Here we go...
"In mid-1981, production shifted from St. Louis, Missouri to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and several two-tone paint options were offered. The 1981 models were the last available with a manual transmission until well into the 1984 production run." *Wikipedia. Thus, the last Corvette from the exclusively Corvette line was 1981. That's just the way it is. Bowling Green was built to replace the Corvette line in St. Louis.
"Before 1981, the plant workers at St. Louis said, "I work for Corvette", and they meant exactly that. They were not offered jobs at the new location. " *First hand from the crew that built the last Corvettes on the St. Louis line. My friend Freddy in Memphis owns the last car off the line. It travels with a car show circuit. I was there when he took delivery. That's the way it is.