last901

I'm noy trying to start an argument here, but after stopping by at E@RTC last Saturday, this popped into my mind. At the risk of appearing to be a complete jerk, let me add that while I have ownwed a Corvette for a lot of years, and have also owned some Brand BMW, Brand P911, and a few others that I would guess would be admitted to some sort of pride of place at the show on Saturday. It appeared to me that there were few Corvettes on display at the show. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Nobles, etc seemed to be there in abundance. I didn;t see very many Corvettes.

Now, I realize the organizers have a purpose to these events and other than the typical cars and coff shows, this weekely event I wouod guess has the blessing and support of the Town Center merchants. Nothing wrong with that and I surely hope the Town Center is realixining some benefit to this gathering.The guys and girls that host the show and place the cars do a great job at this and I applaud their efforts.

That said, why no Corvettes? Maybe a couple, but do you plan to show up on saturday mornings sometimes hoping for a good spot only to be directed to the parking garage? I drive a Corvette and no lnger even get out of bed in time to drive to Rtc just to be "banished" to some outer parking garge.

I think I understand why the organizers might be selective, given the limited space available and so something however worthy, otherwise, ends up curbside or on a parking garage.

Please please understand I am not taking issue with the people who put on the show, but I am kinda' curious how some of you react to the seemingly arbitrary selection of who gets in the main arena and who gets shuffled off to the parking garage.

Stay with me here, I'm just kinda wondering how we react and relate to these sort of events whether we get to show or not.

You have a Corvette, a proud and successful brand out of America. By God. So, what I wouold like to know, if for no other reason that my wife is still out buying something for diner. I take pride in keeping my C6 looking good, but every so often, having owned many other marques, wonder how you Corvette Entusiasts feel about hanging out at these events? If it's a mixed marque show, do you ever feel like a second class citizen? For that matter, why would you put up with second tier parking while the people driving late model Ini's and other cars you might never be able to own?

So, for sake of discussion, do you enter your Corvette in shows or other competitve events? Have you ever want to have a Ferrari? A Lambo, or do we tend to simly avoid some of these pepole?

I love my C6 Coupe. Best road trip car I've ever owned, but I can't imagine what a Ferrari or Lamborghini is goinjg to do for me otherwise.

I've long beleived there is among many Corvette Owners a bit of an inferority complex. I have seen licenese frames on Corvettes alluding to the superitoity of their choice of transportation. EX: Porsches are Just Corvette Speedbumps" Not common, but I've never seen a single Porsche display anything that suggests they are superior to Corvettes.

Okay, this is not a survey, a competition or market analysis. Tell me what you think. Would you rather have a iorsche, a BMW an Audi S-series or anyyhing except5 your Corvette? Money notwithstanding.

Mufflerbearing

Most answers are found on their website www.exoticsat.com under FAQs, Rules and Criteria located at the top of the page.

It's impossible to please everyone but I think they have done a great job of keeping the show going after ten years.

last901

I would agree, Pat. These people do a wonderful job at this saturday morning show. I'm simply trying to understand if Corvette owners enjoy the show when so often it seems they are excluded.

Secondly, I'm curious as to how Corvette owners feel about having their cars displayed among some other exotics that may attract the most attention and cost many times more.

Here's another way to look at it. Why park my C6 (for example) among a variety of $million cars if nobody really cares about my car?

I'm more or less trying to figure out, given many years of shows and judging if Corvette Oweners feel a little left out?

More to the point, given the number of exotic cars that often show up for this event, How many feel they don;t want to display? And Why?

So far as I know, there are no awards given and so people just park and go wander around.

It's this occasional exclusion of Corvettes that makes me wonder if those people enjoy the event?

919cw313

For anyone not familiar with the rules: "E@RTC consider an exotic to be anything that’s either very rare, generally regarded as expensive, old, or unusual, to generally fit the term as long as it’s in reasonable shape for its age. The definition includes all hot rods, classics and extremely rare and valuable cars."
From the outside looking in, I'd say 99% of C3-C6s will not fit this definition. Hell, as the C7 is getting older now, maybe 99% of those too...

As we all know, there are several types of Corvette owners, I'll just focus on two.

