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Yes, a Chevy Celebrity is today's eBay Find of the Day. You have to admit, though -- this is pretty cool. While it's listed as an '88 Eurosport VR sedan, it's technically an '87 clone. The seller owned a rare but (completely) worn-out 1987 VR, which he decided to bring back to life. Enter a low-mileage '88 Celebrity Eurosport, which then became the recipient of every single usable VR part from the '87 donor car. The conversion is remarkable, with nary a stone left unturned. The rebuild story is completely documented in words and photos at CarDomain, and you can't help but come away impressed after seeing the work that went into this particular labor of love. The rebuilt car is probably put together better than these things were when new.
And now, in its gleaming black like-new condition, the car is up for sale on eBay. According to the owner, everything is in excellent working condition, and it averaged 34mpg on a recent vacation trip that put 500 miles on the odo. It looks great, has a readily-available history, and comes from a loving home. Add in the fact that the VRs are a true rarity, and you've got something legitimately interesting. The current bid's at $1,025 and the reserve hasn't been met. Assuming it isn't too high, someone's probably going to get a good deal on what might be the nicest Celebrity available anywhere at this moment. You can read more about the Eurosport VR model in general at EurosportVR.com, where this car is also featured (with plenty of photos) in the "JEFFS VR" section. If you want it, you can bid here.
[Source: eBay]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brian Dreggors @ Jun 20th 2007 4:14PM
A couple of these A-bodies are real sweet - Century T-Types, AWD Pontiac 6000s STE, 3800-powered Ciera GTs, the Hess & Eisenhardt convertibles - some real neat finds out there for dirt cheap, too.
Chris Paukert @ Jun 20th 2007 4:42PM
Bah. Call me when they find a Eurosport VR Wagon. Now THOSE were rare. ;)
BC @ Jun 20th 2007 5:01PM
Takes me back to high school. In lower end trims, the poor Iron Duke was definately taxed, but the cars were roomy, got great mileage, and were right for the times. Some family friends had a Pontiac 6000 wagon, which I thought was quite cool. School nurse had a Ciera "Holiday" coupe. Neighbors had a Ciera sedan. Aunt had a Celebrity v-6. Friend's family had a white Century special "Olympic" editon (LA summer?) Century. I always liked the squarish simplicity of the Celebrity best, but I remember that amongst my family, the abrupt tail end was polarizing.
Greg A. @ Jun 20th 2007 5:00PM
"Pseudosport" is more like it.
bmoredlj @ Jun 20th 2007 5:11PM
Gorgeous car.
Taylor @ Jun 20th 2007 5:16PM
"a good deal on what might be the nicest Celebrity available anywhere at this moment."
That's like saying it's one of the nicest turds you've ever seen.
tcc3 @ Jun 20th 2007 5:20PM
At least we know it has new (ish) paint. The original paint flaked off long ago, Im sure.
Damn UV sensitive clearcoat.
p.bubel @ Jun 20th 2007 5:38PM
"You have to admit, though -- this is pretty cool. "
Uh, no I don't.
I don't like to bag on most other people's vehicular obsessions, but this is just too much. There's a reason why the car was originally rare, and a reason you don't see many of them on the road today.
Kent @ Jun 20th 2007 5:49PM
Looks slightly less boxy than the current Chevy Malibu. Pretty cool. Reminds me of my '89 cavilier Z24.
srivendel @ Jun 20th 2007 6:05PM
Hahaha. "Appraised at $15,000"! My father in law had a Celebrity Eurosport that he drove into the ground. It was a fine car, in a nostalgic 1980s craptastic kind of way, but $15,000 for a twenty year old Chevy with 145hp ain't gonna happen. Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's valuable. "Reserve not met." Wonder why...
