white, late model C3. Looking over his shoulder to verify that my three year old self was watching him. Then someone called out, “Hey, Randy is here!”
Because of that C3, Randy was the coolest guy in the trailer court that day. I really did live in a trailer court too.
They were all named Randy back then.
@@ElCrab Same childhood memory, but my guy was my dad's friend named Ron. Ehh, at least it's in the ballpark of R names. And I vividly remember the car sitting in his driveway, radio blaring the 1981 classic "All Those Years Ago" by George Harrison.
@@ElCrab when I was a kid in the late 80's, me & my friends actually did used to call everyone with a mullet "Randy" hahahaha.....
Partly because of Randy Johnson (the pitcher) & partly just because.
The official car of “fuck off, I got work to do”
Safety always off
And failing grade 10
A decade ago, my Dad bought my Mom an '82 for mothers' day, back when she was fighting cancer. Deep purple; her favorite color. LONG hood, and you could never quite tell where the front was: we had to lay down a pair of sandbags so you didnt hit the nose on the back of the garage. My older brother did his first burnout in it. Hell, first time I ever fixed a car was jury-rigging a washing machine hose in place of a coolant line, all while my parents were out of town for the week.
We only had it for a short few years, but... I never realized how much that car meant to me before. Thank you, Mr. Regular.
Re: the long hood, I had a cousin who had a ‘68. He attached a curb feeler vertically to the leading point of the hood so he could see where it ended.
Thank you for being the first person I've seen on the internet in ten years who properly spelled the term "jury-rigging".
Wait, hold up... someone did a burnout in an '82 Corvette? In rain, you mean?
@@Kalepsis Jerry-rig has its own interesting story and is a variation rather than a misspelling. Use dates back to the 1800s. Language is a mess. Always has been, always will be. Best embraced.
And of course, the argument of "cheaply and poorly made" vs "makeshift and quickly assembled" is pedantic.
@@72dodge340I have a 82 and I did one as well, but had to drive through water and even then it was hard as hell. Did get it sideways once in dry weather leaving school.
The official car of "every replacement for displacement"
1 hip replacement for every displacement
Size matter. And its no replacement for displacment if you can make 1 hp per cube the more cubes you have the more hp thats why people took the 400 crank and put em in the 350s to make a 383 with a longer stroke and alot of power
It says right in the manual about the blower .. "There is no off position."
All GMs at the time had this "feature" lol
Bullshit i had a 76 and blower had an off position
I have an 82 Firebird and it turns off fully
@@cleverkitsune4302it does have an off position but it dosnt really work. It does kick on when you put in the key and turn and if it’s on the off position the hot/cold air kinda halfheartedly dribbles out still.
The always-on fan was part of "Astro Ventilation," a flow-through ventilation system which started in 1968, as the C3 did not have wing windows. 68-77 C3s without AC had a constant running fan. 68-77 C3s with AC had an off position. 78-82 C3s with AC had no off position and ran when the key was on like this car, a feature which seems to have been added to prevent CO buildup in cabin. To add to confusion, the words "Astro Ventilation" was stenciled in script on the door windows (where the wing window would have been) from 68-75, whether or not the car had AC. (Cars with AC had the "four seasons" system) Also, some 74s had 75 glass and didn't have the stencil.
@@cleverkitsune4302 You're both right, see below.
Even with its suffocated engine, this Corvette is one of the best looking cars ever made.
I love the "plastic-fantastic" touches on it.
this is officially one of the greatest gifts I could wake up to. thank you for another video.
what a beautiful Monday morning.
Glad you enjoy it!
Babe wake up Mr Regular dropped another e621 reference
There was another?
Barbs and knots. Best of both worlds! :D
DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT
Mr Regular slow-mo stepping out of the Vette in the intro goes so hard in the paint. I think I just got pregnant And I don't even have a uterus.
Man... I love 80's vetts. The batmobile look is great.
Ok, unrelated, but surprised to see another demigirl here...
