The price of the 1981 Corvette had again increased from the previous model year to a base price of $16,258.52. Despite a generally dismal sales year for the entire automotive industry, Corvette continued to do well with 40,606 units sold that year.
1981 Production Volumes by Model Variant
The coupe accounted for 100% of sales in 1981 because the convertible was no longer offered after 1975 for the C3 generation. As production at the St. Louis plant drew to a close, most of its 900 workers eventually relocated to continue working at the new plant. Of the 40,606 Corvettes built for the 1981 model year, 8,995 were manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
| Model Variant | Production | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Coupe | 40,606 | 100.00 |
| Total | 40,606 | 100.00 |
1981 Production Volumes by RPO Codes & Colors
Below, we have broken out the 1981 Corvette production builds by RPO codes and options so you can see how popular or rare certain options were.
| RPO | Grouping | Description | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1YY87 | Base Car | Base Corvette Sport Coupe | 40,606.0 |
| MM4 | Transmission | 4-Speed Manual Transmission | 5,757.0 |
| FE7 | Suspension | Gymkhana Suspension | 7,803.0 |
| F51 | Suspension | Heavy Duty Shock Absorbers | 1,128.0 |
| G92 | Rear Axle | Performance Axle Ratio | 2,400.0 |
| N90 | Wheels | Aluminum Wheels | 36,485.0 |
| QGR | Tires | White Letter SBR P225/70R15 Tires | 21,939.0 |
| QXH | Tires | White Letter SBR P255/60R15 Tires | 18,004.0 |
| UL5 | Radio / Stereo | Radio Delete | 315.0 |
| UM4 | Radio / Stereo | AM-FM Stereo with 8-Track | 8,262.0 |
| UM5 | Radio / Stereo | AM-FM Stereo with 8-Track/CB | 792.0 |
| UM6 | Radio / Stereo | AM-FM Stereo with Cassette | 22,892.0 |
| UN5 | Radio / Stereo | AM-FM Stereo with Cassette/CB | 2,349.0 |
| U58 | Radio / Stereo | AM-FM Stereo Radio | 5,145.0 |
| U75 | Radio / Stereo | Power Antenna | 32,903.0 |
| CC1 | Roof | Removable Glass Roof Panels | 29,095.0 |
| V54 | Roof | Roof Panel Carrier | 3,303.0 |
| AU3 | Other Options | Power Door Locks | 36,322.0 |
| A42 | Other Options | Power Driver Seat | 29,200.0 |
| C49 | Other Options | Rear Window Defogger | 36,893.0 |
| DG7 | Other Options | Electric Sport Mirrors | 13,567.0 |
| D84 | Other Options | Two Tone Paint (coupe) | 5,352.0 |
| K35 | Other Options | Cruise Control | 32,522.0 |
| YF5 | Other Options | California Emission Certification | 4,951.0 |
| ZN1 | Other Options | Trailer Package | 916.0 |
| 6 | Exterior Colors | Mahogany Metallic | 1,092.0 |
| 10 | Exterior Colors | White | 6,387.0 |
| 13 | Exterior Colors | Silver Metallic | 2,590.0 |
| 19 | Exterior Colors | Black | 4,712.0 |
| 24 | Exterior Colors | Bright Blue Metallic | 1.0 |
| 28 | Exterior Colors | Dark Blue Metallic | 2,522.0 |
| 52 | Exterior Colors | Yellow | 1,031.0 |
| 59 | Exterior Colors | Beige | 3,842.0 |
| 75 | Exterior Colors | Red | 4,310.0 |
| 79 | Exterior Colors | Maroon Metallic | 1,618.0 |
| 84 | Exterior Colors | Charcoal Metallic | 3,485.0 |
| 33/38 | Exterior Colors | Silver/Dark Blue | 0.0 |
| 33/39 | Exterior Colors | Silver/Charcoal | 0.0 |
| 50/74 | Exterior Colors | Beige/Dark Bronze | 0.0 |
| 80/98 | Exterior Colors | Autumn Red/Dark Claret | 0.0 |
| 152 | Interior | Silver Gray Leather | 0.0 |
| 19C | Interior | Charcoal Cloth | 0.0 |
| 192 | Interior | Charcoal Leather | 0.0 |
| 29C | Interior | Dark Blue Cloth | 0.0 |
| 292 | Interior | Dark Blue Leather | 0.0 |
| 64C | Interior | Camel Cloth | 0.0 |
| 642 | Interior | Camel Leather | 0.0 |
| 67C | Interior | Dark Red Cloth | 0.0 |
| 672 | Interior | Dark Red Leather | 0.0 |
| 752 | Interior | Medium Red Leather | 0.0 |
| RPO | Grouping | Description | Quantity |
