Doesn't anyone like us????
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Doesn't anyone like us????
I was just looking at last years 30th anniversary copy of the Corvette's at Carlisle magazine... They have every year represented on the cover except the C4s and no articles about the C4 in the mag.. This isn't the first time I have seen this type of behavior from different Corvette magazines but I would really expect better from one of the largest Corvette only shows....What gives, aren't we part of the Corvette fraternity..Come on Carlisle....Maybe this year we can get just a small picture of a C4....WW
Corvette's of Carlisle mag..
http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/pdf/20..._Directory.pdf
Corvette's of Carlisle mag..
http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/pdf/20..._Directory.pdf
Last edited by WW7; 04-17-2012 at 08:06 AM.
#5
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St. Jude Donor '06
Look at the fairly vicious argument going on elsewhere in C4 General over the $500 that the frame brace costs. Look at the fact that for 18 months there were no name brand tires for the early C4s. Look at how long it has taken for vendors to come out with even a modicum of C4 restoration parts.
Trust me, if there was measurable and concentrated demand, someone would be stepping forward to satisfy it. We're pretty good at that in the USA.
#6
C4's, save for the ZR-1, fairly well hold the place as the red headed step child of the Corvette world right now.
When the C5 first came out this was simply because the C4 isn't the latest and greatest anymore. A large number of C5 owners bought them just as a status symbol and then looked down their noses at the C4 just because a lot of C4 owners didn't buy them new, or didn't trade them on a C5. Now that the C6 is around, to an extent this is happening to the C5. The C5 is starting to get a good base of "used" owners who will serious catch hell from C6 owners just like we did. To then make themselves feel better they have to look down their noses at a C4 and talk about how awesome their aluminum wonder engine is and how much better the C5 handles, etc, etc.
In short if you're looking to feel justified in the eyes of an owner of the latest and greatest, the only thing you can do is to buy the latest and greatest. By and large they don't care about the car, what it means, what it's history is, just that it's better than yours. Most of these monkeys wouldn't know a headlight from a lug nut and are better off just ignored, it's not worth the effort. You'll always be inferior in their eyes. They seem to have forgotten that their generation would not exist if it weren't for the previous generations.
This doesn't just hold true in the Corvette world, it's cars in general. Animosity runs both ways, people who own a Ferrari will look down on a Corvette, etc. There are wannabe's who will take some POS and throw a bunch of bolt on crap at it and claim it is superior and cheaper than a real sports car, which is generally total BS.
Eventually though, if you weed through all of this you'll get to the people who respect somebody who can wrench on their own car and respect horsepower no matter where it comes from. I'll be the first to admit, I generally can't stand the import crowd but one of my best friends is building a Talon that's gonna spank my car all day long. I think my Vette looks better, and it certainly SOUNDS better, but I have to respect the work he's put into it and the end result. A true "gear head" will respect your knowledge and your results, even if that result is simply keeping a classic running without having to go crying to the dealership every time you get a SES light.
The fact is you'll probably find more true gear heads in the C4 world than you will in any other generation Corvette currently. I say to hell with what everybody else thinks!
When the C5 first came out this was simply because the C4 isn't the latest and greatest anymore. A large number of C5 owners bought them just as a status symbol and then looked down their noses at the C4 just because a lot of C4 owners didn't buy them new, or didn't trade them on a C5. Now that the C6 is around, to an extent this is happening to the C5. The C5 is starting to get a good base of "used" owners who will serious catch hell from C6 owners just like we did. To then make themselves feel better they have to look down their noses at a C4 and talk about how awesome their aluminum wonder engine is and how much better the C5 handles, etc, etc.
In short if you're looking to feel justified in the eyes of an owner of the latest and greatest, the only thing you can do is to buy the latest and greatest. By and large they don't care about the car, what it means, what it's history is, just that it's better than yours. Most of these monkeys wouldn't know a headlight from a lug nut and are better off just ignored, it's not worth the effort. You'll always be inferior in their eyes. They seem to have forgotten that their generation would not exist if it weren't for the previous generations.
This doesn't just hold true in the Corvette world, it's cars in general. Animosity runs both ways, people who own a Ferrari will look down on a Corvette, etc. There are wannabe's who will take some POS and throw a bunch of bolt on crap at it and claim it is superior and cheaper than a real sports car, which is generally total BS.
Eventually though, if you weed through all of this you'll get to the people who respect somebody who can wrench on their own car and respect horsepower no matter where it comes from. I'll be the first to admit, I generally can't stand the import crowd but one of my best friends is building a Talon that's gonna spank my car all day long. I think my Vette looks better, and it certainly SOUNDS better, but I have to respect the work he's put into it and the end result. A true "gear head" will respect your knowledge and your results, even if that result is simply keeping a classic running without having to go crying to the dealership every time you get a SES light.