Stingray, actually.
@@stevevarholy2011
No, that's... that's a Corvette...
@@thejay8963 Make that three. :)
3:21 replacing the vacuum actuators with electric motors from an NA Miata is a mod that has been growing in popularity among C3 owners for the last few decades
Even as a Ford guy I gotta admit the C3 is a beautiful car.
I love my 79 vette. The wife and i "bought" it from her dad in 2023. He had owned it since 1998. She has loved it since he bought it. Its not fast but its fun and looks good.
The fact that they put a 305 V8 in some of these should have been illegal.
I had a 76, it had an l48 only cali cars had 305s
The 1975 models with the L48 had 15 less horsepower than the 1980 305 models...it was a rough time, the emission regulations should have not been applied to the Corvette.
That's the engine my slug-slow '80 Mercury Brougham coupe had, heh!
Edit: @Raptor3388 Looks like I need to put my glasses on - you're right, it was a 302, d'oh!
@@greenbriar07 a Mercury would have had a 302, or maybe even the 4.2L V8 in 1980…
That only happened in 1980 California.
My uncle had one of these in the 90s. 6'3" 300lb muscle beach boy with frosted hair. He ran a night club/sports bar. Yup.
With the CB! My dad was into that too. He ordered his ‘84 Seville with the CB, and everything else except the moon roof. Kept it til he died.
Yes, cabin ventilation. Blower always on.
The car that visits Mr WRX's wife/gf while he's working his 9-5 blowing dudes and vape clouds
Lmao so true!! I currently own a 76 L48 Stingray and an 04 Dale Jr supercharged Monte Carlo SS and i met this hot chick while driving my 76 and went to her house and... Yea lol. And her bf did have a shitbox WRX and was at work. After we were done for the moment I was running out the back door as he was coming through the front door lol
Mr Regular didn't need to deal with the Corvette Guy... so he became the Corvette Guy
This is still the version I visualize in my mind when I think "Corvette." A neighbor down the street from me owned one of these when I was in grade school. Still the most beautiful version of the Corvette, to my eye. One of the most beautiful cars, period.
Definitely doesn't handle well though!
I just love the shape of these late C3s, so much so that I'd have one in a heartbeat even if it came with a lawnmower engine.
Exactly!!!
Buy one. They are cheap and plentiful and DO come with a lawnmower engine 😂
Shockingly cheap if they're original.
I have a 77 C3 and I only paid so much because it's a 383/5 speed. Feels like a C3 should.
Big Muncher killed me💀
My C3 litererally exploded on Christmas day. A carb jet melted, filled the distributor with gas, and boom. Vaporized the entire vacuum system... thanks Chevy.
The headlights on shining into the grille looks awesome, tbh. Would deff have some sort of line lock specifically to do that while driving in the early evening
There actually is one built in. You can pull a vacuum switch under the dash to switch the lights on and off without moving them
Suddenly on the CB... "Caaaaandy Cane! I want my Candy Cane. This is ... Rusty Nail.."
Those C3s were dirt cheap when that movie came out... I should've bought one as my 2nd car, went for an early 2000's Maxima instead. Vettes don't rust either, and Rusty Nail drove a rusty truck. 🤣
My grandfather drove an '82. It was the first car I ever fell in love with. I was 2 years old. Nothing made me happier as a child than being driven around in that car. My grandmother risked her marriage to take me driving in it. She took the door off trying to park it in the garage after one of our surreptitious excursions. I wanted it to be my first car when I turned 18. My parents blocked it, because the insurance payments would have been outside their budget. I'd have worked 2 jobs to own that car. He sold it to his neighbour, who turned it into a show car.
I don't care that it isn't fast. The C3 is quite possibly the most beautiful car I've ever seen, and nothing will ever change my mind.
The official car of Cryus from TPB.
“Fuck off, I got work to do”
Smokes! Give em!
*same guitar riff on repeat*
Safety, always off.
