CFLVette

My eyes, my eyes!!!

CFLVette

"Is there a problem, officer?" Love it!

lowbuck72

The only thing I know for sure, is that there won't be too many people out there restoring their 45 year old 2016 Corvettes. I'm not sure there will even be a C13 section of the Corvette Forum.

The13Bats

Drop down to off topic political you will love the circus down there in the seamy underbelly of the CF



Are you sure that isn't Target and the model for their new restroom policies...oops

I should practice what I was preaching to iwasmenowhesgone

Hopper12

Some really insightful thoughts - and pics - some of them crack me up.

It was a nice afternoon/evening so we went for drives in a couple of cars. It's really interesting to me to drive them back to back and contemplate the differences, and where all this is headed. I grew up (my wife would argue with that - she would say that I 'aged', not 'grew up') with an automobile as one of the best personal freedoms we have. I sure hope it stays that way but I can see problems on the horizon too. A few observations from today.........

* CT6: a rolling technology platform. Some really cool stuff to help keep you safe, but I also find some of it takes a little 'getting used to' - - maybe a bit intrusive - - but you can turn the stuff off too. But as I get used to it, I like most of the tech features and I'll turn off a few if I end up not liking them. The car is much lighter than I expected for it's size, and drives like it. With over 400hp, it moves really well. Handles nice, very quiet, a really nice road trip car (but don't tell my wife, as I still want to take the C7 on our long road trips in the fall). Love the car for what it is, no disappointment at all.

C7: My son and I took it for a ride. Took the top off. Love the looks. Lots of technology but it's not intrusive when you don't want it to be, but also can save your bacon when needed. Really like the different suspension/exhaust/throttle/steering inputs that can be programmed and modified with the touch/turn of buttons/*****. Best handling car I've ever had. Very comfortable too. Go to jail power. The technology in the C7 is more geared to performance as you would expect, while the CT6 is geared for safety and some performance (CT6 does have mag ride, different suspension settings, etc.) Love the car for what it is, no disappointment at all. My favorite long road trip car.

C3: Then my wife and I took the C3 for a top down (the car!) ride. This is the first time she'd been in the car since the suspension, steering, brake, etc. upgrades. She said 'wow, this rides nice'. Compared to the other cars, not really a lot of technology, but for the day, there was quite a bit in many ways. Totally different type of drive - good old carburetor smell, tons of exhaust sound from the cherry bombs, 'only' 4 gears, steering/suspension that was good for the day, but way different from today. No bags, cameras, computers, etc. And it puts the biggest smile on my face! I like working on it with my son. I like the fact that I can work on virtually any part of the car I want to tackle, vs. many areas of the new ones that I wouldn't really mess with. Love this car.

Bottom line is that I hope there are enough of us to keep the vintage (whatever the year/make) car hobby alive and well - so that others will be able to keep enjoying them for years to come. Our hobby community is a lot of fun, and I appreciate all of you who take the time to share your knowledge to help those of us who may be taking on a new venture from time to time.

doorgunner

Let's hope American Pickers 3 doesn't find our cars in storage rental buildings 45 years from now because the great-grandkids received a mutated Corvette Gene........and lost interest!

(Personally......my 3 year old grandson is crazy about my basketcase project!)

Oldriceguy

"The OP story says something to me about classic American cars and the base instinct nature of American male. As I drive the streets now with my restored 77, there are many people who rubber neck, wave and stare at the car. The boys with their slammed and spoilered and turbo'd Scions, Acuras, etc, don't really pay attention.....they have their own love, misquided as it may be! Of course, my generation connects to my car, women and young girls wave, but what astounds me the most is little kids, especially little guys, they always get excited seeing the car. Its cool, and suspect that there is something about a real man / boy instinct that loves raw American old school cars for some mysterious reason. I don't think its learned, its instinctive."

I have to agree with iwasmenowhesgone. I see the same thing with my 77. My grandsons (6 and 11) love Poppa's hot rod. My son and daughter (late 30's) think it's cool that Dad got his Vette, but that's about as far as that goes.

Jonz79

I disagree that cars will disappear, classics as well.


The market is as robust as ever, and Americans are still in love with the romance of the automobile. They were saying the same thing in the 60's......look at it now. Faster, bigger, better.....


The sheer number of vehicles alone, along with the globalization of the car market will keep it flourishing for some time,....well, way past my lifetime, or my son's for that matter.


I may go as far to say, I think we may see some companies sprout up that actually "reverse-engineer" if you will, and produce simplified versions of the classics. Pass safety and emissions, not much else. Congress green lighted such practices last year.

bj1k

I think with everything after the C3's there won't be any interest in restoring them due to all of the electronics in vettes starting with the C4's and beyond . It would be too expensive for companies to reproduce all of the electronic components especially for the shrinking demand for the cars and the parts. Our generations were car guys and the people coming up in the high school crowd today just don't have much interest or in most cases no ambition to take on the task .

Duane4238

45 years? At 65, I guess I won't worry about it. I do think that things will not change as much as most of you seem to believe. The automotive industry has come a long way over the past century, but I think things will slow down quite a bit. My only concern and hope for the future is that my kids will enjoy my car as much as I have for the past 42 years. If they don't, I hope they find something that puts a smile on their face like my '72 has done for me.
Duane

3JsVette

Hopefully it won't another 45 years to come up with something that works better than windshield wipers.

LongRoadHome

High pressure air jets, heated for winter.

Would be great to see the middle of the 21st century, just don't forget about roadways. I want to see perfect roads everywhere I go!

Guess I should say that was a half-hearted wish because sometimes a roadway challenge can be interesting.

footloose42

Is no one going to mention the fact that OP has the most mouth watering garage set up I've ever seen?! I can only dream of having a garage like that one day!

Proton_ita

My modern daily is a 2 years old Citroen C4: very comfortable, 25 l/Km diesel, safe and easy to drive in every condition: strong heat, heavy rain, even with ice or snow. And it's a relatively cheap car.
Times change, technology reaches new levels every day, and there's nothing wrong with that: In the '70, a Corvette looked like a sort of spaceship compared to any pre-war car.
Actually cars have better mileage, performance, comfort, stability, safety... "But".
But... everything is better, except for one thing: in most cases, cars became robots on wheel with no souls. In an old car the driver was the center of everything, in a modern vehicle you're a passenger even if you sit behind the steering wheel.

That's why I bought a car 20 years older than me: In my opinion there are new cars designed to travel with your body, and older ones that travels with your soul.

Metalhead140

Boring (is what they'll be like).

Hopper12

Thank you. I've been dreaming about upgrading my set up for years. We built this home 10 years ago with garage doors tucked up high so I could add a lift at some point. We did that to our last home too and I 'never had time' to do it. Decided I'm not getting younger.........added the first lift about 18 months ago in anticipation of the C7 being delivered. When we bought the C3 a couple of months ago my wife asked if there was enough room in the other side to add another lift - she suggested it! She's also the one who told me to turn around and go look at the C3 when we drove past it in a small town while on a couple of days R&R. I'm a very lucky boy. Very lucky.

madam

Based on the changes I've witnessed first hand in manufacturing the last 50 yrs???

I'm not afraid to say it . . . ANTIGRAVITY, NO MORE WHEELS.

teamo

"Gasoline transportation will be done away with in 50 years. It's what the liberals want . There is no stopping them".



Oh I'd say that gasoline will be around for as long as it is available. The oil and gas industry owns the U.S. Government. Do you really think that they are going to just lay down and be run out of business by this so called liberal influence and with it give up billions of dollars of yearly profit? I think Not. The laws in this country are written by big money influence. It doesn't matter what "liberals" or anyone else thinks.