Fan Friday: Frank LaVacca's 1990 Turquoise Metallic C4 Convertible

Frank's is a 1990 convertible in Turquoise Metallic — GM code 42, paint code WA9543. Of the 23,646 Corvettes built for 1990, 589 left Bowling Green in that shade, or about two and a half percent of the year's production. Chevrolet listed the color for two model years and dropped it after 1991, and it came with a fixed menu attached: black or saddle interior, black or saddle top, no other combination. Frank's is the black-on-black car. In his photos it sits on chrome five-spoke wheels with bowtie splash guards behind them, TUNED PORT INJECTION lettering along the lower body, and a luggage rack across the rear deck — Chevrolet sold that rack as RPO V56, a $140 convertible-only option that 1,284 of the year's 7,630 convertible buyers ticked. Under the clamshell hood is the 5.7-liter L98, rated at 245 horsepower that year. Two of the five photos he sent have the top folded flat behind the seats, which tells you plenty about how the car gets used.

1990 is a good year to own one of these. It's the year the ZR-1 finally landed with its Lotus-designed, quad-cam LT5, and the year the rest of the line got a new dashboard — Chevrolet retired the all-digital cluster that had been in the car since 1984 and brought analog gauges back, keeping the speedometer digital and little else. A driver's airbag arrived the same year. So did a glove box, at long last. It's also the end of something: the ZR-1 introduced a wider convex tail with squared-off taillights in 1990, and that rear end became standard across the whole C4 line for 1991. Which makes Frank's one of the last standard Corvettes built with the concave tail and four round taillights — exactly what you're looking at in his rear-three-quarter shot.

Thanks for sending this one in, Frank — turquoise over chrome deserves more driveways than it got. 🏎️

Three things we'd put on this car

C4 Corvette Convertible Wind Restrictor Wind Screen — Frank clearly drives this one with the top stowed, and this is the piece that keeps the air off the back of your neck once you're up to road speed. → Shop C4 Convertible Wind Restrictor

C4 Corvette Convertible OC Sun Shade — Black interior, black top, South Carolina sun, and a car that lives on the driveway rather than under a roof. This is the cheapest thing on this list and probably the one his dashboard would thank him for. → Shop C4 Convertible OC Sun Shade

C4 Corvette Emblem Trim Rings — Polished, 2-Piece — The crossed-flags badge on the nose is the one piece of brightwork on the front of the car, and polished rings tie it back to the chrome on the wheels. Check the fitment before you order: this is the 1984–1990 set, which is the one a 1990 needs. → Shop C4 Emblem Trim Rings

Want to be featured in a future Fan Friday? We'd love to see your Corvette. Head to our submission form and tell us your story — the car, how you found it, what you've done with it, and what it means to you. Great photos make a huge difference, so bring your best shots. We feature a new Corvette every Friday.

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