At least Julian had a an all black c4
I know these are low power, but that's easy to fix these days. This is honestly my favorite gen classic Corvette!
My name is Cooter, and I approve this message
That's a nice lookin' Cooter you got there 😂
I love the way these cars look. I like the notch window earlier ones better than the later hatchback ones. A restomod that had power and handling would be amazing. Factory CB is a pretty great feature.
Agreed on preferring the earlier look. Most bubble back C3s had fixed glass. The '82 special edition was the only true hatchback.
I adore my 383 C3. An absolute blast to drive.
One of my favorite intros to any video. Like up there with the Subaru Brat
Nothing will top the intro for the AE-86 video
I work near a local ford dealership and there is a guy there that drives an sun faded through the clear coat tan C3 every day of the year outside of deep winter (we get lots of snow). It isn't pretty, but it sounds perfect, and it gets used. I end up following him out to the main streets some lunches/evenings and it like nothing else on the road, curves in the right places and small compared to modern cars. You can tell the guy just likes his C3 enjoys it every damned day... which is something we should all try to do with our fun cars.
I used to work with a guy who owned one of these many years ago. He legitimately talked about how his then-current 2.5L Camry was notably faster.
I’ve been dailying one of these for a year. 150k on the engine, which has never failed me; rain or shine, got it cold, that L81 wakes up and gets me to work.
It’s everything attached to the engine (excluding the headlights) that continues to amaze me in the worst way possible and at the most inconvenient times.
Driving from Virginia Beach to Lancaster at 10 PM in a rain storm and having the wiper switch get disconnected is only the most recent woe that happened.
Late seventies early eighties Corvette, official car of a talking mullet saying "y'know they're lettin' em in Congress now."
You say that like it's a bad thing...
Kunkleman approved!!!
THEY KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!1!
80s GM, the running blower motor at ignition. My 89 G10 van still had this. Impressed this is four speed, wow..Stupid wide ratio four speed.
I know the C3 isn't the best performing generation, but THIS was the Corvette of my childhood! It just LOOKS like it's doing a buck-fifty cruising down the road. This was the Vette from before I was born til I was 11 years old! I'd love to get one of these, update the motor, suspension, and technology a little, and just cruise. Drop an LS in the engine bay, back it up with a modern 6 speed manual with overdrive, tighten up the chassis, and it would be my dream!
Had a driver-grade, black on black '76 automatic. I never got so many compliments in a car. I miss it.
Shocking. My 77 is my nicest car by a mile and everyone geeks about the Baja bug instead.
Damn, the fact it was a mono FM switch is incredible. You can get better signal by ignoring the multiplex hardware that dices up the FM signal for stereo.
12:35 Trucker here, it's Ch19 by the way .
The famous "Breaker One-Nine"
It may have been nerfed in the engine department, but man it looks reeeeeally good in red! :)
honestly the popups shining into the engine bay with grilles pointing the light out, it's a genius concept and i love it
About time the 81 C3 gets some love !
I know they're slow, but they have some great lines on them. I'd love to modernize the suspension and drive train.
Please don't they are wonderful on their own, suspension wont compensate for poor weight distribution
@@cleverkitsune4302 Dude, it has almost 50/50 weight distribution with slightly more weight biased to the rear depending on options and engine, all within the axles which is exactly what you want for oversteer correction. Cars like the Ferrari Enzo, all generations of Porsche 911 or the BMW E30 have it way off by comparison - not saying the C3 is the best candidate for impecable handling but it will definitely benefit from suspension mods (that are usually easily reversible) and it's weight distribution is very much a perk rather than a problem.
@@Strongholle Seconded. These cars respond VERY well to ~500lb-ft front springs, a ~360lb-ft fiberglass rear spring and some bilstein sports. But only if ALL bushings, yes even the dreaded trailing arm bushings, are FRESH.
