RetroVette

[sjordan2]

whats with the whole "retro" thing? while the front design on the latest Mustang has grown on me and i really like it i still hate the taillights and rear bumper. it's pretty much another one like the Camaro, PT Cruiser and HHR that's just boring the heck out of me with this whole retro, throwback look. i love the new Corvette because it's not retro at all and is undoubtably the best it's ever been. to me if they were to make a retro version that would have styling cues from the early 60's cars it would kill it.

i think it was Perry's resin who did kind of a cool "retro" style body for the newer Corvette's that had the '53? style front and rear treatment. i remember seeing some 1:1 cars done the same way at a show years ago and while i thought the resin bodies looked cool, the 1:1 cars didn't and looked goofy.

Dave

You can say that again.

[Zoom Zoom]

whats with the whole "retro" thing? while the front design on the latest Mustang has grown on me and i really like it i still hate the taillights and rear bumper. it's pretty much another one like the Camaro, PT Cruiser and HHR that's just boring the heck out of me with this whole retro, throwback look. i love the new Corvette because it's not retro at all and is undoubtably the best it's ever been. to me if they were to make a retro version that would have styling cues from the early 60's cars it would kill it.

i think it was Perry's resin who did kind of a cool "retro" style body for the newer Corvette's that had the '53? style front and rear treatment. i remember seeing some 1:1 cars done the same way at a show years ago and while i thought the resin bodies looked cool, the 1:1 cars didn't and looked goofy.

Dave

AMEN!

I'm going to be so sick and tired of '67/'68 Mustangs (and they were my favorite vintage Mustangs) after Ford milks the current style until 2015. Ten years of milking a 2 year design IMHO the 2010 2011 (gotta have that 5.0) should have been issued in '05, and we should have gotten an all-new look for 2010.

The C6 Corvette design is timeless and perfect, aside from the low-rent interior. It looks like a Corvette without relying on the retro crutch. Much the same way a new Porsche looks new, but honors it's heritage. It thoroughly decimated the doughy-looking C5 that was so late to market it was like a '93 RX7 in looks brought out 6 years too late. There has yet to be any retro 'Vette C5/C6 that makes any improvement; they all have some compromise that is embarrassing IMHO. The C5 53 was cool for about 5 minutes, and now when I see one it looks laughable, a complete cartoon of a car. I bought the model, now I'm embarrassed by the fact I have it

One reason I like the current Camaro so much is because it's not really retro. That bothers those "rearward" thinkers that believe it has to look *just* like the old car, which is just a lazy styling crutch for people who unfortunately for some reason lost any spark of looking to the future. Back in the '60's people had to have the latest and greatest. They didn't want a retro rehash from the '20's; that would have been seen as ridiculous. In the '70's all those nasty neo-classics that (poorly) mixed modern with "classic"...that was the '70's version of retro and thankfully it didn't last.

I hated the Challenger when it was shown in concept form. I have to admit they're kind of cool on the street, but I still don't like the huge slab sides. But it serves a purpose, a full-size RWD V8 American coupe, comfortable for four adults, something that was abandoned years ago.

To me, retro means "one hit wonder". I look forward to when the fad is over. I know that my opinion of it is not popular amongst a huge percentage of model car builders. I can live with that The car designers famous for retro have all moved on...

[Harry P.]

The C6 Corvette design is timeless and perfect...

So what do they do for an encore? Hard to improve on "perfection," isn't it???

How do you move forward from "timeless and perfect?" Will the next Corvette be "trendy and mediocre?"

[vettecote]

...and in 30 years, are they gonna retro the retro look of today???...Joe

[Zoom Zoom]

So what do they do for an encore? Hard to improve on "perfection," isn't it???

How do you move forward from "timeless and perfect?" Will the next Corvette be "trendy and mediocre?"

It will be fine if they don't smack it over the head with the rickety old retro crutch

I have complete faith the C7 will be a nice step up from the C6, and hopefully just as timeless/perfect in it's own skin. Thankfully Corvettes are a "push the styling envelope" kind of car.

[Harry P.]

Styling is subjective, of course... my favorite Corvettes are the first generation (up to '62)... and the '68 "Mako Shark" generation C3. The current generation is nice enough, but sort of bland. It's too smooth, too slick, not much personality. A nice enough car, I guess, but kind of innocuous.

[voljeepx]

I really like the lines on this car, but if I had the means, I would not buy one. Would be a short lived fad, and I would lose alot of money trying to get rid of it!

Being a really big fan of Corvette, I am always trying to gather as much info on the C7 as possible. It is still too early in the process to see where they are headed. I am in the camp of people that say the Corvette should be a world car and appeal to more people than the demographic it currently does. The "sideswipe" car from the Transformers 2 movie was cool, butprobably wouldn't play on a world stage. If they can do this, there are no limits to what the next Corvette can achieve whether it be at the track or on the showroom floor.

[Harry P.]

I am in the camp of people that say the Corvette should be a world car and appeal to more people than the demographic it currently does.

At the price a Corvette goes for, your demographic is extremely limited from the start. The only way to widen its appeal would be to chop $20,000 off the MSRP... and that ain't gonna happen!

[Zoom Zoom]

My favorite Corvettes are 63-67.

I love the C6 exterior. Low-rent interior design, materials and lousy seats are what kills the car for many serious enthusiasts. GM's finally seen the light, but the Corvette won't get a real interior until the C7.

To me the C5 was the boring/plain/innocuous generation w/flabby overhangs, really cruddy interior, and styling cribbed from a 4 year old RX7. The C6 is what the C5 should have been all along. We're a generation behind, and the C6 is too familiar now to make people take a second look...it sure wasn't back in '04 when they first hit. I doubt the C7 will get a wrapper so "new" that you won't instantly think it's a Corvette.

