Please GM, Fix the Corvette
10-13-2009, 10:59 AM
#1
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Please GM, Fix the Corvette
Before I begin, let me say that the following is not an attack on the people who buy Corvettes. They are good, clean, patriotic car lovers, and I think they should all be applauded for buying American.
I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Every barrel-chested baldy (sorry, retirees) and stripper (sorry, Bambi) who bought a Corvette recently deserves our respect and admiration for spending their hard-earned cash on America's sports car. God bless them all. I hope they enjoy their cars.
This column is not about them. It's about the Corvette itself, which sucks.
Truth is, I'm not really sure when it began to suck. I must have been watching my new Girls Gone Wild DVD and missed it, but it does suck and I think we should all be mortified by its suckiness.
Sure it performs incredibly well, but the Corvette as a relevant performance car has lost its way. Instead of being the everyman, all-American supercar it once was, the Vette has become too expensive, too extreme and too cheesy.
Chevy has blown it by allowing the Corvette's price and performance to get out of hand. And it continues to wrap the Vette in a dated package that is driving America's young car enthusiasts elsewhere. Do you realize that the base price of a new 2010 Corvette is $48,940? That's 50 grand for the cheapest Vette Chevy will sell you. The days of a kid graduating from college, getting a good job, saving up and buying a new Vette are long gone.
This is a problem.
I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Every barrel-chested baldy (sorry, retirees) and stripper (sorry, Bambi) who bought a Corvette recently deserves our respect and admiration for spending their hard-earned cash on America's sports car. God bless them all. I hope they enjoy their cars.
This column is not about them. It's about the Corvette itself, which sucks.
Truth is, I'm not really sure when it began to suck. I must have been watching my new Girls Gone Wild DVD and missed it, but it does suck and I think we should all be mortified by its suckiness.
Sure it performs incredibly well, but the Corvette as a relevant performance car has lost its way. Instead of being the everyman, all-American supercar it once was, the Vette has become too expensive, too extreme and too cheesy.
Chevy has blown it by allowing the Corvette's price and performance to get out of hand. And it continues to wrap the Vette in a dated package that is driving America's young car enthusiasts elsewhere. Do you realize that the base price of a new 2010 Corvette is $48,940? That's 50 grand for the cheapest Vette Chevy will sell you. The days of a kid graduating from college, getting a good job, saving up and buying a new Vette are long gone.
This is a problem.
10-13-2009, 11:10 AM
#3
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The only thing I find fault in with the Corvette is its interior. It has no place in a $50k+ car these days.
The writer suggests it is too expensive but says it should be more like the M3 but the starting price of an M3 coupe is $10k more then the vette and BMW options are ridiculously overpriced.
The other car the writer suggested it should compete with is the G35 (G37) coupe. I really don't see that comparison at all. I don't consider the G37 to be in the same league as the vette.
The only thing that made sense to me was when he said he would rather have a 911. Of course, when talking about a new 911 you can find one for about 80k stripped which is well over 50% higher then the price of a base vette.
This guys arguments do not make sense to me and he is contradicting himself all over the place to what he thinks the vette should be more like IMHO.
The writer suggests it is too expensive but says it should be more like the M3 but the starting price of an M3 coupe is $10k more then the vette and BMW options are ridiculously overpriced.
The other car the writer suggested it should compete with is the G35 (G37) coupe. I really don't see that comparison at all. I don't consider the G37 to be in the same league as the vette.
The only thing that made sense to me was when he said he would rather have a 911. Of course, when talking about a new 911 you can find one for about 80k stripped which is well over 50% higher then the price of a base vette.
This guys arguments do not make sense to me and he is contradicting himself all over the place to what he thinks the vette should be more like IMHO.
10-13-2009, 11:19 AM
#6
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The disturbing thing is most of the responders to the blog agree with the author. 
I'm sorry, but perhaps in the minority. Although I have never owned a Corvette myself, I get it, and think its an awesome car to represent the top-end for Chevrolet. (Please note, I am not bald, retired, or a stripper.
)
P.S. The author states,
Has the Corvette ever been "affordable"?
I'm sorry, but perhaps in the minority. Although I have never owned a Corvette myself, I get it, and think its an awesome car to represent the top-end for Chevrolet. (Please note, I am not bald, retired, or a stripper.
)P.S. The author states,
Of course we want it to perform well, but we also need it to be affordable, insurable and durable.
Last edited by jg95z28; 10-13-2009 at 11:22 AM.
10-13-2009, 11:46 AM
#7
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WTF is he blathering about?
The Vette has always been an expensive, aspirational car. The only thing that needs to be addressed, IMO, is the interior. It is fine for me personally, but it is about the only weak spot in the car's armor.