Ben K. @ Jun 20th 2007 6:05PM
These rare Celebrities were assembled in the Oklahoma City plant. In 1989 OKC built all four "A" cars, the Celebrity, the Pontiac 6000, the Olds Ciera and the Buick Century. OKC built several million models between 1882-1996. Anywhere from 75-80 jobs per hour (1,024 daily), thats probably a record for mass production. While maintaining high quality. The OKC plant recieved the J.D. Powers Bronze, Silver and Gold (GM's first)awards while building "A" cars in the early 90's. In the mid 80's GM had six plants building "A" cars at once. Then the Ford Taurus, Accord and Camry were starting to get popular. The Olds and Buick were discontinued when OKC started building the Malibu in the fall of 1996. Celebrity was replaced by the Lumina in 1992. The trivia is mind boggling considering how many were built. OKC switched from the Malibu to midsize SUV's in May 2001. OKC built 500,000+ Trailblazer Ext. and Envoys 2002-2005. The 27 yr. old plant in OKC was idled a year and a half ago, after GM spent 3/4 billion dollars in 2002 at OKC to build SUV's. GM hasn't indicated it has any plans for one of it's best plants in the U.S.A. The state of Oklahoma even offered $200 million to retool the OKC plant. The local union offered $143 million in cost cuts, only to be ignored by GM. Go figure? Long live the Celebrity.
dakota @ Jun 20th 2007 8:19PM
78-80 job's isn't a huge record by any means, it's went on for a long time at Ford's Chicago Assembly.
JayP @ Jun 20th 2007 6:29PM
If you put your ear up to the monitor, it's humming Wang Chung tunes.
That car is so '80s, you can smell it.
epilonious @ Jun 21st 2007 8:00AM
smells like... Cocaine, Hairspray, and Reaganomics!
celeb @ Jun 20th 2007 8:34PM
Did anyone read the actual text? Did anyone notice the word "clone"?
This car is not actually one of the rare VR models, which is the only way a Celebrity would be collectible. Unfortunately, it's just one of the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Celebrity sedans built in the '80s. It just happens to be wearing some cool VR pieces from another (much rarer) car.
John @ Jun 20th 2007 8:44PM
the saying "you cant polish a turd" comes to mind
DanMan @ Jun 20th 2007 9:35PM
My first car.
1982 Celebrity, 2.5L iron duke, 92hp, 120+lb.ft. of torque, 4d, 3spd auto, 29mpg real world/mixed city highway loop. Owned by my family for 14years, two engines, everything else original. GOD WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!
Reminds me of the old saying, "GM cars run like crap longer than most other cars run."
Jeff @ Jun 20th 2007 9:56PM
If you spend a few minutes at eurosportvr.com and read the history, you'll find that ALL of the VRs were nothing more than stock Celebrity Eurosports randomly pulled(except for the red ones) from the line and sent down the street to AutoStyle for the conversion process. There was nothing special about any of them except for the $3,500 option package. That is what we have here. It's just like any other VR of its time, but better. There were no special motors or handling packages added.
If you watch Barret Jackson you'll find that the "clones" sometimes bring more than the original.
And yes, this is MY car, and I am very honored to have it shown on this site.
And one more thing, I have researched these cars thoroughly. There would be NO WAY anyone could ever tell that this was a clone if I hadn't stated it on the website and the auction. There are NO records of VINs of the VRs recorded anywhere. NONE. Feel free to contact Jim Luikens himself. At least I am honest about it, unlike others who try to pass off something else. I could of hid that fact very easily.
What was it your mother said? "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
CheezeDog @ Jun 20th 2007 11:50PM
Hey Jeff,
Great job on the Celebrity refreshing. I always had a soft spot in my heart for the Celebrity. My famialy had a 84 Celebrity Wagon with the Iron Duke. We put over 250000 mile on it, and then pulled the motor and transmission to put into a 83 Olds Omega. (by that point, the car was preatty ratty and motor had somehow mannaged to avoid what typicaly happened to a iron duke at 200000 miles. It ran for a few anouther 10000 miles and died from a oil leak that had been plagging it since 2001.
The Celebrity may of been crap, but it treated us right. I learned to drive in that car, I learned a new level of freedom in that car, I even lost my virginity in that car! So yea... I can see why you did it. Those cars where so 80s that it now retro cool.
Two thumbs up dude!
Sam @ Jun 20th 2007 10:48PM
Why Jeff, why?