Someone Bought This 1982 Corvette And Forgot It In A Barn For 42 Years

The thrill of the barn find is almost archeological, and much like Indiana Jones, sometimes that means you have to be satisfied with finding a fascinating ruin. Other times, you get to uncover something that isn’t just old, but is also in astoundingly good condition, and that’s exactly what happened to WD Detailing.

The YouTube channel, which cleans old cars that have been covered in years of grime and dust, recently hit pay dirt with a trio of third-generation Chevrolet Corvettes. The final video focuses on the most interesting of the three, a 1982 model with just 33 miles on the odometer.

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The hosts guess that the owner, a farmer who was clearly a fan of Corvettes, drove this example home from the dealership, parked it, and never moved it again. Maybe he knew that this would someday be an important model, as 1982 was the final year of the C3 Corvette.

That brought with it a number of improvements, like a crossfire injection for extra power, and a hinged rear glass that transformed the back of the cabin from a difficult-to-use parcel shelf into a valuable storage space, as WD Detailing attests to in this video.

This example is a Collector’s Edition model and features distinct styling cues throughout, such as the black-to-gray ombré effect on the doors, the seats, and, as the power washer uncovers, on the hood, too.

Despite the low mileage, the Corvette had certainly seen better days when WD Detailing happened upon it. Plastered in dirt, it required hours of cleaning (as well as mouse nest removal) to make it look new again and, even then, there was some damage hiding under the dirt, including a scratch at the very tip of the nose, some damage to the rubber gaskets around the rear window, and a fold in the Collector’s Edition badge.

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All things considered, that’s pretty good for a car this age. Although they never get it running, watching this 1982 Corvette get the attention it richly deserves is still a highly satisfying thing to see.

Photo WD Detailing / YouTube