C7: Because I care, I couldn't help it
11-02-2011, 01:23 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
C7: Because I care, I couldn't help it
I am a die hard "bang for your buck" corvette afficionado. I bought my first one(c6) when I was 25yrs old and have had 3. I think I fit the description of what they are trying to attract(not being arrogant)
This is how I feel: (only my opinion)
The transformer Corvette it probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen. That probably affected sales of the current model. I was embarassed.
Lets not kid ourselves; I don't care how Porsche does it, $50k-100 is a LOT of money!! Vettes were $43k just the other day.
I have seen some renderings on the net that I pray influence the design of the C7.
I dont care if the C7 has a 4cylinder... More power is more power..always a top priority to vette guys.
More power, less weight(smaller engine and a smaller car would accomplish that and you wouldnt need to upgrade the brakes if its lighter) It has enough cargo room in the hatch to sacrifice for performance. Anyone seen the trunk on a 350z? Small but young buyers dont care.
I know its not as easy as it sounds but I'm as blunt as I am ugly
I love GM
This is how I feel: (only my opinion)
The transformer Corvette it probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen. That probably affected sales of the current model. I was embarassed.
Lets not kid ourselves; I don't care how Porsche does it, $50k-100 is a LOT of money!! Vettes were $43k just the other day.
I have seen some renderings on the net that I pray influence the design of the C7.
I dont care if the C7 has a 4cylinder... More power is more power..always a top priority to vette guys.
More power, less weight(smaller engine and a smaller car would accomplish that and you wouldnt need to upgrade the brakes if its lighter) It has enough cargo room in the hatch to sacrifice for performance. Anyone seen the trunk on a 350z? Small but young buyers dont care.
I know its not as easy as it sounds but I'm as blunt as I am ugly
I love GM
Last edited by SgtRod; 11-02-2011 at 01:57 PM.
11-02-2011, 04:06 PM
#3
Burning Brakes
I'm not going to make any friends with this post, and might lose some great ones I've already made here the last few months, but if you guys are big enough to take what you dish out,here are my two cents. After reading this and similar opinions, I feel the need to chime in. Op, please don't take this as directed at you, but rather a general discription of what I think GM is up to. I am 26, and will be picking up my first Corvette (C5) on Saturday.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.
Last edited by Endeka; 11-02-2011 at 04:10 PM.
11-02-2011, 04:32 PM
#5
Burning Brakes
Right, but it is for most sports car owners. Nobody buys a Lambo because of the technology in its suspension. GM has suddenly become aware of this fact. The vette recipe since the 80s has been all go and no show; sitting inside a C5 is like being packed into a tiny missile made of vinyl and hard plastic; Hondas that cost 1/5 as much are far nicer places to sit. GM has realized that in order to expand its sales, it needs to sacrifice some of its substance for style and class. It wants the vette to be a presence in the parking lots of law firms where so many sports car pissing contests take place while the engines are off. The era of proving yourself between lights is over. To prove the vette in the 21st century, GM is going to have to to get the new vette out there in the salt at 7AM on a winter morning with the BMWs and the Boxters, not driven 50 miles a week every summer by a 68 year old who stores it in a heated garage when it rains.
11-02-2011, 04:38 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
I'm not going to make any friends with this post, and might lose some great ones I've already made here the last few months, but if you guys are big enough to take what you dish out,here are my two cents. After reading this and similar opinions, I feel the need to chime in. Op, please don't take this as directed at you, but rather a general discription of what I think GM is up to. I am 26, and will be picking up my first Corvette (C5) on Saturday.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.
Go buy your Porsche and enjoy yourself. **** you. A satisfied business executive Corvette owner!
11-02-2011, 04:42 PM
#7
Le Mans Master
Or are you just blowing smoke up our asses and your buddies are making it, but you are not?
Join you snooty brothers in the Porsche world by getting a used Boxter. That will be in your price range.
Last edited by jackhall99; 11-02-2011 at 04:47 PM.
11-02-2011, 05:11 PM
#9
OK toad, so why are you lowering yourself to buy a used C6? You have already told us that at 26 you are making around the magical $120k.
Or are you just blowing smoke up our asses and your buddies are making it, but you are not?
Join you snooty brothers in the Porsche world by getting a used Boxter. That will be in your price range.
Or are you just blowing smoke up our asses and your buddies are making it, but you are not?
Join you snooty brothers in the Porsche world by getting a used Boxter. That will be in your price range.
I think he is trying to speak for the younger generation, not himself specifically.
11-02-2011, 05:23 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
OK toad, so why are you lowering yourself to buy a used C6? You have already told us that at 26 you are making around the magical $120k.
Or are you just blowing smoke up our asses and your buddies are making it, but you are not?
