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I like them both....the C4 and the C6 GS. My C4 LT4 is bone stock and my C6 GS I've added long tubes and a Maggie supercharger and while its a good touring car it can be a beast when I want it to be. Obviously both different cars and different driving experiences, and I love them both for those reasons. I don't have any trouble getting in and out of either yet as I'm about to turn 51 in a couple of weeks, but I will agree though, the C4 seats are more comfortable.
You may have a point there cuz i do the AIF, and it hasn't happened to me yet, but as one begins experieincing advancing age the entire body will only move in ways that are different in the ways it did when i was younger. I notice it in my hands the way i handle a tool or when i am doing more intricate hand work.
I actually watched youtube videos on how to get in and out of a C4 Corvette before I got mine. I wanted to be prepared.
My 91 year old dad wanted to a Corvette after I got mine and I talked him out of getting a C4 because he uses a walker. So he got a 2012 C6 Grand Sport. More sensible. And he's happy with it. Not be sacrilegious or anything but I've driven a couple of C6s and I like driving my 96 more. It just feels more fun to me.
I actually watched youtube videos on how to get in and out of a C4 Corvette before I got mine. I wanted to be prepared.
My 91 year old dad wanted to a Corvette after I got mine and I talked him out of getting a C4 because he uses a walker. So he got a 2012 C6 Grand Sport. More sensible. And he's happy with it. Not be sacrilegious or anything but I've driven a couple of C6s and I like driving my 96 more. It just feels more fun to me.
Thank you for sharing such your heart felt story of connection between father and son, each sharing their joy with their connection to their machines. I've got 18 more years to catch up with your Dad!
One thing that I feel when sitting in my C4 is that it doesn’t feel like a small car. Funny thing is, as I was returning to it when it was parked in a lot, a new Dodge Challenger was parked next to it. Next to the Challenger, the C4 looked small, very small. Especially from a little distance as I was approaching.
It’s hard to notice from inside the car but the C4 is indeed tiny, even when compared to its C8 descendant.
Inside the car it feels like you’re in this huge wedge. Maybe it’s because the hood looks so much longer from the seating position. But compared to modern cars? Very very small.
My mom had a Stingray early 70's C3 Before I was Born.
I remember back in 2014 I took here for a ride because she was at my aunts and she needed a ride home.
After she got out the car she said your car sure rides nice.
It was at that point she told me she had a Corvette.
Didn't believe it but I know she had a Opel GT 5 sp and a 57 Chevy.
Her Brothers worked on cars and she told me one Bought the 57 chevy and it only had Reverse when he Bought it so he drove the car in Reverse all the way home.
It’s hard to notice from inside the car but the C4 is indeed tiny, even when compared to its C8 descendant.
Inside the car it feels like you’re in this huge wedge. Maybe it’s because the hood looks so much longer from the seating position. But compared to modern cars? Very very small.
soon after i got my '94 home, eyeballing it from all angles, i couldn't help but notice how small it seemed depsite how spacious it felt inside. as i realize ya'll know, it 176.5 innches in length = 14.7 feet long. i have my driver's seat about as low as it will go which creates the illusion the hood stretches into infinity. Curious about how many feet the hood extends from where my head is when seated in the car, i took an approximate measurement of approximately 6 feet. i'm not particulalry tall, and pretty much equally proportioned at 5'9" and with the Sport Seat in nearly it's lowest position, i have maybe about 2" clearance between the top of my head and the Targa top's headliner. Height of C4 is 1/10 inch under 48 inches. and, relatively wide at one inch under 6 foot. Writing this post, arouses my curiosity of basic dimentions of other gen's. Good golly, Miss Molly, i love this car!
It’s hard to notice from inside the car but the C4 is indeed tiny, even when compared to its C8 descendant.
Inside the car it feels like you’re in this huge wedge. Maybe it’s because the hood looks so much longer from the seating position. But compared to modern cars? Very very small.
so, i just did a quick trip through googleworld and the C4 is the shortest and lowest of all other gen's! i'd say, we have a winner! Damn, i love my C4!
Now the true curiosity is whether its an auto or a stick...
Don't bet too much just based on age. Long ago we used to have a very old guy come visit us at the railroad. Needed a cane to walk in, when we saw his pickup pull in somebody would often go out to take his arm as he shook and trembled along. One day he left his truck in the drive and one of the company trucks needed to get by. I went out to move it for him.
