Quote:
Originally Posted by aftercompletion
WSJ: ‘I Refuse to Call It a Corvette.’ GM Moves the Engine, Revs Up a Revolt
Hilariously, in this article, the avatar of Corvette purists who are scared to death of the C8 "ruining the brand" is this guy, who fits the "Corvette guy" stereotype to a T:
These poor saps don't realize that the stereotype of the 60-year-old-floridian fat white dude wearing a jimmy buffet shirt has, and will, hurt the brand more than any engine configuration ever could. Shaking this public perception is part of the reason GM is making radical changes to the Vette. Because the majority of people who buy Corvettes today will be dead in less than 20 years, and so will the vette unless they take drastic steps.
|
Stuff like this makes me cringe. I've owned Vettes for years, and trust me I am far from that stereotype.
You are correct in that most Vette owners have been "purists" for years. But when the C7 came out....the demographic started slowly changing. You had a ton of people who had never owned one of these cars before go out and buy one, then you saw a period of time where they were being returned or traded in as the people that bought them didn't really know what they were getting into. Even pricing reflected it.
I agree with the phrase about the next 20 years. But I think it's actually the plan. They wanted to evolve to attract a whole different type of buyer, but with all of the other very nice cars that are offered right now...I think they may be a little too late in trying to develop another group of "loyaltists".
I can't explain why I got into them. Family members had them when I was a kid, my Uncle still has his C1 Corvette.
But ultimately it was what I "cut my teeth" on. The LT and LS engines were so easy to work on and make crazy power for little investment...and for what the car could do stock and from it's cost perspective...I just fell in love with them. It was also the first platform I started learning tuning.
But for a 2nd car to go out and have fun with on the weekends, work on yourself, and price point especially if you always bought a generation behind like I do...it was perfect.