Join you snooty brothers in the Porsche world by getting a used Boxter. That will be in your price range.
Or are you just blowing smoke up our asses and your buddies are making it, but you are not?
Join you snooty brothers in the Porsche world by getting a used Boxter. That will be in your price range.
I had my first new C5 at 23 right out of college. Got a new '08 C6 Coupe at 30 and got a new '10 ZR1 at 33.
I have friends who own a '10 E63 AMG, '10 Panamera Turbo, Vipers, Lambo Gallardos, M5's, etc. and NONE of them have knocked my purchase. Every single one of them think it's the bomb. The C7 is going to be even better.
GM is going to keep the current customers happy and bring in newer customers with better interior materials, dual-clutch transmission, more aggressive, yet classy styling, better fuel economy and the same azz-kicking performance and handling.
Last edited by QUIKAG; 11-02-2011 at 05:28 PM.
11-02-2011, 05:27 PM
#11
Drifting
Thread Starter
I was starting to think I was being measured by my relaxed writting skills. We do not come on here to show off writing skills or resume of friends. I do not even know where to start with this.
Not like he bought a zr1 or even a c6. This is classical.
It's not market share value. If one dreams of owning a DBS but can never afford one then you are as good as dead to Aston Martin.
I respect that you spoke yout mind but the transformer vette is still ugly as ****. Tell your Princeton buddies to lay off of the peyote.
Its much easier to say- sell your vette. Easy as that.
Not like he bought a zr1 or even a c6. This is classical.
It's not market share value. If one dreams of owning a DBS but can never afford one then you are as good as dead to Aston Martin.
I respect that you spoke yout mind but the transformer vette is still ugly as ****. Tell your Princeton buddies to lay off of the peyote.
Its much easier to say- sell your vette. Easy as that.
Last edited by SgtRod; 11-02-2011 at 05:33 PM.
11-02-2011, 05:31 PM
#12
Burning Brakes
Well, it was a new idea anyway, rather than going round and round about how ugly the new car is over and over. Just because you have a vette doesn't make you the stereotypical owner, and just because there is a stereotype doesn't mean that all owners fall into it. I worded that starkly because nobody on here seems to be asking "What does the multi-billion dollar GM know that I don't, that is making them put up these radical and ugly prototypes?" What they know is what most owners don't want to face up to, but what as a new owner I recognize pretty distinctly: the vette has an image problem that almost no other sports car in its world-class league has. The problem won't go away by pretending that it's idiosyncratic to a group of stuck-up Porsche drivers. You will never, ever hear a woman of any age use the words "redneck" and "BMW" in the same sentence, but I bet if you get together a group of hot, available women in their 20's and ask for Corvette adjectives, it won't be long before something of that character comes up. It isn't true of course, occasionally executives buy them too, but with something like that the preceptive harm is as bad as actual brand damage from poor mechanical performance or a recall. Just ask someone from Burburry what happened to their legendary clothing brand when their trademark pattern became associated with chavs in London.
Also, the car I bought is a used C5, not a C6. I love the interior; in my mind a sports car should be spartan and noisy and the ride should be stiff. I brought it up because I don't think a lot of consumers agree, and if my theory is right we should expect a major move towards more kit and more weight in the cabin, following the example of the new CTS-V, which is an example of a recent GM car that shattered its brand stereotype, overcame the worst case of gen-1 axle hop in history, and became a universally respected car. My thought is that GM are trying to do exactly this all over again, but to do it they're going to build a $30k spacecraft looking car with a leather and LCD festooned interior that weighs more than a C6. Will it make it less of a pure driving machine? Yes, but most people my age use "driving machine" and "lounging machine" as synonyms.
Also, the car I bought is a used C5, not a C6. I love the interior; in my mind a sports car should be spartan and noisy and the ride should be stiff. I brought it up because I don't think a lot of consumers agree, and if my theory is right we should expect a major move towards more kit and more weight in the cabin, following the example of the new CTS-V, which is an example of a recent GM car that shattered its brand stereotype, overcame the worst case of gen-1 axle hop in history, and became a universally respected car. My thought is that GM are trying to do exactly this all over again, but to do it they're going to build a $30k spacecraft looking car with a leather and LCD festooned interior that weighs more than a C6. Will it make it less of a pure driving machine? Yes, but most people my age use "driving machine" and "lounging machine" as synonyms.
Last edited by Endeka; 11-02-2011 at 05:40 PM.
11-02-2011, 05:46 PM
#13
Le Mans Master
He's buying a C5, not a C6 based on his post.
I had my first new C5 at 23 right out of college. Got a new '08 C6 Coupe at 30 and got a new '10 ZR1 at 33.