The price is creeping up? Holy crap. The car rapes 911s at less than Cayman / Boxster prices.
If the interior gets some serious attention to please all the dash fondlers, the car will be about perfect.
The Vette was never a first vehicle out of college car.
Tahoes and Suburbans can easily reach $48k. What should a flagship sports car cost?
How much was the Viper again?
A Nissan 370Z, which is not in the Corvette's league, is in the $30k-$40k range. I'm more bothered by $34k Mustang GTs and Camaro SSs than I am by the Vette. But that's what inflation does over time.
Look at the price of a well-equipped 335i (NON-M3). Infinity G37. Nissan GT-R.
Really, though, when the guy said the Corvette "sucks" now, he lost all credibility. The car is repeatedly called world class and among the best bang for the buck cars anywhere, with the only real weakness being the interior (which, again, is fine for people who are more concerned with driving than with making out with the dashpad).
The Vette has always been an expensive, aspirational car. The only thing that needs to be addressed, IMO, is the interior. It is fine for me personally, but it is about the only weak spot in the car's armor.
The price is creeping up? Holy crap. The car rapes 911s at less than Cayman / Boxster prices.
If the interior gets some serious attention to please all the dash fondlers, the car will be about perfect.
The Vette was never a first vehicle out of college car.
Tahoes and Suburbans can easily reach $48k. What should a flagship sports car cost?How much was the Viper again?
A Nissan 370Z, which is not in the Corvette's league, is in the $30k-$40k range. I'm more bothered by $34k Mustang GTs and Camaro SSs than I am by the Vette. But that's what inflation does over time.
Look at the price of a well-equipped 335i (NON-M3). Infinity G37. Nissan GT-R.
Really, though, when the guy said the Corvette "sucks" now, he lost all credibility. The car is repeatedly called world class and among the best bang for the buck cars anywhere, with the only real weakness being the interior (which, again, is fine for people who are more concerned with driving than with making out with the dashpad).
10-13-2009, 12:00 PM
#8
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Not especially. An '84 Corvette would have been $45,000 in today's dollars. A 1990 coupe would be $52,809.15. A 1990 ZR-1 would be $97,000. So, essentially the current ones are priced pretty close to what they have been for the last 20 years accounting for inflation.
On the other hand, I don't think the 'Vette is priced unattainably for those who really want one and are willing to save up a while or go lightly used. It's a performance bargain, that's for sure.
On the other hand, I don't think the 'Vette is priced unattainably for those who really want one and are willing to save up a while or go lightly used. It's a performance bargain, that's for sure.
10-13-2009, 12:21 PM
#11
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10-13-2009, 12:49 PM
#12
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I feel that the vehicle was once a midlife crisis car, attainable by 35 or 40 by harder-working individuals. Now it's kind of a ridiculously-rich or retirement machine. The car used to mean you "have money" versus now, being "rich" or "blowing your 401k."
I won't complain. The Camaro has filled its old shoes in terms of performance, and that's still relatively attainable.
10-13-2009, 12:50 PM
#13
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Not especially. An '84 Corvette would have been $45,000 in today's dollars. A 1990 coupe would be $52,809.15. A 1990 ZR-1 would be $97,000. So, essentially the current ones are priced pretty close to what they have been for the last 20 years accounting for inflation.
On the other hand, I don't think the 'Vette is priced unattainably for those who really want one and are willing to save up a while or go lightly used. It's a performance bargain, that's for sure.
On the other hand, I don't think the 'Vette is priced unattainably for those who really want one and are willing to save up a while or go lightly used. It's a performance bargain, that's for sure.
10-13-2009, 01:01 PM
#14
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The steering wheel, shifter, feature controls and so forth should feel good and be functional. But does it matter if the dashboard is 5% softer in car A vs. car B? Or if the top of the dash pad is leather with stitching vs. soft touch rubber / plastic?
10-13-2009, 01:05 PM
#15
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Yes, but I don't go around rubbing every surface when I drive. As long as it looks good and doesn't squeak / rattle...
The steering wheel, shifter, feature controls and so forth should feel good and be functional. But does it matter if the dashboard is 5% softer in car A vs. car B? Or if the top of the dash pad is leather with stitching vs. soft touch rubber / plastic?
The steering wheel, shifter, feature controls and so forth should feel good and be functional. But does it matter if the dashboard is 5% softer in car A vs. car B? Or if the top of the dash pad is leather with stitching vs. soft touch rubber / plastic?
I used to feel this way, but I have noticed myself becomming more and more of an 'interior person'.
I think the Corvette with the optional (and ridiculously expensive) leather-wrap interior looks a TON better than the rubbery dash'd standard Corvette interior...