There are the Corvette guys who only like Corvettes and would never own another sports car other than a Corvette and are only interested in looking at other Corvettes and talking about Corvettes with other Corvette guys. They'd probably be bent out of shape when they get ushered to the cheap seats.

There are Corvette owners who are car guys. They understand that there were a ton of C6s made and most are $30k cars. Not exactly exotic. However, they appreciate other marques and would like to see them, regardless of where they had to park.

For me in particular, I love my car and plan on keeping it indefinitely. However, that doesn't mean I would never add a used 911 or something else if the right car comes along. As a working stiff, my teenage dreams about owning a Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. are long gone so I'm not terribly interested in seeing them. If I'm ever in the neighborhood for one of these shows I'll stop by, but I'm not going to spend 2 hrs driving each way just to see it.

Srt03

For me, I am old enough and comfortable enough to be very happy with my vette. I will never be able to afford the exotics that you see at RTC. My current corvette IS my exotic. The cars presented there, in most cases are in another class (upper) compared to the vettes. The C7 ZR1 I can see being admitted but anything else just isn't rare enough or expensive enough. It doesn't bother me one bit. There are many other events like Seattle Cars and Coffee that I like to attend. From watching the vids posted about RTC they even turned away some Aventadors that showed up late because there was no room left.

So basically I don't feel left out. :-)

last901

Well, not quite the results I had expected. And that's a good thing. I guess I was still harboring some thoughts that ever since Corvettes appeared to be excluded from the event some years ago there might be a few sour grapes still hanging out. Thanks CW919 for the criteria for admittance to the show "arena". It's clear, concise and reasonable IMO. I think it was well thought out and really shouldn't offend anyone.

Though the responses were not many, what I did read in them was that while there are apparently some Corvette Ownners who love tieir cars, there doesn't appear to be any animosity toward those who at least share with us some amazing cars that many of us may never find the means to own. (like me, but not Poodle Girl) ). Yes, I'm sure there are some Corvette Owners out there who like only Corvettes, but if so they probably aren't at the RTC anyway. And no one can honestly say IMHO they are ":boycotting the show"

Actually this makes me happy. At times I used to feel that many Corvette owners couldn't care less about a bunch of Exotic cars. Based on the few responses I received, it appears to me that at least some Corvette Owners make no apologies for their choice yet are appreciative of the Exotics that turn out for the RTC events.

I think I need to get a job and quit hanging out on this forum as if I were choosing up sides, for something.

Anybody out there like MGB's?

I'm guessing here, but it seems many Corvette enthusiasts and owners - at least on this forum - show up on Saturday and enjoy the display. I was expecting at least a few replies advising me they no longer attended the show since there were no Corvettes.

Doesn't appear to be the case....

AaronZ51

I think the people running E@RTC have done a great job trying to be inclusive with most marques while having limited resources (parking spaces) to allow everyone in. 8 years ago, they'd have a section for all Corvettes if we let them know in advance we were coming. A couple years ago, they made the decision to limit Corvettes to older classics and Z06 & ZR1 variants. They've also been excluding "less exotic" cars of other marques as well, like the BMWs.

I was a little miffed the first time I went in my C6 and was turned away from the "event" parking. After reading their website on the criteria for entering, I'm comfortable with it and understand why they needed to set limits. Addressing your 2nd class citizen, I think you'd need to be thin skinned to feel that way. Would I like a Ferrari? Absolutely! I own the best sports car my budget allows. If there was another zero at the end of my income, I'd likely own a 488 or something similar. Yes, there are some snooty people who bring their high-end cars but they are not the majority.

People that get their panties in a wad over not being allowed to show their car should find another venue. Griot's caffeine and gasoline (1st Saturday of every month) is an "everyone's welcome" type of gathering and has good car people there as well.

etazbaz

I don't mind that Vettes aren't included. Bottom line is that the Vette isn't exotic. I don't understand why 911 S models are included as I do not consider them to be exotic either. I am happy the show exists so I can see a bunch of exotics all in one place. When it comes to showing my car I go to general admittance or Corvette-only shows as that is where it will be appreciated most by folks.