Does Vette have a true nemisis ?
Melting Slicks
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From: Tampa Bay, Go BUCS!!!Go Rays!!!Go Lightning!!!
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
what are your standards for comparing?
I suppose this thread could easily go the way of "which tires" or "vert or coupe".
When the OP first posed the question I immediately started trying to list cars that the Corvette has always raced against. No Supras, few Vipers, not Mustang. They were always (careful using the word always...) imports. What other cars have stood the test of time?
To compare the Corvette to the Supra, GT3000, and like you have to be only looking at the sales market, not the built-purpose. Honestly, could any of those cars really stand up to the C5 in all around performance? The Viper only really compares in style and HP. yes, some of the performance metrics are close but the fact that few people have made serious attempts to actually sustain race teams using Vipers tells me it only compares in Car & Driver, not on the track.
JMHO
When the OP first posed the question I immediately started trying to list cars that the Corvette has always raced against. No Supras, few Vipers, not Mustang. They were always (careful using the word always...) imports. What other cars have stood the test of time?
To compare the Corvette to the Supra, GT3000, and like you have to be only looking at the sales market, not the built-purpose. Honestly, could any of those cars really stand up to the C5 in all around performance? The Viper only really compares in style and HP. yes, some of the performance metrics are close but the fact that few people have made serious attempts to actually sustain race teams using Vipers tells me it only compares in Car & Driver, not on the track.
JMHO
Melting Slicks
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From: Elizabethtown
On the track it seems to be the viper, porsche, and in le mans its aston martin. The ACR Viper is faster than the C6Z and the GT2. But I always thought it was competing with the Porsche and Viper.
Last edited by bgreen83; Jul 30, 2008 at 01:51 PM.
Racer
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From: Altamonte Springs FL
The original 60's Cobra was designed with the sole purpose of beating Corvettes, and it did. The GT40 was designed to beat Ferrari, and it did. More recently, the Viper seems to be Corvette's only American competitor.
My 2 cents.
My 2 cents.
Melting Slicks
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Drifting
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From: Gig Harbor WA
As some have noted, the answer rests with "point in time." Originally, the Vette came out in 1953, and the sports cars available came from the UK. The first Cobras arrived in late 1962, giving Vettes real competition on the track -- but not in sales -- Vettes won on the showroom floor. When Jaguar showed the new E-Type at the London Motor Show in l961, GM engineers were seen measuring the rear suspension and borrowing IRS ideas for the '63 Vette. (Jags didn't beat many Vettes on track, but Cobra did.) More recently, Vipers provided some racing competition, but faded, giving way (currently) to Aston-Martin in the same racing class as Vettes. Though Porsche is variously mentioned above, they fall into a different racing class, but certainly compete for enthusiast dollars on showroom floors.
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Thread Starter
Drifting
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uuuhhhhh,uuummmm, sir, by any chance did you come thru a time machine maybe, that Vette itself is a portal or something ?
Cause I do declare sir, you are authentic.
Uhh, good hunting then,
A friend
P.S. Please to note good sir, I only look like an Injun, I am actually 1/2 German, 1/4 Central American and 1/4 Chinese.(crazy parents what were they thinking?) But certainly all american in heart and spirit,born in Colorado, indeed. uuuhhh maybe a Confederate or Union spirit, depends, which side do you fancy ?
Cause I do declare sir, you are authentic.
Uhh, good hunting then,
A friend
P.S. Please to note good sir, I only look like an Injun, I am actually 1/2 German, 1/4 Central American and 1/4 Chinese.(crazy parents what were they thinking?) But certainly all american in heart and spirit,born in Colorado, indeed. uuuhhh maybe a Confederate or Union spirit, depends, which side do you fancy ?
Last edited by 50th@50; Jul 30, 2008 at 04:03 PM.
Burning Brakes
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From: "Man been singin' the Blues, since he began to till the ground"...Vancouver, USA WA.
Well said.
JOE
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Shelby Cobra for the earlier models, Viper for the current generations.
Thread Starter
Drifting
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Really it seems the Vette stands alone, the 60`s AC Cobra and the newer Vipers never kept pace with the overall popularity and success of the Vette, noted World wide (mostly maybe) as an American Legend and Icon, just fleeting moments for them, no Viper or Cobra Museum either to support this notion, that I know of.
Perhaps there never was a true rival for the Vette. The Corvette stands alone, atop the Victory Podium.
Maybe Cobra takes Silver and the nod for Bronze to Viper.
Its all good, all American Muscle and quite proud of it. It is by the spirit of open competition that continues to elevate the Corvettes prowess. May it never end. It embodies our Spirit in so many ways.
Thank you for all the sharing.
Perhaps there never was a true rival for the Vette. The Corvette stands alone, atop the Victory Podium.
Maybe Cobra takes Silver and the nod for Bronze to Viper.
Its all good, all American Muscle and quite proud of it. It is by the spirit of open competition that continues to elevate the Corvettes prowess. May it never end. It embodies our Spirit in so many ways.
Thank you for all the sharing.
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Team Owner
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Does the Vette have a nemesis???......Sure it does...It's called an EX-WIFE!!!!!
Last edited by The NNIAL8R; Jul 30, 2008 at 07:15 PM.
Le Mans Master
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From: Kelso Washington
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Attending some early SCCA races in about 1966 at the Newport Airport here in Oregon, it was always the Shelby AC Cobras swapping paint with the modified C2 Corvettes....and the occasional E-type Jag.
I'll never forget seeing a Cobra and Vette tangle on a turn and skitter off into the seedling trees growing next to the track. When the dust settled, the cobra looked okay and the Vette hardly had a body panel remaining on the chassis.
As said, the early T-birds were meant as direct competition with the Corvette.
For modern times, yes, probably the Viper, especially since it is also American muscle and a two-seater.
I'll never forget seeing a Cobra and Vette tangle on a turn and skitter off into the seedling trees growing next to the track. When the dust settled, the cobra looked okay and the Vette hardly had a body panel remaining on the chassis.
As said, the early T-birds were meant as direct competition with the Corvette.
For modern times, yes, probably the Viper, especially since it is also American muscle and a two-seater.
Race Director
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From: Out of Site...Out of Mind. Corvette: anything else is just transportation.
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