QOTD: Level-set for the C8 Vette?
Between 1953 and a few weeks ago, the Chevrolet Corvette stuck to a very specific formula: Engine at the front, driven wheels at the back. With the debut of the 2020 C8 Corvette, all of that changed. Today we want to find out what you think about the metamorphosis of an iconic sports car nameplate.
It’s easy enough to argue that General Motors did as much as it could with the Corvette’s traditional layout. The turn toward a mid-engine layout will undoubtedly reap benefits from a performance perspective (and at a value price). Perhaps that’s the core of Corvette loyalist complaints: Their beloved accessible performance car will now be something much more serious.
There are more than a couple of facets to address here. Are you okay with the fact that General Motors left the traditional Corvette layout in the dust? Secondly, given the entirely new format of the C8 Corvette (and its accompanying new looks), do you think it should still wear the same name? Or, would it be more appropriate to call it something else — C8 Grand Sport, perhaps? Maybe this new model is such a change in direction that the ties of old can be completely broken. Layout, looks, heritage be damned!
Bright future or bitter feels? Off to you.
[Images: Chevrolet, seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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I haven't read everyone's comments on this so this may have been mentioned. The article from yesterday was interesting and I took a longer than normal look at the picture of the car. One thing occurred to me that I haven't heard mentioned much at all - it doesn't "look" like a Corvette. If you take the very general appearance of the car from, say 64 up to today, the Vette had a look that reminded the viewer of all that had come before back to 63/64. Maybe it's more a subliminal thing with the layout being the obvious and thus more noted in any objections. Maybe, just maybe, those who object - whether they would acknowledge it or not - don't like the car because they don't see a Vette in the sense I mentioned above. I think it's a wonderful looking car and would love to drive one, but I'm not a "Vette geek" (and I don't mean that in a negative way). Just a (uninformed) thought.
I'll go with bright future. I'm quite a bit younger than the average Vette owner, but as a C7 driver I think on the surface (all we know at the moment) I'm happy with most of it. Two bad points - lack of a stick and the rear end. I could live with the rear end, but I really like shifting for myself. However, with the desire to row-your-own nearly dead it ultimately won't matter. I reserve judgement on the interior until I can see it myself. I suspect this car will appeal to traditionalists (mostly) but will certainly appeal to a new generation. Let's hope it's put together properly and its at least decent in reliability.