1st off I am 75 years old. My first ride in a Corvette was 1959. My buddy had a 57 Vette and it had a supercharger on it. Had slicks on it too. I own a 2004 CE which I bought new ten years ago. I could write a check for a new car of any brand. I have long tube headers on mine. Some other mods too. I have to laugh when I read here about road noise. My wife can tell I am coming home when I am a couple of blocks away.

The Corvette is now bought by a group of folks who want a luxury car. Note the complaints in recent years about the interior. Now some bitch about the road noise. For us old timers who grew up with the brand it is no longer a sports car. Did you ever ride in a Cobra ? That is my idea of a sports car. The new Corvette has more electronics and LEDs than the first space capsule that was used to circle the Earth by John Glenn. BTW he had. Corvette as did many of the early Astronauts.

The brand of necessity has evolved into a luxury car. I want something that makes black marks on the pavement. I want a vehicle that pins you back in your seat. I do not ride in mine with anyone so there is no problem hearing somebody. If I want music I listen to the sweet sound of my pipes. Not stock ! Yes the brand has evolved for us old farts. You want a luxury car try a Lexus.

The sport exhaust option on the newer Vettes is an example of kids wanting their cake and eating it too. Wow they think that noise is sweet. What a joke. Go to the Drag Strip and listen to HP. If you want a quiet luxury car that can go fast don't get a C7 and then complain you can not hear the radio or person sitting next to you wait for the C8. You certainly do not want a C2 or C3. The original Sting Ray or Stingray was loud. Yes they did not handle like the C7 does. But we did not have color TV then either. They were only going 150 mph at Indy too. Then were using stock blocks from Studebakers and DeSotos at Indy too.

GM has evolved the C7 into an expensive luxury car. I laugh at those who rush to pay MSRP. Hey GM is marketing very well. See what they charge you for the plug in battery tender compared to what you can find in the after market. Look at what they charge for some mats for the car. You used to pay less than the average annual salary here in the USA for this brand. Note the use of the past tense. Yes I could write a check for one without worrying that my wife would even know but I probably would cry knowing I can now take her for a ride and talk with her.

Time to go cruising

 

Finish your cruise down memory lane & write a cheque.

 

As a business GM will do their best to make the Corvette the car that will sell the most units in it's niche in the marketplace. They have succeeded in my opinion. Pretty much more and better in all measurable categories. With enough money, you can either either buy an exotic or modify it to make it the car you want. Are there things on it I'd as soon not have? Sure, but it's not a one of a kind car built to my specifications. I try to look at things from a half full glass perspective instead of half empty. I'm happier that way.

 

Back in the day, we had roll up windows, 8 track tape players and bias ply tires. I don't sit around yearning for them. I'll take the advancements the Stingray offers. It is one hell of a car!

 

When I was a kid, I walked 20 miles in 2 feet of snow to school. Now, kids want to take the bus. It's just crazy the creature comforts people like to have today.

 

Hey, you're much older than I am. I'm only 66! Like you, I owned a new 2004 CE and a new 98. My other four were used and bought years ago. Different strokes for different folks, so to speak. The important thing for you is setting up your car the way you want it. That's just as important for me. Unlike you, I want all the buttons and bells and highway comfort to be able to take the car on a summer trip and spoil myself. If I want exhaust noise, I'll put it in track mode and let the exhaust sing. If I want quiet, I'll change modes. My VY, Z-51 is due to be built sometime the first two weeks in Jan and I can't wait for next summer! Keep doing what you want and enjoy in life and I will do the same!

 

When I was young, we rode dinosaurs to school.....and we LIKED IT!

 

The OP has lots to say and I agree with some of it. I am also over 70 and my C7 is the most powerful Corvette that I have owned. I will have it on the dragstrip in the spring and it certainly leaves black marks and pins you back in your seats. All cars have evolved since the 1950's. Even cheap cars are air-conditioned and have power windows. It would be nice to see a stripped-down Vette offered but mine is so much better than my first that I'll accept as is. I think I've earned a little luxury just for surving this long.

 

re the remarks about the NPP exhaust: I have mine set open all the time and my neighbor said that when I start it, his dogs all run down the stairs barking each morning. So for me yes I have my cake and eat it too, because now I can be a good neighbor and close the valves when I start it and leave in the morning then open it up for the rest of the day. That technology is very much a plus for me-I love it.
I am 67 and have been in a Cobra. It is a fast, buckboard bouncy ride rocketship of a car that punishes the driver a lot of the time. Yes its a great race car that I loved and watched run against Ferraris but that was the 60's!
The C7 is an incredible example of a modern SPORTS car that is track worthy AND can provide the performance without beating the driver to death in the process. All cars must have electronics now days because of the clean air acts and gas costs that have risen 1500% since the 60's not mention the demands of the contemporary buyer/driver.
ALL car companies have evolved their brands-- assuming they are among the lucky ones who still exist in 2013. In the 60's, if you remember, there was also no NOMEX for drivers, their helmets had just gone from leather to hard materials and I could go on and on with the changes. Cars had no seatbelts or energy absorbing steering columns either and many occupants died because of it. So when reminiscing, it is important to remember both sides of the coin from those nostalgic times. Its a free country and we are all entitled to our opinions, just not our own facts. Enjoy your life and the cars you drive - for me at 67 yrs, my C7 is a $%$@% awesome SPORTS car that is comfortable, loud and an incredible hoot to drive and I love it.

