After 30 years abandoned, this rare manual Corvette C4 finally gets a shot at life
Published on Jun 30, 2025 at 7:28 AM (UTC+4)
by Callum Tokody
Last updated on Jun 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A manual Corvette C4 has been revived thanks to a simple fix, after spending decades off the road as a barn find.
The car showed surprising resilience, with the C4 Corvette proving its durability after years of neglect.
The incredible restoration was also documented in a video showing its first wash and first start in decades.
Autofunk documented each step of the process and shared the footage on YouTube.
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This manual Corvette C4 came back to life with just one fix
The car’s condition matched what you might expect from a long-lost barn find.
The body was covered in debris, and the paint was faded from decades of storage.
The guys at Auto Funk began with cold water rinses to lower the temperature of the surface before moving on to snow foam and clay mitt treatments.
The cleaning process revealed intact paintwork, minimal damage, and no serious corrosion.
This was already promising for any Corvette restoration, but the biggest surprise came under the hood.
The C4 Corvette had new spark plugs fitted during a previous attempt to start the car, but they had not been fully tightened.
Once that detail was corrected, the engine fired up immediately.
Despite running on fuel that had sat in the tank since 2001, the car idled smoothly, showed strong oil pressure, and produced no smoke.
What’s next for this C4 Corvette barn find?
With the manual Corvette C4 running and freshly cleaned, the next steps were mechanical.
They said they would need to do a full brake system overhaul, and replace all fluids including clutch fluid, coolant, and oil.
The tires were also far too old to be trusted.
Autofunk planned to put the car on a dyno alongside a ZR1 for a direct comparison.
That future video will highlight how the standard C4 stacks up against its high-performance sibling from the same era.
But even before any upgrades or final detailing, this is already a compelling Corvette restoration story.
The fact that the car idles smoothly and retains its original character suggests it was simply waiting for the right moment to return.
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Callum Tokody is a content writer at Supercar Blondie, where he covers the latest in the automotive world with a focus on design and performance. Callum has a background in automotive journalism and has contributed to a range of publications in Australia and the UK. Outside of work, he’s a design enthusiast with a soft spot for anything with a V8 and a good story.
