Rare Rides: A 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport Cabriolet - Ultimate Rarity Assured

Today’s Rare Ride is quite possibly the rarest Chevrolet Celebrity ever made. And it’s also, possibly, one of those cases where rare does not equal desirable.

First things first: the car you see here was a very special aftermarket conversion, and was not produced by General Motors proper. Regular Celebrities were built in coupe, sedan, and wagon varieties, and offered between model year 1982 and 1990. The Celebrity was the Chevrolet offering of the widespread A-body platform, which included other popular vehicles like the Buick Century and the wacky all-wheel-drive Pontiac 6000.

There were a variety of engine and transmissions available on Celebrity, a range that included gasoline and diesel engines. Gas engine options included the Iron Duke inline-four and a selection of V6 engines that ranged between 2.8 and 3.1 liters of displacement. A singular diesel engine, the 4.3-liter, was phased out by 1985. Transmissions contained three speeds if automatic, and four or five speeds as manuals. Naturally, five-speed boxes were reserved for sporty V6 models.

Speaking of sports, the Celebrity’s Eurosport trim was one of the most popular among consumers. Available from 1984 onwards, Eurosport altered standard visuals with black trim, steering wheel, and red emblems outside, and a 2.8-liter H/O V6 under hood. Performance on Eurosport was also enhanced with an F41 code suspension and unique 14-inch Rallye wheels. But the ultimate evolution of Eurosport was the Eurosport VR.

Available in 1987 and ’88 only, these cars took a trip to Autostyle Cars in Oklahoma City for alteration. Extra VR effects included special body decals, ground effects, a noticeably blocked-off grille, plus some aluminum wheels. Inside, a lucky buyer would find multi-shade door panels and unique bucket seats. In ’87 the package was available on sedan and (surprisingly) wagon, with Pontiac extending the VR treatment to the coupe for 1988.

The Celebrity went through several revisions during its product cycle. Manual transmission models were not added until 1984. 1985 was the first time there was a high-output V6 engine with fuel injection, and the modern fuel system spread to all engines by 1987. The most notable styling revision came in 1987, as singular headlamps replaced the quad arrangement of earlier models. The last year for the Celebrity coupe was 1989, as the better selling four-door models soldiered on through 1990. At that time, the very successful lineup was replaced by the more modern W-body based cars — Lumina for Chevrolet.

But back to today’s cabriolet. As mentioned above, there was never a factory cabriolet version of the Celebrity. Nor was there a Eurosport VR version of the coupe until 1988. So what we’ve got here is a conversion plus after-the-fact additions. A door sticker indicates the Canadian-built Eurosport coupe was made into a cabriolet by Car Craft Company in 1986. The conversion took quite a bit of modification, considering the original setup of the coupe. The seller reports that just 33 of these convertibles ever made it to production. Some time later, VR looks were added to the Eurosport, and included the VR’s bumpers, grille, and ground effects. The quad lamps, incorrect wheels, and lack of interior are an easy giveaway that it’s not a real VR, but it’s certainly still a unique look.

Yours for $5,500.

[Images: seller]