@@Maakyuhlinsky After working in a restoration shop I found that a big chunk of the unwieldy handling American cars are famous for come from perished suspension components, lack of maintenance and bad mods. Drive a stock E30 with shot bushings and shocks and it's like walking on oily marshmallows. Once again, an almost 2 ton box of steel from the 60's or 70's with a steering box and one finger power steering is never gonna handle like a go kart but too many cars are cosmetically restored while the suspension is left like it came from the field it was found in. Plus, on many vintage cars (not this 81though, presumably) the suspension is tuned for soft bias ply tyres with tons of sidewall movement which behave nothing like modern tyres.
The 80-82s are lighter than the 78-79s but all of the parts swap. Aluminum heads/radiator, relocate the battery. Delete the steel vaccum tank and just run manual brakes. All that takes a lot of weight off the front of these. Or just do the dreaded LS swap and have an aluminum 5.3 from a 2008 truck. The transmission is literally the same for an '82 lol.
"The urge to misuse this..." Lol!
I've never understood the lack of love for this generation Corvette. I know they lacked in performance, but my god they are so sexy looking.
And easy to fix that performance problem. Build any small block Chevy and slap it in there.
My middle school art teacher, who had red hair, wore a leather jacket, and was maybe 5 ft tall when she wore heels had a yellow C3 that she drove to school daily... even in the cold Alberta winters. She was rad.
December of 1980 i bought a brand new 81' blue corvette, took it to orange county raceway and ran 16.41, it was "kind' of a hot rod coming from 1980 vette that only had a 305ci, i was young and all my friends where into 4x4's so i gave in to peer pressure and traded it in on a K5 blazer...i signed up to win this baby!
I tied an onion to by belt, which was the style at the time.
Nice find RCR. I bought an 81 my junior year of HS (2020) red over red, automatic, and 65,000 miles for 9500 dollars, and not that it matters, but it is also a numbers matching car. Ive been daily driving it since then, I currently have around 96,000 miles, i graduate college this year. Its a fun car, not fast, but it turns heads. The gray example you have here is uncommon due to the 4 speed and CB radio. I would kill for a CB in my car. Very very nice example. They make good cruisers and good daily drivers if you can live with the uptick in maintenance past. 75,000.
That's bold for a first car!
Fun fact, if you strap a kayak to the top of a c3 people get really offended
Love the look of these vettes. They look much better than the C8 vettes
I bought a 1981 Corvette in 2021 and this seems to be the car that I will never sell. It's a perfect mix of a '60s-'70s-'80s American car from the muscles to the plastics. I love to cruise with it, it's a real dream that came true.
Oh yes, and the vent is designed to be always on, it's supposed to create a continuous flow from the front to the back, it's called Astro Ventillation System.
I definitely don't wanna sell my C3 any time soon. I have fun every time I drive it.
Yup, older GM the motor was always on, even when 'off'. They wanted to ensure no exhaust fumes loitered in the cabin.
DR. GIGGLETOUCH🗣
Even if it's slow it's absolutely beautiful
Arguably the nicest looking era of Corvette... even if it was completely lacking under the hood
late C3s are still so cool looking
imagine being RCR and saying the "not having to deal with a corvette guy" line without laughing ahahahahaha
great work as always, love the vids these last few years
I have a CB and it seems to be used less and less by truckers over the past few years, channel 19 is highway chatter, 9 is emergency, and 6 seems to be the one you get the most random stuff from (i think its because of how far you can receive on that channel)
I know the entire generation is so maligned but to me the pre-facelift C3 (which I wanna say was 68-70?) is one of the most beautiful cars ever. Hell, made me fall in love with american classics. And even the ones after that have a certain raunchy charm to them.
Anyone that doesn't like the look of a C3 can't be trusted.
If ever a LS swap would an acceptable replacement option... But not before making it almost handle
An LS swap with original suspension just sounds like a fantastic way to acquaint 2/3 of the car with the nearest roadside tree. lol
Now I can have my own 80s detective show
Gotta get a strait-laced ex-cop as your partner/buddy, and Mike Post to write your theme song; bonus points if you live on a boat that will never leave the dock
@@RobCamp-rmc_0 and Vietnam veteran.
