Remember how the Porsche 928 was created to replace the 911?
 

I can almost guarantee you there will be some buyers remorse with the C8 ME. “Was a mid engine Corvette really needed?” will be the topic of more than one car magazine article. Oh, it will be a nice car, and over time it will be a fantastic car.... but its replacing an already fantastic car IMO.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...3d87f605c.jpeg
I was eighteen when this car became available. My legs went weak when I was around one!

928, haven't heard one of those mentioned in many years. They were wildly different than the 911 back in the time period they were produced. The 928 was a lot more like a Corvette than a 911. The 911s back then were little more than dune buggys with fenders and a roof.

Every new car has some level of buyers remorse. The hype leading up to the release tends to give people unrealistic expectations of the car(saw it really bad for some people with the last new car I bought). Then when they take delivery everything is great, but once the honeymoon is over, they are left with "hmmm, that's it?" So of course it will happen with the C8. Just look how people are already creating insane expectations in their own minds.. everything from a sub 7 minute ring time from the base car, to a McLaren killer for 30% of the price.

Terrible comparison that was step back where the motor was moved from the rear to the front. Moving the engine to the middle is the right evolution of this car. Chevy made the right choice and guaranteed that this car can continue to be a world class car at a reasonable price. I don’t understand why some continue down this road, its silly.

The Porsche 928 was a miserable /FAIL. Never was it meant to replace the 911. :rofl:

Agreed...

The skankanomics flat Earthist conspiracy
theoriests, are always certain of their crystal ball's...:lol:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...87c79dbe1.jpeg

Actually, per Porsche history documents (copied to Wiki), the 928 was originally intended to replace the 911.

I purchased this car in Palm Beach and took delivery of it at the factory. The US got the S4 before the Europeans did. The dealers, where I had the 2 oil changes had never seen this engine before. The factory was really run down as Porsche was insolvent at the time. There were two brand new Corvettes at the factory. I was so glad to get back into a Vette.
I took a 93 ZR1 to Europe. The Porsche was so far the inferior car in every way about the same Purchase price.
They both made exactly the same sound and both got 15mpg on the Autobahns and in the cities.
After the first oil change at 500 miles in Switzerland, the mechanic took me for a test drive because I complained about the strange handling of the 928. The Weissach axle had a mind of it's own. I spun out twice.
We went up and down the mountain really fast and I hadn't revved it that high yet. After the drive, he said that I should have purchased a 911.
The Germans can't make a proper environmental systems. The windows kept on fogging up in the Porsche and the wipers don't work above 100 mph. They lift off the windshield. I sold it after <3 months of ownership with 6000 miles at a loss of $15 Gs.$5000 discount for an overseas delivery otherwise it would have been $20 gs. It needed new tires. The Vette still lives in Munich.
If you want a great vacation, buy a new high performance Vette (no convertibles) and ship it to Europe. I've taken 4 there. The French and the Germans will pester you to buy it. The dealer will bring it to Euro specs. The owner has 90 days to do it. Oh yeah, order it with the European radio of which will a no charge option. It will pay for the trip, the car and leave some change. It only takes 10 days to get there and you purchase insurance at the port as well as the European highway permits. They will stop you all the time for having no front plate but they really only want to see the car.
Either way, you will have a blast because you can't rent a Porsche or a Vette in Europe. One more thing, the car is shipped to Belgium, Holland or Germany. Remember to take a few laps around the Ring while you are in the neighborhood.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...0c62af1691.jpg
Louis XVI's summer home.

That's a joke, right?

Yes, it was.

I spent a lot of time in a 1980 928 and found it to be a very well built car. It felt special to me but the motor was less than exciting. I never drove the car very fast - always 8/10’s or less and it did well. I believe that it was a better quality car than the then current Ferrari 308 and much more reliable. At the time I loved the styling, very exciting for reasonable money.

Not at all. There is a guy in our condo bldg. that has a '79 or an '80 911 and it sounds just like a Beetle on start up and drive away. I had an '86 930 with a really good aftermarket full system exhaust and that thing sounded bad ass. The car was hardcore fast but a total disaster to maintain.

No, the 928 was not a “miserable fail”....now, if we were talking about the 924...I could agree, but the 928(?), nope, it was actually a well built and well received vehicle for its time... and yes, it was originally meant to be a replacement for the 911....but then so too was the Ford Probe meant originally to be a replacement for the Mustang... both Porchse and Ford wised up pretty quickly.

With all that, I see absolutely no reason to believe that the same will happen with ME Corvette vs FE Corvette. The C8 is literally “the” new Corvette, not a different car meant to replace Corvette.

Magazine racer checking in. The early 911s were always, to my memory, described by reviewers as being very twitchy and unpredictable in turns.....Due to the rear engine design.

The 928 was supposed to be a "proper" Porsche with a front mounted engine. It instead slowly became a grand tourer.

I think what most replies are missing is the important point the OP is alluding to.

The 928 failed initially for a very simple reason. Tradition and traditionalist buyers/owners. Porsche had been making rear engine cars for effectively it's entire existence. To Porsche owners/buyers, a Porsche was a 911 (a smaller percentage included the 914 in that) but each was rear or in the case of the 914, mid engine. Along comes the 928 to "replace the 911". Loyal fans of the badge don't see it as a "Porsche" and the car has to morph to an upscale GT car, which in many ways sorta ruins it from it's original purpose.

How does that translate to Corvette? I've read on here "60+ years of history" more times than I can count, and each of those years as been FE. There is a possibility that the loyal/traditionalist Corvette buyer may not consider this car a "Corvette", and that will translate over to coverage of the car as well.

It's not about how good or bad the 911 or 928 of the time were compared to today's cars.

It is interesting how many pull the 928 (and 924) engines and replace then with a Chevy V8.

Yeah, 40 years later.

Way back, I think Porsche seriously underestimated the incredible customer loyalty to the 911 and the venerated rear engine design. Porsche saw it as a flaw maybe? while Porsche die hards saw it as an asset.

Maybe the same thing happened when Porsche began developing more sophisticated transmissions like the tiptronic and moving away from manual gearboxes. Porsche did not realize the loyalty people had for a true manual transmission?