Dartvader

I read a letter to the editor in Magazine Corvette in which the writer was bemoaning the fact that his kids and their friends don;t respect his Corvette. While I personally don't give a hoot what kids think of my Corvette, I was wondering how many out there thought this was true? Is Chevy in danger of prducing Corvettes in the future that are thought of as "old Geezer" cars, like Mercury Grand Marquis, and Cadillacs have been in the past? What market should they aim for, and how would this change the car, if at all.

My personal feelings: I think it is cool that the Corvette is the only reasonably priced car that can be driven competitively on a race track with only minor mods, such as harness seat belts, roll cages etc. Nothing else comes close to it for the money, and I have seen this, and heard this from many guys who tried racing other wanna-be's such as BMW's and Audi's. Do I intend to race mine? No. But I love being associated with that kind of image. I don;t care what the kids think, or like. The fact is, the Corvette pretty much rules until you get into the 100-150K price range.

Redeasysport

Kids today think Vin Deisel is a good actor too.Who cares? The Fast and the Furious movie and ricer tuners have thier attention these days. When they are old enough to really know what a good car is they will change thier minds I am sure.Fads and tastes change over time but the Corvette has withstood that measure and I have yet to hear any kid look at my car and say they would not want one.

mauricewoodard

Corvette Is Still America,s Sport Car................and Inner City Kids When I Drive By Are Still Hollering That,s My Car..............................long Live Corvette

Stv50

What he said

Dartvader

If I remember correctly from the thread "How old are you?",we have alot of kids as members of CF. What do you guys and gals think? Do you feel "old" when driving your Vette? I know I am self conscious when I drive my father-in-law's Grand Marquis. It's a nice car, but don;t relate to it in any way.

KnightmareVette

When I'm driving my vette, I don't care what the ricers think! Sure they make they "old fogey" car jokes. But saddle up next to me, and I'll show them that "grampa" can still kick their azz and look drop dead gorgeous doing too!

kopbet89c4

I just turned 23 and definately feel like I have more game than I had with rice. Civics, Integras, engine swapped turbo CRXs(even if mine was an 11 seconder quarter miler) just don't hit it for me anymore. Yeah, with a mid 11 second CRX in the 1/4th, you just get respect from the folks under 21. With a Vette, you get respect from all just about the whole scene, but still, there are a few hardcore ricer a$$holes here and there.

ZfidyONE-84

i agree the younger generation has little respect for corvettes, when my father bought his 86, the kid that had it abused it, but not to where it was totally thrashed, and i just bought my 84 pop top, and i'm 27, and i wouldn't drive anything else. i think chevy def. got it right on this one, i have never drove a car that was sooo perfectly balanced. i have always kinda thumbed my nose up at the crossfire injection, but with the way that have the transmission geared, and rear-end geared its as quick as my fathers 86 TPI..........



but i think it is just funny when you have these kids in civics, and integras that roll up on you, and think they have something for you

stevec4

You gotta remember that there is far more competition today for the Corvette than a few years ago - go back to the 80's and what true sportscar could you buy that would do a 6 second 0-60 / 14s 1/4 - a Datsun Z, Corvette - not a lot else - even the Fraud Mustang was anemic in those days.

However, today the kids have a heck of a lot more choice - and there are a heck of a lot of tuning companies who cater for the Ricer market - it's a lot easier and cheaper to tune a turbocharged 4 banger than to do the work on an LT1.

Also the C6 is a freakin expensive car when you compare it to a WRX or EVO so most kids prefer to buy Japanese.

Also kids today know that there are fewer and fewer places where you can drive fast so the emphasis has changed from out and out Sports car performance and handling to 'show' - neon lights, add on spoilers etc, loud music (all the sh*t that we hate) and the Ricer accessory dealers are all out there catering for this. Go to your local magazine rack at the supermarket and see how many 'US Sportscar' mags there are compared to those catering for Ricers.

Times they are a changing - Bob Dylan

kopbet89c4

Don't forget, in my town, they almost always have backwards baseball caps, a very reclined seat, and sunglasses. If they nod at you and kinda "smirk" at you, that means they wanna race. BURN them!!!! I love doing that, especially if they think they are hardcore and really think a light little Civic has a chance against me.

stevec4

Illegal road race last night in Las Vegas on Sahara.