I have friends who own a '10 E63 AMG, '10 Panamera Turbo, Vipers, Lambo Gallardos, M5's, etc. and NONE of them have knocked my purchase. Every single one of them think it's the bomb. The C7 is going to be even better.
I had my first new C5 at 23 right out of college. Got a new '08 C6 Coupe at 30 and got a new '10 ZR1 at 33.
I have friends who own a '10 E63 AMG, '10 Panamera Turbo, Vipers, Lambo Gallardos, M5's, etc. and NONE of them have knocked my purchase. Every single one of them think it's the bomb. The C7 is going to be even better.
I bought my first '67 Corvette new at age 25. I've owned many cars since. I have never apologized for my choice in any car, and as you state I have never had my friends knock my cars. Nor have I ever knocked theirs cars (Lambos, Ferraris, Jags, Lotus, Healeys, MGs, etc., etc.) That just isn't done in tight gear-head circles.
None of us know what the C7 will bring to the table. I'm sure it will be another good iteration of the marque.
Maybe I over-reacted to Endeka's post. But as I read it over, and over, and over again, I read many desultory comments about Corvette owners. He sounds as though he is one of us, but.......
11-02-2011, 06:00 PM
#14
Le Mans Master
..... You will never, ever hear a woman of any age use the words "redneck" and "BMW" in the same sentence, but I bet if you get together a group of hot, available women in their 20's and ask for Corvette adjectives, it won't be long before something of that character comes up.
68 year-old *** out of my car, two twenty-something ladies entering the building said "That is a sexy f#@&ing car." I told them they were just as sexy, and we all went about our business.I get those same sentiments at at the exotic hand car wash I go to, at restaurants, etc. I have never had a woman (or a man either) call my Corvette "redneck" or anything other than beautiful. The fact you are repeating it shows something about your psyche.
11-02-2011, 06:08 PM
#15
Burning Brakes
We do not come on here to show of writing skills or resume of friends. I do noy even know whete to start with this
One of the engineers on the C6's suspension system told me four years ago that Mercs get their styling edge by looking ugly when they're released, and then growing into their style years later. I get the sense that the same thing is happening with the C7. The look of doubtful horror you direct at it now is going to be one of admiration by 2016.
As to the C5, I not only freely admit that it is not a ZR1, but also that it is not even an expensive C5. I got it while my wife is eagerly trying to focus on paying off the mortgage by finding one for the cost of a new Honda. But the hour is coming when that sucker will belong to me and not sovereign bank, and when that hour comes (late I the C7's production life, I think) I swear to God I will wave at your road-hunkered purist's driving machine from my silver bordello -furnished C7 stingray using one of its lambo doors, just like the millions of new vette owners who will have suddenly realized what they've been missing for the last half century.
I really think that vettes are the best thing going in the sports car department, and they only need the right inexplicable infusion of useless leather and strange pylon headlights to become as popular as the Miata. I only hope the soul isn't lost. I'll tell you why I didn't buy an M3 or a Boxer S. I was more impressed with an 11 year old vette. End of story.
Last edited by Endeka; 11-02-2011 at 06:26 PM.
11-02-2011, 06:39 PM
#16
Burning Brakes
I parked my Corvette at the bowling lanes where our Corvette club holds its meetings last Tuesday. As I was unfolding my sexy 68 year-old *** out of my car, two twenty-something ladies entering the building said "That is a sexy f#@&ing car." I told them they were just as sexy, and we all went about our business.
I get those same sentiments at at the exotic hand car wash I go to, at restaurants, etc. I have never had a woman (or a man either) call my Corvette "redneck" or anything other than beautiful. The fact you are repeating it shows something about your psyche.
68 year-old *** out of my car, two twenty-something ladies entering the building said "That is a sexy f#@&ing car." I told them they were just as sexy, and we all went about our business.I get those same sentiments at at the exotic hand car wash I go to, at restaurants, etc. I have never had a woman (or a man either) call my Corvette "redneck" or anything other than beautiful. The fact you are repeating it shows something about your psyche.
11-02-2011, 08:13 PM
#17
Le Mans Master
11-02-2011, 08:17 PM
#18
Le Mans Master
And I, personally, think the interior is fine.
After all, it's a sports car, not a luxo car. Sore point though.
11-02-2011, 08:43 PM
#19
Race Director
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i think the Transformers car is a hit just about everywhere outside of this forum. I have a model of it sitting at work on my desk, next to a C6 Z06, and my coworkers always comment on the concept and not the actual c6 vette model. There is a video somewhere where it shows the Stingray concept driving around and the movie set and some people behind barricades are filming it, you can hear some of them saying "why can't GM actually build something like that?"