That pickup had a clutch like a bear trap! Even as a younger guy at the time I about strained my gut just depressing it a couple times. Old Ross may have been over the hill, but there was nothing wrong with his left leg!
That C-4 owner may enjoy rowing through the gears as much as anyone half his age.
Last edited by Railroadman; Feb 22, 2025 at 08:07 AM.
I asked a friend of mine, why don't you buy a Corvette he said: He was too old to own one, OMG I didn't realize there was an age limit on owning a Vette. LOL. I sat in my first vette in 1965 a 1961 (was mine) I got that Vette felling; Vette people know that felling never been without one or two or three from that day to this, I still get that same felling, I'm sitting in a Corvette cool lets go have some vette fun .. Vette guy, I guess.
I'm 78 and on my 4th corvette, a 1996 bought about 6 months ago. First one in HS, 1960. Second one in college, 1965 fastback, roller cam, mags, 411s, etc. Third one while in USAF, 1973 convert. Scattered in between all these along the way, two Porsches (356C and 912), Mazda Miata, two Mustang GTs, 1966 GTO, 1956 Tbird that I took out 312 and automatic and put in "built" 289 and T10 4spd. Three mercedes and three BMWs and two VW bugs and a VW bus (wife and 3 kids). As you can see I like cars. And the really amazing thing is that I almost specialized in vehicles in my USAF career. Started out running base veh maint shops, and ended at Pentagon 2nd in charge of the USAF fleet, 157,000 vehicles of all sorts world wide at the height of the cold war. Wouldn't change it all for anything!!
Started out running base veh maint shops, and ended at Pentagon 2nd in charge of the USAF fleet, 157,000 vehicles of all sorts world wide at the height of the cold war. Wouldn't change it all for anything!!
As someone who lives in an air force town up here in NorCal, I can appreciate your service to the USAF. I may have been born way after the Cold War ended (2003...), but I still recognize the importance that air mobility/superiority plays in the post-Cold War era. You have a real awesome background.
so, i just did a quick trip through googleworld and the C4 is the shortest and lowest of all other gen's! i'd say, we have a winner! Damn, i love my C4!
You just gave me more fun facts to tell people at car meets. Surprisingly, an open clamshell hood with a Crossfire engine draws quite the crowd. Now the ride height and short car make it extra interesting.
Originally Posted by Railroadman
That pickup had a clutch like a bear trap! Even as a younger guy at the time I about strained my guy just depressing it a couple times. Old Ross may have been over the hill, but there was nothing wrong with his left leg!
That C-4 owner may enjoy rowing through the gears as much as anyone half his age.
Maybe clutch legs are more of a genetics thing than an age thing. My moms C6 has a really weird and really stiff clutch. I never really got used to it. My 4+3 (and maybe even the 6-speed cars?) have a much smoother and more predictable travel. If that guy with the yellow Corvette has a 6-speed, I give him all the praise since manual cars are slowly going extinct. If its an auto, its still a Corvette, so its still awesome.
I'm 73. Whenever I am in eyesight of my C4, there's not a time when i don't feel graitude for the privilege to "fall in and climb out" with the ease of an 18 year old. I'm blessed with good health and physically fit. For me, "FICO" is like a drug. Sitting in that Sport Seat, bringing my legs in, positioning my body, sitting in the cockpit, behind the wheel is intoxicating. Getting out... I DON'T WANNA!!!!!
I was never much of a "red" guy, mainly because of "resale red" painted on every make and model of classic/sports cars imaginable over the years!!! BUT....I remember the first time I saw a C4 corvette that was Torch Red inside and out...I think I actually started drooling!!!! To me it's the perfect red for an exterior and so beautifully vibrant as an interior color, it almost doesn't look real!!! It literally glows in the daylight!!! You have a gorgeous machine there Steve!!! And to add to the thread, the Competition Yellow corvette in the original post is sweet as well, first thing I noticed was that fantastic color matching factory hardtop...very, very nice late C4 convertible! As long as I'm breathing, I'll be enjoying driving my corvette every chance I get!!! Excellent thread👍
My condolences. But if your time is up, that's the way to go.
