CRABBYJ

Fun to compare historic US population vs Corvette production stats. Personally, I think the Corvette will adapt and be with us a long time.






Not quite up to date but you get the idea.

FrankLP

The OP has opened a very interesting topic... especially the topic of electric-powered automobiles. While this is highly unlikely going to occur in most of our lifetimes, the advent of and the ongoing improvements to electric-powered cars will eventually result in that platform being the primary platform.

And while I've loved (and continue to love) driving/owning the various Corvettes (and other "toys") I've had (or have), I believe that Formula E gives us a glimpse as to how/where motorsports will evolve over the next several decades. I can envision a time far into the future where the combustion engine (in cars) is but an automotive artifact reserved for historical study and admiration within museums and universities.

And while this is a somewhat sad vision to glimpse into, I can also embrace the reality of innovation and revolution... and the new excitements (and anxieties) that inherently go along with it.

But for now... and for my children's life time (and perhaps our children's children's lifetime), we'll love our combustion powered sports cars and just keep an eye on (or out for) the next "woooosh" of innovation/revolution in motorsports.

Suns_PSD

I'm 46 and have always loved combustion engines and frankly going fast.

If I somehow made my tricked out C6 my last sports car ever it would be for 2 reasons pretty much: Draconian traffic enforcement & Heavy traffic/ congestion.

If it were not for those 2 things I'd drive my Vette every day. As it is, it's an '08 with 22K miles total.

Maybe if I lived somewhere else, like Utah or something my perspective on these issues would be different.

Nobull

Suns--You bring up a most interesting point; one, that I have recently been lamenting about with many of my local Corvette club members. I, like you, love my c7--awesome engineering for the price. But where can I drive it. Here in Sacramento the traffic and roads are awful, and I am afraid to drive it anywhere. It is used mostly for club activities and out of town travel on the open road. Unfortunately, it is a garage queen much of the time. I find it frustrating

Eric Reeves

No sh#t. Our youngest just turned 17 and he STILL does not have his permit. I can't make him get it but it sure does depress me cause I don't get it. The only bright side is he is not on my insurance because of it.

mschuyler

The Death of the Corvette has been greatly exaggerated. People have been lamenting the death of the Corvette since the 1950's. A GM executive once ordered that the Corvette be killed, but it didn't happen. I see no valid reason why this should not continue or why the Corvette should not continue to change to meet the times. I'm not looking so much forward to the C8, but to the C9. I'm convinced the C9 will be the 'Lectric Vette, and there's no reason why that will not be an awesome car. For those of you that wail at the thought of losing the V8 rumble, well, it doesn't really matter because you'll soon be dead and the next generation will not have had the experience to compare, but they'll be plenty impressed with sub three second 0-60 times and they will still be taking their Vettes to the track.

Z06NJ

I bought my 1st Corvette ever (C7) in 2016 :-)

LiveandLetDrive

The Social Injustice Warriors are cracking me up in here. At 33 I've been a member of this forum almost half my life. I'm shopping for my 3rd Corvette, the first two of which were C3s, the '70 LT-1 I still have. Honestly, I'm only buying a modern Corvette to make it a track car. Hard to do that electric at all, much less affordably, for now. Driving the Tesla S really ruined modern combustion cars for me. It's "ludicrous"-ly good. It's heavy, but so was my BMW M6 (RIP), and both corner spectacularly, if not go-kart-like. It's just incredibly easy to drive fast through the mountains, and accelerates like nothing else.

I worked at Tesla 2011-2016, having now moved to electrifying dirt bikes. I'm surrounded by racers, trackdayers, and enthusiasts of all stripes. We just want to make (and drive/ride) the fastest, most exciting vehicle possible. I enjoyed my M6's 8-14mpg V10, and my classics, as I don't find buying rapidly depreciating assets brand new to be a good use of my finances and I like to wrench, but it's been clear to my coworkers and I that electric is the future of fast. There is a slump in interest in real world pursuits (don't get me started, I returned to a dumbphone this year), driving included, but those of us who are still engaged are very much excited to keep the party rolling. I really hope that the Z06 or ZR1 C8 will have at least a hybrid boost element to them. Corvette is healthy for now, but change is coming and it won't be kind to those who drag their feet.

Forget climate change, wouldn't it be terrible if we accidentally made our planet better, cleaner, more ecologically diverse, and more exciting for future generations? Why create jobs to create that suspiciously-utopian future when we could just continue the Anthropocene mass extinction event unabated while our country withers and dies?

Z06NJ

But nobody is talking about what happens to all the batteries (Hybrids, etc.) when they go bad and need to be replaced. Where are they being buried or trashed, and is THAT good for the soil/environment?!

dexterkatt

While I agree with some of this, PLEASE no more run on sentences.

PobreWey

I will always own a the latest version of the Corvette until I die. Name me 1 Corvette model that was ugly.The pricing is not going to be as insane as everyone is thinking unless it's a special edition. I have 100% faith in the C8 fitting our budget and taste.

