INTRODUCTION With Chevrolet’s Corvette currently enjoying its eighth continuous generation in production, it’s a good time to pay tribute to the landmark fourth-generation models of 1984-1996, which collectively brought America’s only true series-production sports car firmly into the modern era. When Mecum returns to Kansas City this December, The Red C4/ ZR1 Low Mile Corvette Collection will take center stage, celebrating everything there is to praise about that era in Corvette history with a 15-car selection of fourth-generation Corvettes all dressed in red and showing a low number of miles on their clocks. The late 1983 introduction of the fourth-generation Corvette was a landmark event in automotive history, one so highly anticipated that the new car was released as a 1984 model, with the 1983 model year skipped entirely to underscore the occasion. In anticipation, General Motors built an all-new, dedicated Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where the final third-generation models for 1982 were all produced. The man behind this collection purchased his first C4 Corvette in 1985, though sold it 1992 when he moved to Topeka, Kansas, as it wasn’t the best fit for the gravel roads. However, the allure of the fourth-generation Corvette would eventually draw him back to the model. He bought the first of his collection in 2012, a red-on-red 1985 Corvette just like he had owned back in ’85, and soon had the idea of putting together a collection of his very own, with three very important stipulations: they had to be red on red, coupes and low mileage. By the end of 2012, he had added six more to his collection, and in 2013, he purchased another six, with his collection coming together from sellers across the nation. With his collection including at least one Corvette from 1984 through 1996, he purchased the final car in July 2014, a 1990 ZR1 that meant his collection now also included a ZR1 for each year the model was offered. His claim to fame, The Red C4/ ZR1 Collection, has been housed in a heated warehouse, covered and routinely started and cared for over the years. Providing a virtual trip through the C4 lineage, The Red C4/ZR1 Low Mile Corvette Collection is defined by the red livery and low mileage of each Corvette, providing an exceptional opportunity for Corvette enthusiasts to selectively enhance, or fully manifest, their Corvette collections.