A couple of my friends, both Electrical Engineers in the aerospace industry, were recently in Dallas and took pictures of the Stingray concept car and sent them to me. They raved about it. One of them drives a Mustang GT, the other has an older Ferrari 308. Personally i think the Stingray needs a lot of work, front and rear, and the b pillars may be swept too aggressively. However it is a nice foundation to build off of for the future.
That said i love my C6. It still looks great. I don't really think it needs to be any smaller, its already small enough on the inside. The quality of the interior does need to improve, however, i don't want a car that can drive itself or takes away from the driving experience for me.
A couple of my friends, both Electrical Engineers in the aerospace industry, were recently in Dallas and took pictures of the Stingray concept car and sent them to me. They raved about it. One of them drives a Mustang GT, the other has an older Ferrari 308. Personally i think the Stingray needs a lot of work, front and rear, and the b pillars may be swept too aggressively. However it is a nice foundation to build off of for the future.
That said i love my C6. It still looks great. I don't really think it needs to be any smaller, its already small enough on the inside. The quality of the interior does need to improve, however, i don't want a car that can drive itself or takes away from the driving experience for me.
11-02-2011, 09:31 PM
#20
16 Vettes and counting…..
I'm not going to make any friends with this post, and might lose some great ones I've already made here the last few months, but if you guys are big enough to take what you dish out,here are my two cents. After reading this and similar opinions, I feel the need to chime in. Op, please don't take this as directed at you, but rather a general discription of what I think GM is up to. I am 26, and will be picking up my first Corvette (C5) on Saturday.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.
GM hit the nail on the head with he C7 concept. It will compete with the 911 at a much lower price point and reach their target audience. The fact that so many current vette owners hate it is proof positive of this.
Here's how I know: I am of the target age. However, unlike (I surmise) many of the people who have cast aspersion on the C7, I am also of the target class. Many of the people on here justly point out that new Corvettes are out of reach to the young kids who GM wants to sell to, because they were only able to afford them when they were older. This is true, because up to this point, a 911 Turbo or an M3 has been the car for people who've made it in life as physicians, lawyers, bankers, or computer programmers. The Corvette is the car for people who have made it in construction, plumbing, or warehouse management.
My brother, for example, is 23. He is a mechanical engineer and makes $75000/yr. He can easily afford a C6. But he's getting an M3 because, in his words, "I don't need hair plugs yet." However, when shown the C7 from transformers, he said he'd buy it in a second. The response is the same everywhere I inquire. My other friend just finished med school, loves the C7 but when I asked him about the Corvette generally a few weeks later, he said it was a redneck car. My other friend is in law school at Yale, and hates Corvettes, despite being a car guy, but said the C7 was "breathtaking."
I have two degrees from Princeton, and the response of my school buddies to my buying a phenominal, beautiful, practical classic American near-supercar has been overwhelmingly negative. Most of us are making around the magical $120k of the typical vette owner. Yet in that group, no other car of the Corvette's calibur has the sort of negative stereotype that the Corvette has, which is frankly a product of classism and some Anti-Americanism. I don't think any of my friends got asked if they were going to get their wife ***-length jean cutoffs when they bought their Merc AMGs, but I was. Because such an important part of owning a sports car is prestige and attention, this is fatal to the brand in a market which will continue to possess more and more of the nation's wealth in the 21st century while manual service jobs fall to minimally skilled immigrants willing to work for nothing.
Now, I've got nothing against people who work for a living (hard as that might be to believe after reading this); my parents were the first generation of both their families to go to college, and my beloved in-laws (SERIOUSLY) are both blue collar workers. However, despite my best efforts, buying this car often felt like a descent into a low social class, and only my fixation on its stats and beauty was able to drown out the constant suggestion of "Porsche" from nearly every quarter.
I met one seller who called his wife "bitch" to her face, one who could barely speak properly (English was his first language), and I know from our conversations that out of the five owners I interviewed, not one spent a day in college. If GM wants to sell to young people with something to prove and a lot of disposable income, it is not enough that these young white collar professionals love the new car; people who call their wife bitch in public and smoke indoors have to hate the car, too. People in other threads on here were right that some can't afford the car, but they missed the telltale symptom of market share decline. Those who can't afford a DBS or a GT3 still dream of owning one eventually, but very few people my age dream of owning vettes, whether they can afford them or not. Therefore, the new car can't just be cool, it has to be tech-forward and classy. The C7 is. That's why I'm going to buy it, and why most of the C5 owners I talked to looking for my current car won't.
Sorry if anyone felt miffed by this. I'm not trying to be more of an *** than I already am, and I honestly don't have an ounce of condescension for any of the kind, helpful owners I've met on here, but nobody's saying this, and I think it's the truth.