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Over the weekend I went to Laguna Seca for the Weather Tech sports car races and went in search of the new C8 that was to be on display. I have been thinking of buying a C8, or at least getting on the order list, and I really wanted to see if they had a red car that I could see in the flesh. It turns out that GM did have a car there in the Corvette Corral. As I was walking up to the area where all of the Corvettes were parked I was amazed at what looked like 100 plus cars. When I got closer, I realized that there were tons of C7's and a few C6's and C5's parked three wide in rows that went on forever. That was when it hit me that from a short distance all of those cars looked the same except for the color. I also realized that the scene will look the same in two years except that they will all be C8's. Suddenly, the thought of spending $90,000 on a car that will be lost in the crowd did not seem to be such a good deal. I still like the performance numbers on the car and I believe that I could get over the huge rear end, but I think that I want something that stands out in a crowd. When I drive my 65 or 67 places they never fail to attract attention. There is no lost in the crowd problem with those cars. I have come to admit that that is something that I like. I don't mean to slam the new car crowd, those folks are jut enjoying a different part of the hobby than I am. Now that I am not buying a C8, I have to figure out what to do with all that money that I had talked myself into spending. Perhaps a C1 would look nice in the garage.
Get a C-1, but before you do, please drive one for the physical experience. It is a distinct difference between the C-1 and C-2. The social experience will come later. Dennis
Can't help you. I have a C-1 and C-2, not counting the dozen others that I've restored and sold over the years. A new C-8 convertible will sitting next to these.
I feel the same about the C8 as the OP. They will be prolific in 2 years and nothing special. I see 2-3 C7s every weekend- more sometimes. And they aren’t appreciating
This is me standing in the Corvette Corral at Long Beach in April.. I know what you mean. My C5 was one of the oldest cars there!
But I still may get a C8! (I've now seen 6 or 7 of them.. GM showed them off on the SACC convention in Detroit).
I don't drive cars to stand out.... I drive them to have fun! And I'm betting that C8 is fun to drive!
I’m not sure why the OP is not buying the C8 if he’s keeping the C2 either way.
Im going to buy a C8 because I want one, and I know there will be a bunch of them out there, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my ‘63 isn’t going anywhere.
OP, having both your C2 AND a C8 will allow you to enjoy very different fun activities that just one wouldn’t allow!
I have a c1 , c2 , c4 and a c6 I like each one for there individual driving experience. I also drove many c3s from a very early age. The c 8 looks like such a great jump in technology. I can waite one year but I doubt I'll waite past 2021.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C1 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C2 of Year
2015 C3 of Year Finalist
OP I get what you're saying but in a perfect world you have the old cars and the new one. I have my C8 on order, but my old cars are going nowhere. Sure, the C8's will be all over the place, but what a car they will be to drive. I have always had newer Vettes. Fantastic cars for travel and they are fast as hell and handle like they are on rails. They are disposable though. Steep depreciation curve. I just keep them for 3 or so years and move up. I think the new mid engine Vette looks terrific. Zora's dream has finally come to fruition. They get better every generation as far as drivability.
The nice things about Corvettes (and other cars too) is that there is something for everyone.
It has taken me 62 years to figure out that I am really an "old car" person.
When I first got sick I sold my projects and bought a 1990 with 32K miles. Beautiful car, fun to drive, but it did not have that "WOW" factor for me. I sold it and started on another project car (a 1956 Corvette).
When my doctor's told me my car restoration days were over, I sold the 56 and bought a 2004 convertible with 17K miles. Beautiful car, fun to drive, but it did not have that "WOW" factor for me. I went looking for a nicely restored driver quality 56-60. Then I started looking at C2s. I had never owned a C2, so I decided it was time to check them out.
A friend let me drive his nicely restored driver quality 66 convertible. It drove like I remembered them, and I decided that I wanted one. I bought the 64 coupe (with a 65 chassis underneath) I have now. I can still tinker with the 64; it doesn't need any major work. I had a shop add Vintage Air, and I am going to have a restored 64 Rochester FI unit installed on the car. The it is just driving and tinkering.
I recently sold the 2004 convertible. I wasn't driving the car.
I also recently brought my 56 Bel Air home from the restoration shop that pretty much stopped working on it (and all other customer cars). The Bel Air is about 2/3 finished, but there is plenty of tinkering for me to do.
Nothing wrong with newer Corvettes, in fact they are some of the best cars in the world, but I am an "old car" person.
I think many car buyers go thru this same ordeal. The desire for new, be it looks or technology or both is a strong allure, yet at the same time, many of us walk to the beat of a different drum. The beauty of the older Vette's can't be denied and owning something that is a moment in time past was a strong persuader when we were looking at a purchase. I have been enamored with early C3's since my youth, my wife owned a 66 when she was younger, so we looked long an hard at both models. Then came the other side of the equation, could those cars offer us the features and comforts we really wanted like newer models could, based on what we wanted to do with the car in our lives?
The answer quickly became NO, they couldn't. The cars of today just have too much going for them based on what we wanted to do. We looked at C7's, but the video game dashboard and similarity in looks to the same year Camaro's was a major turn off. The C7 just went too far into the euro styling and the C8 has them firmly entrenched in it.
We decided on the C6. It gave us all the features of power and incredibly road handling ability with stellar comfort and yet one could see the direct lineage to the C3's. We haven't regretted our decision for a second. It is a magnificent travel car to visit family halfway across this great nation and the drive NEVER gets boring, because the car is never boring. We can actually put suitcases in the back along with gifts for the grandkids when we go to visit. I don't think the C8 was ever designed for that. When the biggest bragging feature on storage is that it will fit two sets of golf clubs, this tells me the car was designed to drive to the country club, and not much more.
The C8 will do so much more than the early cars, but they don't have that "look" that instantly identifies it as a Corvette. I admire the C8's, but I just don't want a car that looks like that.
As to speed and thrills, I'm mostly over it; there aren't many places to do it near me anymore and I did my stint when younger at triple digit speeds on foreign motorcycles without a helmet (they were for wuzzies). If others want to track or push a modern car to its limits - good on 'em I say.
I drive my classic cars (and keep them mostly original) so I can flashback to a younger age and less complicated era... and to spend time with old friends. I went to Old Town nearly every Saturday with my "posse" for a decade. There were few things I enjoyed during that time than driving home after the cruise-in on a Saturday night at 75mph in the dark, by myself, on Rt 429 (before it had streetlights or night time traffic) listening to the Beatles or Jimi Hendrix, enjoying the engine sounds and contemplating life and not seeing even a single set of other headlights- it wouldn't be the same in a modern car.
Here is the Corvette Forum meet up at Lakeland last January...
Notice anything ?
(Edited)
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 09-18-2019 at 06:51 AM.
Reason: Remove comments related to prior posts
Karl Chevrolet is in Des Moines and I have seen a number of these "retromods' on the streets. In person, they really lose an awful lot of the "cool" I think they intended when they first designed these things. I will say one thing, they are unique.
Attention is a factor for me. A small factor, not a deal breaker. I like getting the occasional nod at a stoplight, a passenger taking a picture or video as they pass me, older people remembering the cars, younger people wanting to know what it is and more about it.
Vein of me?------maybe a little. I'll accept the label. Now if this vanity was to the point where I was expecting all panties within a 30 foot radius to drop, that would be a whole different matter.
09-16-2019, 07:52 PM
This is Why I own C2's
Dennis
