The dam on the Chevrolet Corvette C8 embargo broke in a big, big way yesterday, with Motor Trend shoving their story in their remaining readers’ inboxes around 5:30 am yesterday. Everybody else who had early access to the car (Road & Track, Car and Driver, The Digital Publication Formerly Known As Autoweek, etc.) quickly followed suit, and by the end of the day you had all the Corvette news you could handle splayed all over the internet like Hope Solo. Don’t search that at work.
There were some good takes on the C8, including this excellent lap of Thunderhill by FOB (Friend of Bark) Travis Okulski. But then there was a very, very bad one by Car and Driver, entitled Race Track Hot Throwdown Of All Throwdowns: The C8 Tells The C7 To Step Outside! Okay, it wasn’t actually called that, but it may as well as been. The idea was to compare the C8 Corvette Z51 againsta C7 Corvette Z51 on a racing surface and see which one was faster.
I’ll save you the click and let you know that C/D discovered that the C8 could lap Grattan Raceway in 1:26.1, while the best the C7 could muster was a 1:27.0. The C8 was faster! All hail the new mid-engined Playskool disaster!
As the media obsessively focuses on the upcoming, mid-engined C8 Corvette, the C7 languishes. Vette sales exploded in 2014 following the release of the seventh-generation model, declining ever since. Chevrolet only sold 25,079 Corvettes domestically in 2017 and, even though year-end sales aren’t yet in, General Motors looks ready to fall short of last year’s volume for 2018.
While it is not abnormal to see the popularity of a high-profile sports car wane in the years following a debut, it’s slightly less common to see an automaker increase its price without adding some new hardware — and that’s what General Motors is doing with the Corvette in 2019.
EBFlexThey are getting rid of the Charger and Challenger for a modern day Neon?just end it Dodge, you had a great run
GarrettFrankly, I don’t understand why some of the manufacturers haven’t lobbied for more areas, or built their own. Imagine being able to access a local Jeep park, at a reasonable membership fee. Or a Land Rover one for a lot more. That’s money worth throwing down.
Lou_BCDeveloping "off-road parks" in areas with higher populations and a lack of public access land would be a good idea. It would be great to be paired with licensed off-road instructors. Set up costs would be relatively low. I took an entry level off-road course a few years ago with my son's Cherokee. It was fun. I'd like to take a winching course and an advanced driving course.
ToolGuyIf you want a new Toyota, plan to buy it in the next 4 years.
ToolGuyThe real question is - with all the value they add and all the sacrifices they make - do automotive journalists make too little. 😉
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