El original

CORVETTE magazine editor had it right IMHO regarding the C4 Corvette. He states how well the exterior design has aged despite being 30 years old. The C4 still has a contemporary quality to it. The comparative simplicity of the C4's exterior has served it well. Ornamentation ages quickly and the fourth generation is largely devoid of it. He also states the interior did not fare as well and looks as '80s as you can get. For myself I always liked the C4 although you can never call it beautiful, it certainly has an appeal! Greetings, Rob

O4-/-C5

I can't tell you how many people come up to me in my travels to compliment my 2004 Magnetic Red Vert.
Young kids,boys and girls, old boys and girls and all ages in between.
Some dont even know what the car is - they all just like it.
I think there is something special about the C5 design that has this effect on a wide range of people that is not going to change in the future ahead which will make the C5 design timeless.

Camjamsdad

With parts availability, electrical issues, etc. My guess is there won't be many factory intact C5 survivors in 20 years. You'll see carburetored small block 350's stuffed under the hood or similar. All the bells and whistles silenced. Basically stripped down shells that look nice.

Mattie Num Nums

Thats not what this thread is about. This thread is more about our investment being worth something 20 years from now or not. With that said I think the C4 is just about as 80's as you can get and there isn't much you can do about it. The C5 as I said earlier, get rid of the BSMs, Wagon Wheels, and pop up lights and you have a timeless machine. Smooth, sweeping, and low slung. Nothing else like it.

FOURSPEEDVETTE

Hold on now. Just about everyone who ever compliments my 1985 C4 always starts by saying quote: Man, that's a beautiful car!

solaris_vii

^^ i get comments all the time that my 89 is beautiful unfortunately most c4s are run down and not worth the cost of improving their appearance unless it is a labor of love and that creates the bad stigma theyve gotten. for me the c5s are beautiful cars (leave those bsms on!) but their design is HEAVILY influenced off the c4, more so than any other 2 generations. it looks like someone put a c4 in photoshop, made it larger, and used the smear tool to round off all the edges

chad3113

Yes I think the C5 is timeless, but honestly, every corvette generation is desirable except the C4. I think the FRC and Z06 will be the most sought after from a collector standpoint.

obnoxus

I have to respectfully,,,,,but strongly disagree with you on that one !!!

OneCylinder

Timeless until you open the headlights.

El original

I would compliment your car by saying, "wow, what an appealing car"

Blancpain

I like the fact that the C5 was the last of the pop up headlights. Makes it unique and timeless. I just wish the pop up was cooler like the way the C4 did it.

Besides the C5 may well be in the same timeless category as the Lambo Muira (or Countach), BMW 8 series, Ferrari F40, Porsche 928, Toyota 2000GT, and Acura NSX to name a few

DRM87

I loved my C4 and I find the C6 and C7 to be attractive cars, but every time I see the C5 coming down the road, it never looks dated to me. So smooth and sleek. It's so nice I bought it twice!

bj1k

Didn't we all " Buy it for me "? I know I did. Couldn't care what other people think or I might have bought something else since some people like the C6 better. I don't , and don't care for the C7 which many like enough to buy one. This is about C5 opinions and I guess you had yours.

yanmar

just my 2 cents worth but, the c6 and now the c7 in particular have lots of angles, where as the new jaguar f. porsche 911,viper srt, aston martin and others have curves as does the c5 corvette. lets see what direction the new mustang takes............

OneCylinder

I was just having a little fun with Mattie Num Nums' post. I love the pop-up lights, too bad they didn't design them more aerodynamic when up. Maybe C8 will come up with a really cool set-up.

Supercharged111

Indeed I did, and still do, because I still believe a good chunk of people buy cars like this just to turn heads. The fact that it does was never a factor in my decision to buy this car, but to a lot of people I believe it is and to me, that's about as lame and vain as it gets. That's what this post reeks of to me. To those who don't fall into this category, take no offense and carry on with the conversation.

OneCylinder

Evidence to a timeless design is that in the 8 model years there were no body redesigns. Same bumpers, fenders, roofs etc.

5.3Avalanche

I think it already is a timeless design. The styling of this car still goes toe to toe with the latest and greatest in my opinion. I didn't believe it until I started getting comments from people at work and random people when I was out driving. They would ask me what year my car was, "2011, 2012?" they typically ask. When I explain I drive a '98, they can't believe it. Being well taken care of also helps but still, I think it goes to show that the car still looks amazing today, and is comparable to newer sheetmetal.

OneCylinder

"Sheetmetal"?

Just kidding, I know what you mean.

bladex10

Definitely. It holds its own with todays cars on the road.