The fact is you'll probably find more true gear heads in the C4 world than you will in any other generation Corvette currently. I say to hell with what everybody else thinks!
#7
Melting Slicks
My statement isn't a value judgement. Availability of funds and actual spending for C4 owners is all over the place.
Look at the fairly vicious argument going on elsewhere in C4 General over the $500 that the frame brace costs. Look at the fact that for 18 months there were no name brand tires for the early C4s. Look at how long it has taken for vendors to come out with even a modicum of C4 restoration parts.
Trust me, if there was measurable and concentrated demand, someone would be stepping forward to satisfy it. We're pretty good at that in the USA.
Look at the fairly vicious argument going on elsewhere in C4 General over the $500 that the frame brace costs. Look at the fact that for 18 months there were no name brand tires for the early C4s. Look at how long it has taken for vendors to come out with even a modicum of C4 restoration parts.
Trust me, if there was measurable and concentrated demand, someone would be stepping forward to satisfy it. We're pretty good at that in the USA.
#8
Racer
I am GLAD they dont like us......It lowers the price enough to where a poor working slob like me can own a C4, put some money into it, and have a GREAT LOOKING CORVETTE ! ! ! SCREW THEM if they feel me inferior ! !
#10
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St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14
When people don't like me or my cars it makes me want to cry.
OK ..... I'm over it now.
Just in sheer numbers the C4 market is one that is worthy of attention. Major companies have made money catering to that market. No, C4s don't generally command a premium sales price but those that own a C4 tend to spend on upkeep and reconditioning. JMO
OK ..... I'm over it now.
Just in sheer numbers the C4 market is one that is worthy of attention. Major companies have made money catering to that market. No, C4s don't generally command a premium sales price but those that own a C4 tend to spend on upkeep and reconditioning. JMO
#12
Le Mans Master
Funny thing is, I KNOW the guys at Corvette's at Carlisle do indeed love the C4. The C4 logo is on the barn BTW. The artist was out of room so you do what you have to do. I don't think it was anything at all against the C4.
#13
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St. Jude Donor '06
The Miller family own one of the more amazing sets of C4s out there: Challenge cars, ZR-1s, Callaways, etc. Their garage was the big finish of a forum mystery cruise several years ago.
Last edited by j3studio; 04-17-2012 at 10:53 AM.
#14
Race Director
People can come on here and b*tch all day long but the simple truth is that the vast majority of people aren't going to spend thousands of dollars on cars that are worth what C4s are worth right now.
Companies go where the profits are, and at the moment that is NOT C4 Corvettes. These companies exist to make money, not to spend time and money developing parts that will be a net loss to make things "equal." I would be willing to bet that the C5/C6 aftermarkets profit more in a month than the C4 does in a year.
It's simple economics.
There are way more C4 owners with inferiority complexes than C5 owners looking down their noses. Take 30 seconds to look around the C5 and C6 sections of this forum. There is hardly a mention of a C4 anywhere, yet it is almost a guarantee that someone will attempt to bash a C5/C6 and throw up a bunch of reasons why they feel that the C4 is better in almost every thread in this section. Why is that?
And yea, in the constant C5 bashing threads it is a pretty simple argument to point out that the LSX engines ARE better and the C5 platform DOES beat the C4 in pretty much every possible aspect of performance.
Companies go where the profits are, and at the moment that is NOT C4 Corvettes. These companies exist to make money, not to spend time and money developing parts that will be a net loss to make things "equal." I would be willing to bet that the C5/C6 aftermarkets profit more in a month than the C4 does in a year.
It's simple economics.
And yea, in the constant C5 bashing threads it is a pretty simple argument to point out that the LSX engines ARE better and the C5 platform DOES beat the C4 in pretty much every possible aspect of performance.
#15
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St. Jude Donor '05
#16
Race Director
Gotta beat them at the track to gain respect.
#17
Le Mans Master
Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before the C5 becomes the ugly redheaded step child as soon as the C7 hits the street. Personally I don't understand why anyone actually cares what someone else thinks of your car...at the end of the day any vette owner that dish on another vette owners car isn't a true vette fan, but just a wanna be!
#18
Team Owner
Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before the C5 becomes the ugly redheaded step child as soon as the C7 hits the street. Personally I don't understand why anyone actually cares what someone else thinks of your car...at the end of the day any vette owner that dish on another vette owners car isn't a true vette fan, but just a wanna be!
#19
Melting Slicks
Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before the C5 becomes the ugly redheaded step child as soon as the C7 hits the street. Personally I don't understand why anyone actually cares what someone else thinks of your car...at the end of the day any vette owner that dish on another vette owners car isn't a true vette fan, but just a wanna be!
#20
Melting Slicks
Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before the C5 becomes the ugly redheaded step child as soon as the C7 hits the street. Personally I don't understand why anyone actually cares what someone else thinks of your car...at the end of the day any vette owner that dish on another vette owners car isn't a true vette fan, but just a wanna be!