xsiveone

I was just thinking about GM's troubles and the only thing that I'd really miss if GM went away is the Corvette. Even if GM survives this mess, what is to become of the Corvette now that all the key performance people from GM are gone?

Then, I got thinking about how Prodrive bought Aston Martin from Ford. Why couldn't a company like Pratt & Miller buy the rights to Corvette from GM?

It would be a slick deal IMO. Corvette already has its own plant.

Thoughts?

RusherRacing

Problem is the price of the corvette would probably sky rocket. But i would expect the quality and fit'n finish to go up.

I think it would be an interesting turn of events.

Bink

GM will go through a prepackaged bankruptcy and emerge much stronger. Corvette is their Premium brand........along with Caddie - they are going nowhere.

ZO6NTHEWIND

Yankton, South Dakota? That's where my wife was born, she grew up in Avon .

Didn't think there was any tracks out in that area.

johninar

Me neither. I'm from Pierre. Mom taught school in Yankton in the 30s, Dad was from Mitchell. Small world.

xsiveone

I want GM to go on how it has with Corvette. That's certainly not the problem with their business.

I'm just thinking about an alternative if GM goes away or has to ignore the Corvette like they did in the 70's with the C3.

The problem that I see with BK is what would happen to the suppliers? If the suppliers go under, not only does the Detroit automakers go under, but the foreign companies that build in the US would also be in trouble.

0Randy@DRM

I just got back from West of White River hunting.

I don't know if Pratt and Miller would have the funds to buy Corvette, but it would be interesting. GM would be pretty hard up for cash if they just sold one part of the company to a private company. I don't think the share holders would be thrilled to here about that. Isn't Corvette one of the few money makers for GM???

Randy

95jersey

Without the buying power of GM and supplier relationships and engineering and cross brand development and revenue (how many cars had Corvette motors to help share development costs?), your Corvette would probably cost $180K and not perform any better than it does now.

GM HAS to survive and Corvette and Caddy are the premier brands. But with a bankrupt company or one that receives bail out money, there is no way they can use that money to fund racing in France or even ALMS.

xsiveone

I realize that the Corvette would cost more if a company like P&M bought it. I don't know about it not performing better though or possibly having better quality.

I'm not only worried about GM surviving, I am also worried about the racing program being canned. It will certainly stifle the development of the Corvette if that happens and we'll probably end up with another mid-70's C3.

Racing is very important to a car company. Look at what Audi has managed to do with their racing effort. Audi now outsells BMW and I credit a lot of it to their racing program and development through racing.

larryfs

GM is very proud of Corvette.
It is their flagship of the line.

0Randy@DRM

The 70's were a great time for grass-roots Corvette racing. Wasn't the 76 CA edition only 165 horsepower or something crazy like that. But a big block was only a day away.

Randy

John Shiels

I am worried about the country surviving in any decent shape or form.

Z06_BluByU

John,
I wouldnt worry about that... we've been thourgh worse.. give America some credit!!

rustyguns

if anyone buys the Corvette division for a premium it will be China!

Slalom4me

Given the responses to Adam Boca's thread in OT, why on earth
would Pratt & Miller or anyone else be inclined to step in to get
involved with continuing the Corvette brand for the likes of the
vocal majority on CF?

Talk about fairweather friends.

.

rustyguns

what majority?????

Slalom4me

Opinions in the thread seem pretty much unanimous.

No interest in turning up at BG.

.

xsiveone

The markets closed right at their support levels today on the three major indecis. If we break this support level tomorrow, then I'm going to start worrying about our country.

I think that this drop today if a reaction to the automakers. As much as people don't want to see the automakers bailed out, I think it would be very detrimental to the markets if we let them fail.

xsiveone

Do you have a link to this thread?

After watching the senate hearing yesterday, it's looking obvious to me that the Republicans want to let the automakers fail and the Democrats want to bail them out. If they do let them fail, let's see how many people whine about the rest of their 401K's going in the toilet.

RusherRacing

Off Topic
We have 2 tracks ~3 hours away. I just moved to yankton a few years ago.

It is a very small world sometimes!

On Topic
I am very interested to see how this all works out with GM selling off its small share in Suzuki, Ford Selling off Mazda. Trying to get CASH cause without cash its hard to keep things moving.

I personally hope the government doesn't bail them out they go into chapter 11 restructure, trim fat, and produce the cars we know they can.

Career wise I work in the truck aftermarket GM Ford Dodge are the best selling trucks it could kill my career as it sits now but might open up other oppertunities who knows.

Racing will be affected one way or another. I expect this year we might see some major changes in motorsports across the board. The SCCA is moving soloII nationals to Lincoln, NE, NASA changing venues of the TT championships etc.

I will just keep my head down hit as many open road races and track days I can afford. Try and have fun without over extending on anything.