My boy rcr is killing it with the double denim and work gloves
I had an ‘81 when I was 18… the car was no rocket ship, but the hot babes in the passenger seat sure were FAST!!!
A cooler full of Budweiser, some strange purple pills that the guy at the truck stop sold you, three buttons missing from the tops of both of your shirts, and you went to bed at 3 with a 10 and woke up at 10 with a 3. 1981 baby!!! Where's that Glass Houses 8-track...
This is exactly the comment I would expect from someone driving a C3, complete with no sense of irony.
@@falcomo I was 18, Dude. Now I have a frame-off perfect 1969 convertible triple-black 4 speed 427. I wouldn’t trade one second of driving that car in exchange for my choice of any girl alive (sans my wife).
But hey, back in the day and the hot chicks, it was a two way street. Even when I was 18, I didn’t understand why girls were so intrigued. But, at 18, I certainly didn’t question it. 🤤
So, even from a young man’s point of view, I get your point. If an older dude is using a car to pick up chicks… it’s just pathetic, for the guy and the girl.
the very definition of "all pretty, no gitty"
Thanks for throwing the Santa Cruz under the bus, instead of the Maverick!
Lol
Marvelous. This is why I watch RCR.
The C3 is the best looking corvette, and the final years were the best looking C3s. I would gladly roll one of these anywhere.
The early C3’s are realy cool. A Countach-like vulgar but also elegant front engine design with chrome.
Time is finaly getting around to appriciate the C3 design. Including me.
I think I can pull it off. I've got plenty of chest hair. I just need the deep v neck and a couple gold chains.
I think the 1981 Corvette is the coolest car ever.
And love my C3.
The official car of SiriusXM Classic Rewind
I have always appreciated that you say “tape cassette”. It makes more sense.
That was the best looking generation for the corvette
If someone in California (like me) won this car, would it even be possible to register it since it'll have to pass smog for the year it was made. Seeing as we only got the 305 version, this might be a deal breaker and I'm wondering if it's even worth trying.
That 1981 car stereo is so rad, they printed it on the front.
I feel these are some of the most beautiful Corvette
That C3 likes winking at everyone.
Man messing with my coworkers on that CB radio would be hilarious
There was a blue C3 at the end of the used car lot out in the sticks where I grew up. It's one of the best looking cars of all time, imo.
The whimsical adventures of Dr. Giggletouch.
The generation of Corvette that could be easily modified, and if done right, it wouldn't be noticed untill the pedal is mashed. I think it is a beautiful car, fast or not.
I worked at a stereo shop in the '90s, where we still installed CBs and antennas. The typical channel you want to be on is 19. If you're testing your CB, you say "Break for a radio check".
They are basicly warmed over c2s, an early 60s development.
I have always loved that C3 body style. I like the 79 more, less cladding, but they are all beautiful looking....and that's about it. They don't offer much else.
Thanks again for the content! Can't wait for the timing belt video!
Another thing about the C3, not only was it old in '82, but the chassis was basically carried over from the C2 that came out in '63 and predated some of the more modern GM parts bins, like for example ram-assisted steering that went alll the way to 1982. Even lowly Novas had better internally assisted gearboxes by the mid 60s. But credit where credit's due, they had fixed four piston calipers all around right from the start. It was an iron caliper, but still, same style of caliper that's still used today in performance cars.
I don't want no fuckin mug but I do want that car. FUUUUUCK. What a machine, the wife would be so pissed.
It has been little over 10 years since you did C3 and about 8 from the Restomod C3. It was about time for some C3.
Got damn that’s nice and a manual. I’ve wanted one of these forever! Gonna have to buy some swag.
That interior is CRISPY!
Mazda Miata. The official car of "What have you done for me lately?"
the E621 reference was wild
82 Corvette is my favorite Corvette still i just love the looks! ❤