1KULC7

I have to agree with most of what is said of all the posters regarding the future of the Corvette. It's just not the Corvette, it is all the cars. Cars as we have known them our entire lives are evolving from what once was a luxury, then to necessity, then to owning more then one, and now to merely a mode of dependable green transportation filled with technology. The car as we know it today, as Lutz recently stated will morph into pod with one purpose, transporting you rapidly, safely, and in luxury. Sports cars are on there decline, of course not immediately, but another 50 or so years, they will be in museums, or collections. Look, I hate to see this like everybody else, but just think of your kids, the care less about doing physical things, they are fingering smartphones or tablets all day, not playing ball, polishing the car, or outside playing, they are inside doing video or computer games. This is the future, and sports cars, and cars as we know them simply are not what we know today, it will take time, but it will happen, and I hate to see this like most, but its in the future..... Mid-engine Corvette is paving the way for the all electric Corvette, which will most likely be the last of the Corvette run. Just a matter of time, and what we call progress....glad I lived when I did, I think future generations, including the present one, will never enjoy what we did in the 50's, 60's, and 70's...great times that will never happen again. Economist Nesmith wrote a book in the late seventies that predicted what we are going through today, to the letter. The future is about technology, services, and finance....

As I stated in previous thread, its not about the death of the Corvette, or any model of any car, but the death of the car as we know it. Evolution will morph the car into something that becomes a tool, not a toy or a personally own entity. Corvette, Mustang, Challenger, Camaro, all will go away, because their will not be any interest by the masses, who have no interest, just want to travel, enjoy life, and not be bothered with the expense of owning or driving. Sure you will have the collectors, but GM, Ford, Chrysler, like the rest will either go out of business, or combine to produce transportation pods, and cargo pods, not cars as we know them. It will happen in the future....I hope no time soon, but it will happen.

Nobull

I made the original post in this section, and you nailed it. This is what I intended to say, but you said and expressed what I meant to say far better than I did. It make me sad, but it is inevitable to think that in the not to distant future cars like our current Corvettes will be relics in museums.

LiveandLetDrive

That's an easy one. Lithium batteries are highly recyclable. Tesla specifically provides that service. Not sure what's out there for other manufacturers but even "dead" they retain enough value that I'm sure somebody's making a business of it. Mining, production, distribution, etc. yeah, that's a big stress on the planet, which is one reason I don't buy new cars. And certainly not a new one every two years like some people... but I guess we need to keep growing that economy to enhance shareholder value.

jaki30

Traded in my 13 GS in September when the wife could no longer get in/ out of the car due to medical issues.
First, years ago young people could buy a used car relatively cheap. Now a days there is no cheap Corvette. Second interest is what it is, but, here in Virginia, over 85 mph is a felony. That is half speed of the c6 or C7 and almost only one third the capability of the new ZR1. So, other than status, the car is much more than necessary on the road.
Finally, I hear every one talking about electrics. My daughter has a Tesla.
When she drives down here from Conn. they need a good charger. I ran a 50A line in the garage for them to have a decent rate of charge. As a retired electrical engr. I will say the infrastructure cannot support everyone with a high charger in their garage. So, electrics are still a big question.
If anything may kill the Corvette, it will the tree huggers and liberals who never owned one and experienced the primal feel of real power. Their loss.

Steve Garrett

David,

This is indeed an interesting topic. However, you have not stated any facts. Nor have you backed up any of your points with solid data to support your opinion.

For example, you said, "The demographics are against Corvette." Please supply us with purchase age demos.

You also said, "Sales of sports cars are trending down." How did you arrive at that statement?

Then your statement, "Combustion engines are a dinosaur." I know many, many car brands are developing e-technology. But the "dinosaur" doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

And, with the C7, we see many new members just here on CorvetteForum that are younger buyers based upon the new C7 platform.


Again, you are very entitled to your opinion, but it would be great to back your statements with hard facts.



Cheers.....

Now, with that being said, everyone here is entitled to your opinion.

orca1946

Pistons or electric --- if it looks cool it will sell!

roadbike56

So many flaws in your argument, where do I begin.
First, you made a mistake that I've seen on this forum many times when we talk about the future. You jumped from Boomers to Millennials and went right passed Generation X. Did anyone listen when Tadge stated who the C7 was targeted for? It's successful folks in their late 30s to early 50s. He didn't say Generation X, but that's who they're targeting. They know they've got the Boomer generation and Millennials are too young and burdened with college debt. Gen Xers are just coming into their own. They are just starting to accumulate wealth. As more of them become wealthy, Corvette wants to be their go-to toy.
As for flat sales, one area that has changed, but GM hasn't, is the length of time you can market a high performance sports car. I think they made a big mistake by not giving the C7 a facelift and slight HP bump. Still, the C7 seems to be doing pretty good for a now somewhat dated platform. Seem strange even to say that.
As for electric power generation, where you see gloom and doom, I see opportunity. I think GM will use the Corvette to launch an electric performance platform. I also think it will happen sooner rather than later, like within the next seven years or less.
As for the self driving car, you can listen to the hype or look at facts. It is a fact that the age of the average car driven in the US is almost 12 years old. That's the average, meaning there are many cars well past the 12 year age average. If the auto industry only manufactured cars with self driving beginning January 1, 2018 it will be at least 20 years before you can even think about outlawing cars with drivers, and we are nowhere near driverless cars. Despite the hype from the firms generating the systems, there are still too many hurdles to jump, including generation of a system that doesn't get into an accident. Then approval from the government, then introduction, then dealing with the problems when the systems enter the real world. I'd love to see self-driving cars, but that's a ways off.
Contrary to what you see, I see 2 platforms for Corvette and expansion of the brand, possibly a Corvette SUV or CUV. I sure hope so.

LIStingray

How wrong you are my friend. Once completely autonomous self-driving cars get here, probably around 2030- our politicians will quickly outlaw all non-self driving cars to protect us from ourselves. I would bet heavily that by 2035, there will be no non-autonomous cars on public roads.

Spasetrucker

You are touching on my concerns. I live in a second floor apartment. I wonder how I would be able to recharge any electric car. They are not going to let me string a cord out to my car. That would be a trip hazard.