 

Then throw a supercharger, headers and slicks on it.

OP is right, it's gotten too easy. I just threw away all of the grandson's pacifiers; let him suck on pieces of wood like we did.

 

I’m 66, C7 on order, first Vette, not first high performance car although what I’ve had before isn’t as desirable in my view as the C7.

Don’t agree with a lot of the OP’s comments. While I am not fond of a lot of electronic gadgets, his post reminds me of people living in the past and say “they don’t make them they way they used to!” and for that I’m eternally thankful.

Of course the 427 Cobra is a hard core sports car but it is a dinosaur and couldn’t pass emissions, mileage or crash safety standards of today. That Cobra (if original) is simply a tremendously expensive, fun toy to drive on a bright, sunny, warm day. Rotten as a daily driver and the C7 I’ve ordered is, I suspect, a pleasure to drive anywhere, anytime other than snow which doesn’t happen where I live.

Old car road tests were performed with test gear that gave much quicker times than today’s test gear used by magazines like Car & Driver and Road & Track. The 11.5 sec 1/4 mile times posted by forum user Snorman would whip the old 427 Cobra.

I’ll take high 20s MPGs, great emissions, great power, reliability, comfort, a removable top that doesn’t compromise chassis rigidity anytime while he can get 8 mpg in town and 12 on the highway while having his ears blown out. Don

 

jesus.....

 

I agree to some extent with the OP and I own a 66 l-72 which epitomizes the hairy chest school of sports cars and I'm 60 yrs.old.
Chevy gave us sooo many electronic goodies that they have be come part of the C-7's reliability issues.

That said..... I rarely drive the car because it is such a hassle finding fuel, fighting a heavy-duty Muncie, trying to keep the car cool in traffic and not loading up the engine due to a 780 cfm Holley.
I found a great answer............. buy a motorcycle, go out and get your fill of go fast, and then back for a full day of driving in the new Vette.

Works for me!

 

Grumpy old men.

 

I'm 71 and see the Corvette's evolution a little different from the OP.

When I was a 15 YO kid, I installed dual glass paks on my mother's 1957 Mercury. When I built my first car(senior in high school), a 1953 ford tudor coupe with a bored 1/8" over 301 SBC, I went with regular mufflers. I didn't want the noise(and resulting attention from the cops). Built a bunch of hot rods when I was young and always used oval mufflers that were quiet.

Now days, my 1956 Corvette has reproduction stock mufflers(quiet) as does my 63,000 mile 64 Corvette. I don't drive the 56 anymore as I have trouble with the heavy steering but I do enjoy driving the 64 as it is all stock with an automatic transmission, PS, PB, PW etc.(all original) It still has all it's original suspension rubbers and window/door weather stripping and it is almost dead quiet on the road with it's radial tires. I can cruise down the concrete highway at 75-80 MPH and it's extremely enjoyable(but it doesn't have those wide tires like the new Corvettes, just 205/70-15 Goodyear integrity tires that are very quiet).

I don't have to rely on a 50+ year memory of the "old" vettes and how they drive. I just lower one of my 4-post lifts, connect the battery, and drive away. The "old" cars aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are, when they haven't been butchered over the years as most were.

But I enjoy the newer Vettes as well and currently have a 09 Z06. It's a tad faster than the 265 ci 210 HP 56 and the 327 ci 300 HP 64. I've driven my Z06 at 162 MPH at Talladega and pulled over a g on many of the curvy roads around here and also at the Tail of the Dragon and Hwy 15 in WV. Can't do that with the old ones.

I don't have loud mufflers on the Z06, but it does have the dual mode exhaust and I have the M2W remote. Fun to run in the loud mode around town, but it goes into the quiet mode as soon as I'm in 6th gear above 1300 RPM.

Tire noise is a problem, as it was with my C5. installed Michelin A/S run flats on the C5 and it was like day and night improvement. I installed Bridgestone run flats on the Z06 and it also helped quiet down the tire noise. Also installed a Block-It mat that helped a little.

My 56 and 64 are light years ahead of the C5 and C6 regarding tire/road noise.

 

Though my youth might get in my way from responding to the OP properly - I'm only 72 - but since I have more than 600,000 miles in Corvettes I think my opinion might be worth something.

Old cars: lousy headlights, lousy brakes, lousy windshield wipers, lousy AC, and in many cases, heating... the list could go on and on...

I liked all of my cars accepting change as inevitable.... my C6 has 125,000+ miles on it and I continue to enjoy it. Will I buy a C7? Perhaps next fall, just after I turn 73.

In the interim, when I have the urge that I just have to go drive an old car I have a 25-year-old 328 GTB Ferrari that has replaced my C6 as my DD.




No one on their death bed ever said, "Wish I'd driven the _____ less."

 

JoesC5, I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you.

 

Hey, ya little hoodlum! GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!

 

That's me at 73, when my fully loaded C7 vert comes in I'll park it right next to my 2013 ZL1 Black Vert.
And then I'll get in the C7 and try to figure out all the gooood stuff it has added in this new marvel. Can't wait...oooooh

 

I would pay extra for a sound insulation package that got rid of most of the tire / road noise.....And I wouldnt care if it added another 100 lbs...

Im not into the raw driving experience like the op.....And would prefer less noise while in touring mode.