The Corvette Berlina is one of the rarest of FACTORY BUILT cars with NEW Corvette cars provided by General Motors. The new Corvettes were stripped of there body panels, and the frames were extended 24 inches to accommodate the swanky look of a 1934-38 era Mercedes-Benz 540k. Interior and T-tops are 1982 Corvette with personalized colors and Berlina emblems in the stock gauges. The Berlina had a GM Warranty, and has Chevrolet tags in the doors with the factory tags. The targeted market was the rich at $40K to $50,000 in 1982. This is not a kit car. It is estimated that 87 Berlinas were built from 1979-1982. Each car had various option and each were unique with imported stainless steel trims, wood grained dash, optional spare tires in the fenders, wire wheels, individual interior and exterior color schemes, two tone paint, driving lights, and all Corvette drivetrain. This car has the rare Crossfire Injection that has a new reproduction fuel tank, and the correct, updated 12 pound fuel pump of the later TPIS. Runs and starts perfect. This car is fully loaded with all options of a Berlina and 1982 Corvette with a 700R transmission.
This car has 30,250 original miles, and has spent most of it life in private collections. The previous owner purchased the car from a museum, and drove it less than 1000 miles in 10 years. It had 28,000 when I bought it for my Corvette collection, as I wanted one car to convert to a street rod look by changing the tires to wide, deep dish styling, and to attend Classic Chevy, Corvette, and Concours events. I did a frame-on restoration of the undercarriage and engine. The paint has some typical driving chips, but is better than 90% of the cars I see in local shows that I attend in Florida. It is probably a 7 of 10, but I am pickier than most. You can drive this car home from Florida. Old gas and years of setting required the tank and fuel pump to be replaced, along with the smog pump, and a new (not rebuilt) starter. It has the stock Corvette emission equipment for buyers in smog control states. I replaced the old R4 A/C compressor with a more efficient Sanden unit with updated evaporator. I moved the compressor to a low mount to clean up the engine compartment, and the original brackets and pumps? come with the car for the originality buyers. New sway bar bushings and Bilsten shocks were added. Tires are NEW Coker 4 white walls that were balanced and electronically placed on the car by Coker. These bias-ply are more for the 30s show looks, but Radials really run smooth on this car, as a Corvette should. This car gets more attention than any Corvette I have shown, and it has more pictures taken of it than any other cars at most of the shows I attend. Peoples Choice Awards are common at the few I attend. People take pictures of it on every Interstate trip from motorcycles, and cars. It is unbelievable, and I have the parade and graduation picture people to deal with, also. I use it on my EXIT Realty business cards, and get business from it. Nobody knows what it is, including the NCRS Corvette guys that I have met over the last thirty years as member #1198. The cars combined 30s vintage styling, street rod looks, and Corvette performance is appealing to all generations of car enthusiasts.
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