1981 Corvette Specifications

1981 Corvette dimensions and weights

These are the 1981 car's own figures, read off the factory specification manual further down this page rather than taken from a reference book. Curb weight is the car as it left the line, with fluids and no driver.

Where these figures come from

Dealer album 'DIMENSIONS/SPECIFICATIONS' page, PDF page 33 (footer '12 Corvette'), which also gives minimum ground clearance 4.3. Tire size from the MVMA form's tires/wheels sheet, PDF page 57 (rim 15 x 8). The MVMA 'Car and Body Dimensions' sheet in the same book (PDF page 65) restates the dimensions in mm with inches in brackets: tread 1491 (58.7) / 1511 (59.5), width 1753 (69.0), wheelbase 2489 (98.0), length 4707 (185.3), height 1222 (48.1). Note the MVMA height 48.1 against the dealer sheet's loaded 48.0.

1981 options, quantities and original prices

• A 350 cubic inch, 190 hp L81 engine was the only engine offered, and it was certified for sale in California, so for the first time in years the same engine was available in all fifty states with either transmission.
• A power driver seat, RPO A42, became available for the first time in a Corvette. It was not offered for the passenger side.
• Two-tone paint appears on Bowling Green cars only, because the new plant had the base-coat clear-coat process and St. Louis kept using lacquer to the end.
• 1981 was the last model with a manual transmission available until well into the 1984 production year.

1981 engine identification codes

The engine suffix code is stamped on the front of the block, on the pad ahead of the passenger-side cylinder head. Read it together with the VIN to confirm an engine belongs with the car.

Casting and component numbers

• Block: 14010207 on all engines.
• Cylinder head: 462624 on all engines.
• Distributor: 1103443 on all engines.
• Alternator: 1101075, 1101085, 1103088, 1103091 and 1103103.

The full casting number breakdown per engine, including intake and exhaust manifolds, is on the casting number page, and the carburetor numbers are on the carburetor page.

1981 horsepower and torque

These are SAE net figures, measured with the engine installed and driving everything it has to drive in the car. They are lower than the gross figures quoted up to 1971 for the same engine, which is a change in how the measurement was taken as much as a change in the engines.

Where these figures come from

MVMA Specifications Form, 'Power Teams' sheet, PDF page 41. The Power Trains section with its own rating table is gone from the 1981 book, so this is where the figures live. One engine for every state. Peak torque at 1600 rpm is not a misreading: that is what the form says.

1981 VIN range

1981 used two sequences, one per plant. St. Louis cars ran from 1G1AY8764BS400001 through 1G1AY8764BS431611, and Bowling Green cars from 1G1AY8764B5100001 through 1G1AY8764B5108995. The ninth digit is a check code and varies from car to car, so do not expect it to match the pattern. The first Bowling Green car was completed on 1 June 1981 and the last St. Louis car on 1 August 1981, which means the two plants overlapped for two months. The 1981 Corvette VIN decoder breaks down each position, and the trim tag decoder works out roughly when in the year a car was assembled.

1981 production by month

1981 colors

• The two-tone combinations were available on Bowling Green built cars only, because that plant had the base-coat clear-coat paint process.
• The site's colour records carry a single figure of 5,352 against the two-tone codes rather than one per combination, so read that number as the two-tone total and not as the count for Silver over Dark Blue alone.
• Which interior trims went with which paint is set out in full on the exterior and interior combination page, along with the trim codes.

1981 axle ratios

1981 offered just two ratios: 2.72 with the manual and 2.87 with the automatic. The full list for every year is on the axle code page.

What changed for 1981

• The first model year built in two plants at once. Bowling Green opened on 1 June 1981 and St. Louis closed on 1 August 1981.
• A fibreglass-reinforced monoleaf rear spring arrived on automatic cars with the standard suspension. The plastic spring weighed eight pounds against forty-four for the steel unit it replaced.
• Computer command control, previously California only, became standard on all cars, automatically adjusting ignition timing and the air-fuel mixture.
• The tubular stainless steel exhaust manifolds used on 1980 California cars became standard equipment on the 1981 base engine.
• All 1981 valve covers were magnesium, and automatics gained torque converter clutches for second and third gears.
• The anti-theft alarm gained an ignition interrupt to prevent the engine starting, and the headlamp and wiper switch bezels were colour-keyed to the interior.

What the manual covers

The 1981 book runs 75 pages and is built around the dealer order guide: the colour and trim selection charts, the alphabetical option index, the engine assembly identification diagrams showing where each number is stamped, the Black Book summary sheets and the Corvette value features pages.

For part numbers and exploded illustrations rather than specifications, the parts manuals are the companion set. Other model years are on the specification manuals page.