Today I dropped off the family minivan at the body shop. The driver’s side sliding door was not staying latched. But instead of waiting, since I had other things to do, I decided to walk home. I’m glad I did as there was an interesting car at a repair shop on my route home. And to make matters more interesting, the hood was up and … tilted forward.
This is none other than the often maligned C4 Corvette. To my untrained eye, this looks like one of the early models. I suppose I could have looked at the VIN and found out the exact year, but I didn’t. It was just a pleasant experience to see a forward tilting hood again. We have had SAABs and Jaguars like that. (It probably doesn’t make it a better car, but it certainly makes it more interesting.)
The other thing that caught my eye was something under the hood. Notice how wild the engine looks without the plastic cover on top? And look at all those hoses! But look a little closer. Do you notice something different about this engine? What I noticed was the double throttle bodies—one for each bank of cylinders. Fuel injection has been around long enough that I had forgotten about having two or more carburetors on a car. I guess early throttle body injection must have used a similar concept.
I’m not necessarily a Corvette person, but this was odd enough to attract my attention. You don’t see these as often anymore. And, apparently, the C4 doesn’t have a good reputation for a number of reasons. But, if you are interested in reading more about this edition of the Corvette, Wikipedia has an informative article here.