Red1990VT

I was shopping yesterday and saw a magazine with a mid engine 2020 Corvette on the cover. If that is the car, it is remarkably well done as far as looking like a Corvette and not having quite the short hood huge rear end proportions of most mid engine cars. It's chunky and lacks the pure athletic grace of a C3 or C4, but still, it does look pretty good.

But I'm wondering, who is the car for?

Bear with me, as I wonder what the future of the Corvette will be...

First, Kudos to Chevrolet for continuing to push the Corvette into supercar territory. The C7 is a technology and performance tour de force with recognizable Corvette styling. Sure, some styling aspects of the C7 were controversial, but I think most would agree it is solidly the best Corvette yet on all fronts. And whatever the C8 is, that trend will do doubt continue, even get more stratospheric with a ME version.

But there is a problem with this.

When I was a teen in the 60s and 70s (I am 62 1/2), the Corvette was something young people aspired to and could stretch and afford. Today, and many lament this, the Corvette is largely the province of people middle age plus. Mostly 'plus'. And a $100K plus Mid Engine Corvette is likely to accelerate (quickly, pun intended) that unfortunate trend.

It used to be young guys (back then it was guys) could stretch a bit, get in a Vette, own and often modify it, race it, tour with it, love it. The base price of a 1969 Corvette was $4663 for the Coupe and $4320 for the Convertible (yes, they were cheaper than the Coupe). In 2018 dollars that is $31,636 today for the Coupe, and $29,309 for the Coupe. Not cheap, but most 22+ year olds working today could swing a $30K car and many if not most do.

But not a $55,495 car, as the base price of the Corvette is in 2018.

Granted, the 69 Vette didn't have computers, carbon fiber, direct injection and a host of other technical and performance marvels. BUT the 1969 Corvette was state of the art in 1969, and the equivalent of today's $30K bought one hell of a hot great looking high performing and unique American sports car. Nothing looked or ran like a Vette.

Back then the Corvette was sinewy athletic Youth on four wheels. Even when I was 23, in 1978, the Corvette was a hot hot hot car a young engineer like me could walk into a dealership and buy. And still pay rent, house payments, food, insurance and so on.

Today, not so much. Corvettes are now the Old Guys car. Jeeze they even had to widen the seats (1994) so all the fat old guys could fit.

Chevy is trying to fix the Old People's Car trend with sharper edgier newer styling (the whole tail light controversy thing is a good example of this), but not getting very far.

Corvettes are STILL usually driven by gray haired men with big guts and two or more chins. Not a pleasant image for the car, but it is more often than not the reality.

What trim worked out 23 year old wants to be associated with that? I wouldn't have, and heck, they can't begin to afford a 2018 Corvette anyway for the most part.

Chevy's answer, pour R&D and manpower into a mid engine supercar that will most likely cost upwards of $100K.

Say WHAT? Really?

I love Corvettes, all of them. I want the car to continue to be the world beater Chevy keeps modifying it to be. Kudos to Chevy for that. Keep it competitive with the world's best. Sure.

But somewhere along the way, some version of the Corvette needs to come out of the financial stratosphere and be affordable to younger people the way it was in the 1960, 70s and even much of the 80s.

And not some stripped version you can't remove the roof panel from (unbelievable, but yes, they did that in the late 90s and early 2000s). All Corvettes have to have open air motoring - it's part of the DNA.

ZR-1s are great. Superchargers are great. Carbon fiber is fantastic. Bring on the Aluminium frames and direct injection. I love high tech expensive exclusive supercar Corvettes.

But who are they for?

Right now, a bunch of old guys. My 24 year old son regards my Corvettes as cool but as my generation, not his.

Old men were not the target market that many of us inhabited in the early years, who showed a loyalty this forum is a testament to...

Having our favorite car continuing to be the butt of geriatric jokes because us old guys and ladies are the only people who can buy them is not good, however good natured many of those quips are.

Chevy, in the midst of keeping Corvette as the King of the Hill, please think about making some version of it for the generation that could end up buying it early and then for decades to come.

And for gods sake, not a billy bob you can't take the roof off of. A real Corvette that kids aspire to, and young adults actually go out and buy.

And that's not a mid engine supercar, however great such a thing may be.

Right now the Corvette is heading toward being another Viper, outrageous performance and great styling, with such a limited target market the car keeps dying off and getting brought back, only to die again. Chevy, learn from the Viper. It's a cool car, but not one young people can buy.

Don't keep painting the Corvette into that corner, however cool a mid engine might be.