No matter how wild a car looks, the more often you see them on the road, the more watered down it looks. If Lamborghini and Ferrari produced their cars in the same quantities, familiarity would make more people apathetic about their styling. Corvettes shouldn't have to go 10-15 years before a new generation and a new look. I think it should remain an aspirational purchase; chopping $20K off the sticker would make it too common and not special enough. There is still cachet to the name, the C6 has the looks on the outside and the performance, but it's spoiled by a driver's compartment only suitable for a sub-$20K car.

[Harry P.]

I think it should remain an aspirational purchase; chopping $20K off the sticker would make it too common and not special enough.

Exactly. Which is why Corvette will never appeal to a wide demographic as suggested by Ed. It's not meant to.

[voljeepx]

At the price a Corvette goes for, your demographic is extremely limited from the start. The only way to widen its appeal would be to chop $20,000 off the MSRP... and that ain't gonna happen!

I'm not saying a cheaper Vette, but one that can be competitive on the world market. A little smaller to fit on european roads,a great interior,and handling that is world class. Corvette racing competes with Ferrari, Porsche, and BMW on the track, and they have no problem selling high end sports cars. The perception is that the Vette is very capable, but plays second fiddle to the other marques in terms of quality and craftsmanship. Do what it takes to make this car and charge accordingly. Bowling Green has no problem pumping these babies out right now, so the market is definitely there. But Chevrolet can not sit by and continue to let their demographic get older and older, then you will be building Buicks! The ZR-1 is a step in that direction, and even at $100k it is still a bargain for the money! It can be done and should be done!

[Harry P.]

Compared to the '68, today's Corvette is a much less distinctive and more generic looking car... it just doesn't have the presence that the old one does.

[Harry P.]

Dave... give me the '68 over the current car anytime (design-wise)... I know the current car is light years ahead as far as technology, but that '68 looks like a Corvette!

Of course, the good news is that neither of us is wrong...

[sjordan2]

Having owned a C4 for 11 years until 2008, I found that there are certain areas where the Corvette increasingly shares similarities with the Euro superstars: scarcity and cost of parts. 6 weeks of having to scour the country for the mounting hardware to replace the front clip (no longer available from GM and which I found myself, no thanks to the dealer); the car is illegal to drive here without the front clip. And 8 weeks to replace the rear hatchback glass (the only available replacements were for earlier models with the top-mounted brake light which had been discontinued for my car – and my car could not be wired to make the brake light operable (finally dug one up at a salvage place in Phoenix).

These were insurance jobs, and my insurance company prefers going through an authorized dealer. The dealer is required to use new, "Genuine GM Parts," which are either nonexistent or very hard to find.

All very odd for a car that had the same basic body style, etc., for 12 years.

Edited July 21, 2010 by sjordan2

[Harry P.]

Here's another "Retrovette"...

[Zoom Zoom]

Here's another "Retrovette"...

We've come full circle. Just a black version of the silver car that starts this thread...I like the wheels better and black hides the poor character line that goes around the middle and not every one of their CG's has the third brake light...

And IMHO there will never be a C6 Corvette retro that comes close to the original C2 nor the C6 it's based upon. Subjective...subjective...

Edited July 21, 2010 by Zoom Zoom

[sjordan2]

there was a discussion at one point over on the TRaK forums, the "Million Dollar Question" in which a choice was put up. the choice was either a Ferrari or a "stock" and mint 1940 Ford coupe, which would you take. it was a good discussion and pretty entertaining. my choice was a Ferrari 360 Spyder which i'd take in a heartbeat over a minty stock 1940 Ford. this topic reminds me a bit of that in given the choice of cars that Harry posted i'd take the new ZR-1 in a second over the vintage 'vette. one of the biggest reasons here is for driving experience and for what the new car is capable of that the older version isn't. i can take the new car, drive it like i stole it and have my fun with it and lots of it at that. you can't do the same with the vintage Corvette. while it would no doubt be a fun experience and one worth having, it simply wouldn't compare to the new car. there is something to be said about a big block Corvette driving experience, but the new one is going to do everything the old one does and so much better for the most part. there isn't much for similarities between the two other than they are both Corvette's.

Dave

I don't have to be the one to tell you, but just take a look at the normal costs of Ferrari ownership and maintenance...

Edited July 21, 2010 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

Having driven quite a few Corvettes over the years, I can tell you that any Corvette made before 1992 had horrible road manners, with ridiculous body roll, loosey-goosey steering compared to European cars, bad brakes and the only saving grace being brute power. My 1993 C4 was a different animal and quite a revelation, and made me feel very smug knowing that I had a killer performance sports car for a fraction of the price of a Porsche or Ferrari, if not the finish and finesse. I felt guilty getting it at first, and knew I'd be drummed out of the cool corps of European sports car owners after my Porsche and Alfas, but I loved it. And this was the kind of car where owners would wave at each other when passing, like the old days of British sports cars. We were a fraternity and knew something others didn't.

On the other hand, back in the 70s I had frequent occasion to drive a pair of Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 V-12s, which were incredibly precise and were nicely made, but these were big, heavy cars and I could, no kidding, watch the gas gauge go down when I punched it on the Ventura Freeway. I used to spend my weekends then helping my godfather, the owner, retune the Webers and make other adjustments, as was necessary on a regular basis. For details on the Ferrari ownership experience, I recommend Michael Sheehan's website, http://ferraris-online.com/

My point is that my 4-cylinder Alfa Veloces handled much better and were more fun to drive than the Ferraris, the Porsche was even better and the C4 blew them all away.

Edited July 22, 2010 by sjordan2