Corvette

Yes the Corvette is a great car. Go to the factory and the museum, it is most definately a worthwhile trip.

 

As a peace loving European, I can reassure you that the Corvette is admired by many, many people on this continent. I am only dimly aware of what the sportscar press say about it, but I don't think it's as negative as you believe.

Here in London, GM has set up a showroom on the elite Park Lane in Mayfair, side by side with Aston Martin. There is only room for three or four cars and invariably, one of them is a Corvette. It is the one which holds the attention of passing pedestrians.

The Corvette has a long and fascinating pedigree, and this too commands respect.

Fifth Gear will be featuring a test drive of the latest model on British TV this evening. No matter what Tiff Needell says, my guess is that it will increase Corvette sales.

There was time, when I was in my teens, every European admired the Mustang and it was the dream American car to own. Now what happened to that?

Long live the Corvette!

 

Corvette's have a bad image / press in the UK for a few basic reasons

Their quite wide and therefore not very suitable for small country lanes, Interiors have been a bit plastic and gizmo laden, NO RHD option, expensive compared to a TVR (which offers everything the corvette does but tailored to suit the UK's roads and tastes.....the Corvette however doesnt break down as much )

 

I agree with Andrew with reference to the roads etc..., but I can't help but love Corvettes, my old boss had an early one and I loved it

 

I owned my last Corvette new in 1969, a terrific car for the day with a 427, factory side exhaust, and a sound very few cars can deliver. But after that for me Corvettes became unattractive, with a bulbous rear end that to this day amazes me as to how anyone could find appealing.

Then came the new package we have today, sleek, small in comparison to the prior Corvettes, and all in a very attractive package. The best sports car value for the money on the planet. I am hoping to get one this summer as my "daily driver" sports car.

All the European press I have read seem to love the car, especially the Z06. The Z06 is an incredible car. I noticed one in my rear view mirror last week, and slowed to let it pass. What a terrific and aggressive looking car!

No, it would never replace a Ferrari for me, as I see them as very different automobiles. No Corvette will ever have the history or passion of a Ferrari, at least not in the next 20 years. Sure a Z06 Corvette would beat a 550, probably a 575, certainly it would eat up my Boxer, and most of the other mid-engined Ferraris of late, but that is not the only reason I would buy a car like this. A Corvette serves its purpose as a relatively mass produced sports car attainable by a substantially greater market than a Ferrari, cheaper to fix, fun to drive, but it will not provide you with any exclusitivity. Just this morning, a drive across town and I saw 6 new Corvettes in 30 minutes.

Its a great beginner high end sports car, and it will be a great daily driver as you can't ding the body. I'm not worried about who can beat me at every traffic light, as there will always be something faster.

Faster, but not necessarily better.

 

You got that right. After watching the recent ALMS race here in Houston, the Corvettes were monsters. I never saw any lap times, but the Vettes were giving the P1 and P2 racers a run for their money.

Dale

 

I had a Corvette Convt a 68 kept breaking from design flaws, out of all the sports cars I have had Corvettes got more crap from people than any car, at least once a week someone would yell "Corvettes Suck!", saw it happen the other day with a guy in a new white Convert someone was giving him crap, while they may be great performers the image and disco rep brings them down IMO, don't think I'd want another

 

Hey guys I have the new Z06 along with a Ford GT, 365 GT4 Boxer, Lotus Exige, and a Radical SR3. The Z06 is real! Great everyday driver... smooth and silky with awesome high performance.

I had all of my cars for sale recently...the Vette sold fast at a high price..the other cars sparked little or no interest for much lower than I had paid for the cars.

Having driven all of these cars on the street and track, my personal opinion is that the Vette has everything you need for street comfort and race track performance without doing a thing to the car.

The GT needs suspension and exhaust upgrades, the Exige is down on power, the Vette has it all.

 

I like the Vette, but they're as common 'round here as Camrys.

 

I don't like the Corvette, but I respect it. Very immpressive performance for a very fair price, but therin lies the problem, to many of them available to to many people. There is no exclusivity in Corvette ownership, no real passion, in fact the only thing exciting about owning the car would be those rare times you can actually open it up with todays traffic.

 

My daily driver is a 2005 Corvette convertible. I love its performance and rely on its Nav. It's much tighter than previous Corvettes I've driven. When I've driven it for a while, I invariably ask myself, "So why do I keep my 360?" Then I drive the 360 again and say, "Oh, yeah, THAT'S why!" Still, for a fun daily ride, the 'Vette is hard to bet, IMO.