C5Driver

Interesting question. As a long time owner (over 30 years and 25+ Corvettes) I posted the C&D photos on my facebook page. The responses I got were shocking from owners and non owners. The general consensuses was the car has now deviated so far from its original 1953 roots that it really should not be called a Corvette any longer. Most everyone liked the C&D design but said that's just not a Corvette in there eyes. This is going to be a big hurdle for GM to overcome once all the hype goes away. The Corvette is kind of an impractical daily driver but for many its not an issue. The M/E design in my mind makes this car more of a toy and not a daily driver.

roadbike56

IMHO, I think you're correct that the Corvette has changed some of it's focus and allowed itself to become a more expensive car. But that's because it's target buyer has been the silent generation and the boomer generation. By the time the C5 was introduced, it was squarely focused on successful boomer generation folks. However, with the C7 Tadge announced that Corvette was making changes to separate itself from the boomer buyers and focus on Gen X along with the youngest boomers. The change to an ME comes as Corvette seeks to divorce itself from the image of an "old man's car" and that means identifying with Gen X now, leading to millenials in few years.
However, ever since 1956 Corvette has had one constant, a high performance, true sports car (not a pony wannabe).

vetteLT193

My Dad had 3 kids, a wife that couldn't drive, and the only vehicle he owned was a corvette in the early 70s. You could take the kids and sit them in one seat, on the floor, or even in the back and no one batted an eye. That alone kept the corvette as a more common man car.

Now... you'd get buried under the prison doing that. I haven't driven my corvette outside of exercising it this year. I pick my kids up every day and it would be a pain in the butt to take it, go home, and go back to get them. I drive my M3 a bunch though. I'm a car guy and have 5 vehicles. I'd probably have 3 corvettes if this was the 60s or 70s. Now it is 4 seats needed.

With that said Chevy responded to the market demand. Guys like my dad want a corvette but they don't want to suffer through the experience anymore. Easy to drive. No issues with heat coming from through the floorboards, leather, great tunes etc.

Corvette has long since needed to turn into a sub brand instead of a car. If they made a good looking 4 seater vette I'd be in the market and I've got an M3 to trade for one. Basically turn corvette into the BMW M cars or Mercedes AMG line.

Speednet

My goodness, the hand-wringing on display here is truly pathetic.

Walter Raulerson

Time marches on

mschuyler

I do not understand discussions like this. Who is it for? You've got to be kidding. You're on a Corvette forum in a section devoted to the upcoming C8 generation. The prevailing attitude here is one of anticipation. If you have to ask and don't know , "Who it is for?" then you are on the wrong web site. Besides, people keep asking the same damn thing and saying the same damn thing over and over again for every generation. "It's too expensive!" "It's for old people!" This is very old news. Heard it all before ad nauseam. I have no problem knowing who the new car will be for, or the present one, for that matter. It's for me. It's for a whole lot of people who read the forums here. We are not required to answer the question, "Who is it for?" It's unnecessary. In fact, it makes no sense. it's like asking, "Why is there air?" It's a question for people who don't get it, who don't understand the allure. It's for people more comfortable driving a station wagon or a Prius, but it is not a question for anyone here.

brettlid

gthal

Yeah, this car isn't really suited for many people... which is good because it leaves me with more availability for mine

elegant

And since the 2020 ME Corvette will be worthless for so many things, with so many consequently saying they are no longer interested, gthal, your order priority has just moved up to being produced the first TPW.

I have been “waved at” (substitute whatever word one wishes) about my posting before there will be more actual customer hard 2020 ME orders than cars able to be produced during the 2020 MY — with the consequence that some unfilled customer orders will be moved into the first part of the 2021 MY.

I was similarly laughed at when I said the same thing the year before the 2014 C7 went into production, yet 1,100+ unable-to-be-filled orders were similarly pushed into the 2015 model year (despite max overtime at BGA producing 40,500 C7’s that year).

From where I sit, it is just fine for persons X, Y, and Z to post now why the ME would never work for them, that they will never buy one, and IMO, just as fine for X, Y and Z to later change their minds.

VETTE-NV

What a waste of time.

If you think the Corvette is now too expensive because of what you thought it was as a kid, and think it should still be, good luck with that. The Corvette has changed it's place in the market.....a market that is far different than it was in the 60's and 70's.

The fact that they still sell about 30K plus two seat sports cars year after year is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to the fact that trying to stereotype the current Corvette buyer is pointless. They will sell as many ME Corvettes as they can build.....and that's all that matters to GM. They must be doing something right and to call them out with your perception of what they're doing wrong based on old cliches is joke.

TBIRD57

sort of exciting for me: something really new and unique!
love my C6, but if the C8 isn't cramped i'm all in!

lt4obsesses

The Corvette has always been a baby boomer's car. The idea came from the troops coming home from WWII who got a taste of cars like Alpha Romeo, Triumph, and MG. As these cars were getting imported, GM saw a market developing and created the Corvette. Geared towards the young twenty-somethings of the day. As those twenty somethings became thirty somethings, their taste for performance grew as did their buying power. In order to keep them from going elsewhere to satisfy that need for speed, the Corvette followed suit. It has always followed the current desires of the baby boomers. Always keeping up with the Europeans at a relative bargain price vs the competition. The Corvette has always followed their desire for performance and sophistication, and purchasing power.

So here we are, the Corvette has become faster, then more sophisticated, then more comfortable, more expensive, but always within reach of the current median status of the baby boomers.

