Benpup, I'm 45 and I hope I have your spirit and wisdom when I turn 60. The way it sounds from your experience makes me eager to get there. I agree totally with your attitude and most importantly THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY. I drive by Arlington Cemetery twice a week and know that we owe it to those heroes and to people like you to live freedom to the limit.

Steve

 

im 42.......never was able to afford the vette as a dd only and had 3(young) sons. now my kids are in the 20's and my youngest is 11, i have a dd(ml320) so i said: why the hell not get the vette. havent regretted the decision at all(even though my wife was highly upset) the looks and attention,byproducts of any nice car,is all good! little kids and big one,stop,stare,admire,its great,positive responses! always wanted a vette since late 70's,so the c5 does it for me! and the ladies( no regrets) give me some of the most admiring looks(long b4 the c5 too) its just extra now,cant and wont capitalize on it,buts its still nice!!

 

I'm too happy owning my car to care what anyone else thinks or says. at 51, no one says anything to me about what I do. And I don't even notice if they care about what I do, or not. I know WHY I do what I do, and that's ALL that matters to ME!!! But, MORE than THAT, I don't care what anyone else does, as long as they leave ME alone.

BTW-I just post replys so I can attach my SIGNATURE!!! I just wish my pictures would be approved sooner so I can put a different picture in my sig!

 

I just hit 40, so I fall into the stereotype unfortunately. I really do't care what others think, but my wife was worried that when I bought the car, people would think we were pretentious and "better than them". I always deal with her on this issue, because she was raised to think that people who had nice things were snobs and thought they were better than her family, even though they never got to know anyone like that. her mom made some poor choices and has issues... i told her, who cares, we boughtt he car for us to enjoy.

 

RIGHT ON!!!

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but a note to EG:

If you drove Grond to church, would it immediately get hit by lightning????

 

IT'S like this JEALOUSY is a BIATCH for some people!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in my late 20's and hear it from the guys at work, "Must be nice to have a Corvette" My response - Hey you have kids and a wife, I opted for the car first - sorry!!! Then they usually say thats true and admit that they would do the same in our situation.

Not to mention if any of you are like me, My father has had his 73 sting ray since 73 so it is 4 years older than i am. If you don't think that car sitting around made me want to have one then you must be crazy!!!!

Sorry for rambling it just gets me going, just remember JEALOUSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

No...but maybe a bolt of NEON

I had people accuse me of being "rich"...HAH far from it........but as someone who'd been through a Quad-Bypass....I decided I'd let my 410K help me buy one. I doubt I'll retire...but rather "expire" before I can retire, so why not enjoy life NOW Besides....I've been a "Gear Head" since I was 4 years old

 

I too am 60 and can identify with you. My friends all treat me the same as always as long as I give them an occasional thrill ride. It probably helps that I've owned Vettes for 40 years but who cares about jealous people, they all had the same opportunities as we did.

 

I have had this happen with a couple of friends that I have known for years. I have always been into sports cars and have had several before I bought the Vette. You would think by now they would figure out I like cars and I don't buy them with the intent of being better then anyone else.

 

Dave and EG,

Heck, I'm 35 and am proud to say I'm marrired and have 2 kids, yet still have time to enjoy my 04 Vert. Don't care what people say, I love the car and family. My kids get kick out of it when they are in the Vette. I also have a minivan (honda) and a 4x4 SUV (montero) for the bad weather, DD ,and family outings but you can't never have enough fun in the vette.

Enjoy!!!

 

Lifes to short F%*# em! Enjoy

 

This is a great thread!!!

I bought my first Vette last December, having drooled on many since 1954... Remember "Route 66".

This got most of our friends scratching their heads, but that was most of the fun (not to mention driving it to Canada from FL!!).

By the way, isn't the winner the one that ends up with the most toys?

 

I totally agree with ZOOOM!!!!

 

Hey Guy, I owned 13 Corvettes over the past 35 years. The best one is the one I just Purchased, a 1998 C5 Vert. People tell me " I wish I had Your $$$ " The bank owns my car and plus who gives a Rats a--
what I do with my money and I have 3 children , 17, 19 and 28.
Enjoy The car.

 

well see the only reason think the corvette is a midlife crisis car is because hell most guys driving a vette are in there 30 40 50 ish and there also the ones with enough money to buy a nice car like a vette- well pretty much it makes these guys feel younge again im guessing- well any way if some one stops being your friend because you have a vette then its a good thign because why would you even want a friend like that in the frist place.

 

Your thread title is “C-5 Impressions”, not just corvette impression.

I think the C-5 changed everything for the Corvette badge reputation, with the Z06 being the coup de gras for pretty much all the competition putting all euro muscle on notice. The C-5 performance speaks for itself at testing tracks everywhere while still pulling down nearly 30mpg on the highway (if you want it to).

C-5 took the vette from a straight-line muscle car and sports car wannabe to a world class rally car on the track. Let them say what they want because if you love to drive, you need a C-5.

 

I've been driving Vettes on and off for 50 years for my own enjoyment.

 

It sucks HUH!! I've lost more then half of my family(including my father!) because my wife and I started our own Co. and are doing very well at 29 years of age. We got some coments when we bought our house, they got worse when I got the vette, then all the haters came to life when my wife brought home a 2005 H2!!
My sister inlaw made a comment about my vette payments, all I said was "the vette is a toy, and I would never finance a toy" The look on her was was pricless!!!
I guess I was a better person when I was still a welder, and risking my life everyday hanging from a bridge.
I even get coments from the mailman, because my wife and I work out of our home and he always sees me tinkering with the vette.

Sorry for the rant on my first post, but this subject strikes a big nerve. I guess I just don't get the whole jealous thing, I've always been happy for others good fortune.


Doug

 

Lots of great input here! I’ve owned Corvettes for several years now. I’ve always been a car guy. I reached a point several years ago where I asked myself why I was constantly bolting Corvette engines, brakes, etc. into Camaros. I figured why not just buy a Corvette and be done with it? So that is what I did. Car wise it was the best decision I ever made.

HOWEVER, I was not prepared for all of the negativity generated by the Vette. I agree wholeheartedly with the “who cares what other people think” philosophy. But I have gotten negative comments from so many people for such a long time that it’s really starting to irritate me. It seems that kids and fellow Vette owners are the only people that don’t give me crap about the car. It’s truly made me realize how petty and bitter most people are. Believe me I try to keep a low profile with the Vette. I don’t tell anyone I own a Vette. If I go somewhere in the Vette, when I park, I park out of sight and “sneak” in to wherever it is I’m going. When I go on dates I never drive the Vette. Yet somehow people still find cause to give me crap!

In the end; I’m driving a car I love so it’s all worth it.