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Let...me....just ...get this.....flame suit....on... and say that it is probably the last Corvette ever and they wanted to fulfill the decades long chatter about an ME version, before they kill it off.
Let...me....just ...get this.....flame suit....on... and say that it is probably the last Corvette ever and they wanted to fulfill the decades long chatter about an ME version, before they kill it off.
Yup. This is very likely. And its a damn shame.
Last edited by Sandyeggo Designs; 05-06-2019 at 04:46 PM.
Let...me....just ...get this.....flame suit....on... and say that it is probably the last Corvette ever and they wanted to fulfill the decades long chatter about an ME version, before they kill it off.
I disagree with your premise. Corvette has been produced almost non-stop since the 1950's as a front/front-mid 2 seat V8. All changes since that time have been evolutionary. Just like the 911. Just like the 911, you have a good performing, relatively affordable base model, all the way up to top end supercar level performers that cost over twice as much as the base. In that way they are very similar. If that isn't brand loyalty, and doing exactly what you say they are not, I don't know what is. C8 will be the first revolutionary change to the design in 67 years.
As such, in my opinion the new car is not really a Corvette... if it didn't have the badges on it, you wouldn't know it was a Corvette. The MR form factor is going to lose a lot of the relatively good practicality of all previous generations. The price creeps ever upwards relative to average incomes. I think the danger is real here that the cost to practicality ratio is going to be pushed too far and 30k units/year sales that are expected of a new Corvette may not materialize. We'll see.
I'm sure they have large teams of people who are paid good money to define the brand strategy, but I agree they could have produced the C7 for 2-3 more years and sold the ME as an up-market halo car called something else. The "Chevy GT" or whatever. If your Chevy brand strategy says Corvette has to be on top, sell the ME car as a Cadillac.
As a kidless guy I normally don't give much of a crap about practicality in my fun cars, but if I can't even fit enough stuff for a weekend trip with the gf, that might start to give pause even to me. I'll be interested to see how it plays out.
i don’t know what revolutionary design change happened 67 yrs ago-52 was no big yr for changes-but the 68 corvette was a drastic dare I say revolutionary design change from the 67.
i really could less about FE or mid engine as long as it is offered in a manual.
I don’t
It's pretty simple. If you don't want a C8, don't buy one.
This was not intended as a "why buy a C8" thread. I was wishing the C7 would continue being made and evolved.
But like someone once said, "wish in one hand, crap in the other, and see which one fills up first."
But just to reiterate, I don't get why the hugely successful C7 platform is being terminated. And that's all I've got to say about that.
<RANT ON>
Why is Chevy abandoning the C7?!!! I just don't understand the logic.
The C7 is probably (no, definitely) the best Corvette ever made. It is comfortable, fast, has great looks, has enormous storage, is offered in a manual transmission, etc., etc., etc. So why cast it into the history heap? Why not continue to improve it and offer it?
Porsche didn't dump the 911. They continue to evolve it and improve it and offer it. That's what makes the 911 so special. It is an evolutionary product. It gets better every year and continues to be available. Why doesn't GM do that with the C7?
Okay, so a mid-engine Corvette is comming. Great. I get it. Name it the Zora and offer it to upper level customers at $125K and up. Make it exotic. To me it doesn't look exotic. The renderings look (to me) like a kludged up cool-car wantabe. I think GM is rushing to get it done and losing the golden opportunity they have to do something really special. Snow plow front end? Camaro-ish rear? Same 6.2 liter push rod engine? Are you kidding me?
The C7 is outstanding. it truly WAS revolutionary when it was announced. The looks were (and still are) stunning. Why not build on that? Why not improve the interior with full leather versions? Why not offer it with more engine choices? Maybe better sound systems. Whatever...
For me personally, I will either continue to drive a C7 or go back to a 911. I seriously doubt that the C8 is going to do it for me. Time will tell..
<RANT OFF>
Dave
They are stopping production of the C7 and moving onto the C8 for the same reason that Chevy doesn't make the '69 Camaro anymore. Time and technology marches on. If Corvette wants to to be taken seriously as a true performance car that can compete with almost any supercar sold today, they simply CANNOT keep the front engine architecture. Mid engine will allow Corvette room to grow and really compete on the workd stage.
Let...me....just ...get this.....flame suit....on... and say that it is probably the last Corvette ever and they wanted to fulfill the decades long chatter about an ME version, before they kill it off.
I don't think the GM wants to "kill off" the Corvette intentionally. However, if the C8 fails (does not sell well for a variety of reasons) that could spell the end of the line. For example, major mechanical issues. I personally don't care for most of the renderings I have seen but I sincerely hope the car is a success. Major design changes are always risky. I bought a 1984 new (it was my 3rd Corvette) and it was a total disaster. My experience with that car kept me away from new Corvettes for 21 years. Fortunately, enough people liked the C4 changes and put up with all the problems.
Last edited by ShadowGray19; 05-06-2019 at 09:29 PM.
I am the Corvette manager at a Chevrolet dealership here is my two cents. I am still selling 2019 Corvettes. In the last month, I have had four sold orders for Grand Sports & ZO6's. I am still selling Corvettes that I have in stock. I have taken some very nice low mileage C6 & C7 trades. They are also selling very quickly. Now let's talk C8 Mid-Engine? I have several orders for those cars. We signed up to be a Signature Corvette Dealership and have the C8 road tour truck booked for a day. If you don't know what this is GM will have a tour truck going around the country with a production C8 and a specialist that can answer any questions about the C8 and will help customers build their C8 to order. I will be inviting all of our previous Corvette customers, and all of the area Corvette clubs to come and see the car. I will sell several C8's from this.
So here is what I can tell you the customers who want the last front engine, last manual transmission Corvette are ordering and buying in stock cars now. Customers who are looking to own the mid-engine are lining up to order it. I will tell you this Kerbeck, MacMulkin, Criswell, Coughlin, Hendricks and the rest of the top dealers have hundreds of customers on their C8 order lists. The C8 will be a huge sales success despite what some may think!!!
Recent sales numbers for C7 didn’t create the mid engine C8
Don’t forget, the C8 design had to begin as soon as C7 was hitting production, if not sooner, so timing was somewhat predestined . We’re also ignoring the “ end of generation“ affect. Another way to look at it is that it’s amazing how high the sales have been given the anticipation of the next generation Corvette. In fact we are seeing an interesting and significant rush to grab the last of this generation now that we know for sure what’s coming and that says something. Was that true for the C6? This time is going to be different for sure. This is a significant change in driver experience and type of car even if the price range remains close. No doubt it will be quantitatively better in probably every way ( they usually are) but that isn’t 100% of what makes many Corvette owners happy. Frankly they wouldn’t be Corvette owners if that was what it was all about since so many can and do drive other brands.
To the earlier point about age of owners / image, that’s not specifically a motivator for what was also described as a business being about the money ( which of course it is ). There is a bell curve applicable to buyers of Corvette and you can only push the lower end of that, in terms of age, so low given the cost of this item. The question is whether and how much of the total addressable market they are reaching. Let’s face it, it’s pretty hard to argue that they been doing a bad job selling units for the last five years.
Anyway, for the next year or two at least, we’ve got plenty of choices so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
05-06-2019, 04:43 PM
Dual clutch shudder 