However, slowly and surely, time is catching up with that generation and the physical ability to enjoy a sports car is fading away, generally speaking. GM is trying to look to the future, but alas, they have painted themselves in a corner. They can't make the car cheaper, no one wants to see it go backwards. Yet, a great percentage of today's 30, and 40 somethings, let alone 20 somethings, find the Corvette well out of reach.

So is GM reaching out for a new brand of customer? Are they going after the more affluent drivers of higher end European cars? Will they be able to pull this off? That is the big question. Will they be able to draw these people away from the Ferrari's and Lambo's? Perhaps, but I think to do that, they will have to turn their back on the idea of the Corvette being a "working man's" supercar. They will have to make it a very, very refined machine, much more so than it is now, and that won't be cheap. Not only will the new Corvette need to be refined, but it will need some level of exclusivity, because at the end of the day, that is one of the main attractions of a car like Ferrari, wealthy people buy them because they can.

The good news is that I believe GM is smarter than that. They will do what they've always done, and that is produce a great performance car at a somewhat reasonable price. As the C7 started to bring a new perception to the Corvette, it will continue to change to an image that will appeal more to today's 50 somethings that are now getting to that place where a $60K toy is attainable, and will move up the option chart for the next 15 to twenty years. The Corvette demographic will always be the 50 plus crowd out of necessity, because generally speaking, they will be the only ones that can buy it.

tooold2race

Going all the way back to the original post at the beginning of this thread, here is my opinion. I thing GM really is trying to broaden the Corvette market with a high end, high tech ME supercar. I think it will be built is relatively limited volumes at the high side of the current C7 pricing (ie: over $100K).

My guess is that the C7 FE will continue to exist and undergo further platform development.

Down the road in a few years the Corvette could well become a 'stand alone' brand with the series being filled out with an even lower priced 'entry level' offering to attract those first time buyers with aspirations, but not piles of extra dollars.

Look at Porsche.... they have done pretty well filling out their little segment with 4 door sedans variants and SUV's!

No, I don't think this will happen overnight or even inside of 3 or 4 model years, but I do feel that the ME C8 is the first step in that direction and I applaud it. It will certainly expand its market and it won't dilute the brand if done right (again, like Porsche) but with an American accent.

warhawkmcdaniel

Ref:The Corvette has always been a baby boomer's car.(I had to post this about boomer future rides.)These are all mid-engine.
http://www.1800wheelchair.com/catego...heel-scooters/

I am a C6 Z-06 boomer and have been waiting to see what a mid-engine car can do.I think the front engine cars are reaching their limits.

Shaka

That's funny. I'm a boomer and have reached my limits. My last ride will be in a 800hp ME Vette. Literally. A Vette must always look like a Vette. A Stingray or a Mako Shark, that's all. I'll take a FE that looks like this and my Kids can get an ME that looks like this. I sure hope the ME looks fine.

ltomn

A good piece of literature as I see it. However, the GM intelligencia does not appear to be appealing to the C7, $60,000 buyer with this new offering to be. They are one upping the $150,000 ZR1 offering and the buyer of those. What this will do to the price still remains to be seen.

RussM05

I couldn't agree more! Well said!

Redc8z06

So let's look at what the OP said about pricing now and then.

So in 1967 a Corvette was around $6,000 in today's dollar that's around $38,000. The average car cost in 1967 was around $3,000 so that puts a Corvette at twice the price back then.

The average car cost today is around $34,000 which puts the new corvette at guess what? Twice the price, how interesting.

So a stingray today would equate to about double the price of a '67 in price but stand back and compare what you are getting in today's Corvette when you look at things like performance, handling, safety, features, materials and so on and you're getting a Corvette that's worth twice the price.

So are today's Corvette's really that more expensive. Us old folks talk about owning one back when we were young but how many of us actually bought a new one? If the younger generation wants one today again they don't have to buy a new one. So it isn't the price that is keeping the younger generation away it has to be more than that, like it doesn't appeal to them, or they may not have the same passion about cars as some of us older generations do or life, job and family are more important.

GM isn't failing with the Corvette if they have a volume in mind and they are meeting it. If they sell every Corvette they build then that's success not failure.

At GM Corvette is an image not a money maker. It gets dad's into the showroom to dream about owning one but walking out with an SUV because that's what his family needs today. Then when he or she gets older and the kids are grown up and gone he just may return one day and buy his dream car....

And on another note go look at the price of a Camaro today...

RussM05

I am sure the success of the C7 has GM adding the ME and keeping the FE design. Look at high-end the European manufacturers. They all have multiple sports cars in different configurations and prices.

The current sales are 40,000 units +-. If they can increase that by, say, 50% with a ME model is a slight higher price, that's good for everyone. But they have to know from the ZR1 and Z06 sales volume, prices can't start at $100,000 or it won't be very successful in terms of unit sales. GM should not be interested in launching a ME model that will only sell a few thousand a year. That just won't work at GM for financial reasons.