Result: one killed, two in hospital (both critical), one facing Felony Driving Death.

Let's hope we don't hear the same tragic news regarding any CF readers.

ZfidyONE-84

a friend of mine has a 93 CIVIC hatchback, hes had it for about 8 years, and dumped thousands in bodywork, and wheels. but i have to give him props he did a motor swap in it. but for all the performance work that has been done to his car, its only about a 15.5 car in the quarter. while my 84 in the 1/4 its about a 14.5 in the 1/4


for what he has dumped in that car he could have a seriously fast car



street racing is no joke, i used to be in it when i had my accord, there was one instant there was a race between an integra, and a supra. the integra forced the supra off the road and hit a truck, the integra came back, and robbed him of monet, and his aftermarket taillights, and left him for dead.

what kind of society do we live in?!?!?!

jrzvette

Is it a lack of respect or is it "sour grapes"; they think they can't afford one so they say it isn't a good car. A new Corvette is (and always has been) priced about the same a new Cadillac, they have never been inexpensive cars.

ZfidyONE-84

i felt the same way, i thought it sucked because i couldn't afford one, now that i got one, i regret thinking that they sucked, it has been the best thing i've driven, and i've driven some high end cars (VIPER, NSX, porsches) i wouldn't trade my vette for any of them

Darth Vader

Last Saturday driving thru the McDonalds drive way the 16 yr old kid at the drive up window said to me NICE CAR!!!! so some do like the Vettes.

Edison Trent

I'm 21 and have owned my Vette since just after I turned 16. Everyone of my peers love corvettes, though some only really like the old ones and others love the C4-C6.

Hippiehead025

im still a "kid" and i love vettes, andevery1 i know loves my vette too, they got mad respect for it, maybe its just someo f those stupid ricer kidstht "think" they can go fast think vettes r for chumps, but who cares? their cars r japaneese.

Bruthish

Funny/cool story:

I was at a car show with over 400 cars this weekend. They were giving out the awards and there were numerous "ricers" there that recieved trophies. Each trophy had a sponsor that was engraved in it. One of the "ricers" was right in front of me. When he looked at his trophy, he grinned real big and told his friends "Hey Look, mine is sponsored by a Corvette!"....all his friends said stuff like "way to go" and "cool".

His trophy was sponsored by a Corvette Club out of Indianapolis.

Dartvader

Should Corvette stay the same weight, with their big V-8 power, or should they trim 500lbs off and go with a higher reving OHC engine? Also, should they keep the cost up, and keep it more or less race ready, or cut the cost, by cheapening the brakes and such, and try to woo in some kids? 60K does put a new one out of reach of most kids. Heck it puts it out of reach of me.

bogus

That's not entirely true.

Back in the 50s and 60s, the Vette was just a bit more expensive then a loaded up 'Stang. About $5500 would buy you a nicely equipped 1967 BB vette.... Caddy's were over $7000.00 then. Jags, Porsche's and Ferrari's were MUCH more expensive.

It wasn't until the early 70s that GM could no longer suck up the losses on the Vette and required that it pay it's own way, so the prices went up accordingly.

Much of the problem with Vettes, I think, has been the past owner base. For some reason, as a young person, I would almost always run into the arrogent *** hole Corvette owner. I suspect that mentality did more to harm the Corvette then anything else. They were like rubbing it in my face that I could not afford one. I will be honest, those people turned me off. The last one, about 12 years ago, just bought a then BRAND NEW ZR1. It was sweet... I wanted to ask him some questions, and he flat out blew me off. I was like, "you ***." and made sure he heard it.

We don't need that. We need folks to open up and share the Corvette experience. Make future generations WANT to be part of the family and not discourage their ideas.

The C4 can do a lot towards changing those views... and I have tried to change those views. Everyone thinks these cars are super expensive... but they are not - purchase and maintenance isn't that over the top. I do advise that people get a manual and tools - DIY is the way to financial freedom.

The problem with cost is that many owners don't DIY, so they have the expectation of thousands of dollars a year in mechanics bills...

Perception is an evil thing. We must be more proactive in dispelling these myths.