 

Tiff Needell's verdict on the Corvette, screened last night on British terrestrial TV's 'Fifth Gear': the best value supercar in the world.

Tiff's one negative comment, made when he sat down in the car, was that the interior looked dated by European standards. I think he used the word 'conservative' about the design. From then on, it was non-stop praise. Wearing a broad grin, Tiff enthused about the unqualified advances Corvette have made, the stiffness of chassis, the sound of the engine which would put Jaguar and Aston Martin to shame, the tight handling.

When he said best value, he was referring to the UK price of £60,000 , or $113,000. How much does the car cost in the US?

Champagne corks will be popping tonight at GM's flagship showroom in Mayfair.

 

It starts at about 65,000US over there, but I've heard the european version comes with a few more bells and whistles as standard. Still a lot cheaper in the US.

 

Lack of exclusivity is a big hangup for me, as well, although for a daily driver that doesn't matter as much. But my biggest gripe has always been that GM puts all the money in the underpinnings and makes cheap-looking interiors. Lesser cars like the Audi TT and BMW 3 end up feeling like much better cars.

 

I had to read this thread over again before I posted...and I guess we are mainly talking about the 427" Z06 rather than the long history of the Corvette in general. I have owned around 10 of them since the mid 70's.

My current Corvettes are the 1995 ZR1 and a late 2004 Z06. I can honestly say that in personal preference, I would rather drive the quieter and more sophisticated 4cam ZR1 even if the Z06 is marginally faster off the line. Of course the thought occurred how cool it might be to get a new Z06 in black/black to match the other two...but I think that is not going to happen.

Here are a couple of observations: My usual daily driver is a 1996 911 Targa. I am currently actively looking over the market for a 512TR. This means that I am NOT in the market for either the new Z06 nor the just-released Porsche Turbo. Not the Vette because I am dissapointed with pushrods and loud mufflers. Not the Porsche because I want to stay with the aircooled experience with my newly rebuilt 1996.

Both my Corvette and Porsche friends think I am having a second midlife crises. But, my reasons are I think valid - at age 56 I am just not as interested in that last 0.8 second of quarter mile time - and am much more interested in having something of really timeless quality and beauty. And there is something also to be said for variety in life!

Sincerely, James

 

Now imagine... Euro to USD is 1.27 or thereabouts. So for around 50k (Euro) you can buy a vette that is very close (or equal maybe) to 'exotic' performance.

 

Steve it's approx £60,000 in the UK...............a TVR offers similar perfomance from a similar package (big motor light GRP body) but looks better, has a far better looking and trimmed interior... and is over £10,000 cheaper!.........and is available in RHD

 

The 'Vette gets 'em wet...

 

"But what about their husbands?" "DICKLESS!"

 

"Ass like a ten year old boy...!"

 

A TVR... yummmmmmmmmmmmm '''''''''''''' Would love a TVR for the track and hear they are geared nicely for it..

 

Just got back from Sonoma last week; was dropped off at the airport in a TVR Cerbera... It was awesome...

 

"What kind of a sick ***** would take the ice cube trays"?

 

Was he driving a Z-06 or a 'regular' Corvette C-6?

I have been looking for a summer car for some time now and think that I have decided on a Corvette...now I gotta get my wife on board...this is what I have found.

The coupes start at $44,490 usd add on the extras and you get to well over $55,000. The particular car that I am looking at stickers at $53,775 (2006 Corvette, 3 LT group, Z51 Preformance group, polished wheels, Velocity yellow paint, clear roof, 6 speed manual) and in my market area you can expect about a $4,000 or so discount off that...I get more because my father in law retired from General Motors.

The convertables (which I am not in the market for) start at $52,190 and creep over $60,000 again with that same $4,000 or so discount from MSRP.

The Z-06 is a different animal. They sell for at least MSRP...several dealers around here will order you a Z-06 at MSRP but there are those that will have you pay a 'market adjusted price' of whatever they think the car should be worth. Pricing starts at $68,590 and can go as high as $72,235 if you get the Velocity Yellow paint, chrome wheels and Navigation system. Still seems like a relative bargain from what they are getting in Europe.

By the way no General Motors discount on the beast, oh yeah and I am gonna have a hard enough time getting my wife on board for the $50,000 car so forget about the $70,000 car.