#ChevroletCorvette

Chevrolet Corvette aficionados who plunked down deposits to secure a new C8 will have to wait a little longer than expected to take ownership of their latest ride.

According to Motor Authority, General Motors has confirmed that the recently ended strike by UAW-affiliated General Motors workers delayed the start of C8 production in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

When Porsche introduced the Cayenne, the SUV was met with a sea of laughter. No one had attempted a sports-oriented utility vehicle before; on paper, the idea sounded totally daft. Yet Porsche quickly proved everyone wrong. Sales of the model have remained relatively consistent in both the United States and Europe since its 2002 production launch — paving the way for similar products around the globe.

While most of these models have taken the form of amped-up versions of mainstream SUVs and crossovers, a swell of performance utilities are blurring the line. Ferrari is supposedly working on an SUV called the Purosangue, Lamborghini developed the Urus, and Ford will reveal its “ Mustang-inspired” crossover later this month.

During General Motors’ third-quarter earnings call, one analyst wondered if the manufacturer wanted to follow suit with a utility vehicle modeled after the Corvette. Sure, it sounds crazy, but so did those other aforementioned vehicles at one time.

There’s a theory – and when I say there’s a theory, I mean that I quickly concocted one night as sleep began its wash over me – that says the Corvette you love most is the Corvette of your licensing year.

For me, that means the revolutionary C5 Corvette must, by law, take its place as my favourite Corvette. That bulbous rear end, those pop-up headlights, and three top options are memorable aspects to the fifth-generation Corvette. So too is the downmarket interior highlighted by miserable seats, surprisingly decent fuel economy, and remarkably strong sales figures of roughly 30,000 units per year in the U.S.

Objectively, of course, the Corvettes C6 and C7 are markedly, distinctly, better cars. They don’t abide by my favoritism rule, but they’re better cars. Thus, just as I always aspired to ownership of a new C5, I shifted that desire to the C6 in 2005 and the C7 in 2014. The Corvette’s consistently reasonable entry price has always made that aspiration relatively attainable.

But everything has changed with the arrival of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C8. No, it hasn’t become unobtainable, but it’s not clear that it’s an objectively better car. And even if it is, I still wouldn’t want one.

Industry analysts are becoming concerned that General Motors’ ongoing row with the United Automobile Workers will negatively impact its production commitments. Officially, the automaker has a surplus allowing it to endure strike conditions for a few more weeks. But it’s also supposed to preparing SEMA vehicles and readying production of the new, mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette Stingray — none of which have any back catalog to draw from.

While GM had 80 days worth of inventory at the start of October to help tamp down any panic, numerous models aren’t included in that pool. The C8 Corvette is supposed to launch this year, with volumes ramping up through early 2020. But orders for the outgoing C7 are backing up due to the UAW strike, requiring the automaker to finish those before retooling Bowling Green Assembly for the C8. That could further stall the Stingray’s arrival date, which was already a little nebulous.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“Jesus!”

The poor server at the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible launch had just dumped an entire tray of backwash onto her chest, thanks to the raucous, deafening, unholy rumble of the C8.R Corvette that had been started and revved up nearly fifty feet away from her. I stifled my laugh and reassured her from my nearby hi-top table.

“Don’t worry,” I said to her as she stood there shaking with a combination of laughter and disgust. “I don’t think anybody else saw that.”

If you want to read all about how great the new Corvette Stingray Convertible is, I encourage you to go to your web browser and read any one of the literally hundreds of stories that were posted the instant the embargo dropped last night. There, you will be able to read all about the nearly 500 horsepower and the 3-second zero-to-60 times and the 16-second-folding-hardtop and the $67,499 price tag, plus you’ll be able to see some very flattering photos of an orange Vette that have been photoshopped within a pixel of their lives. I was doing “Triometrics” at the hotel while everybody else was breathlessly regurgitating the stats, so I apologize that you’re only getting this vital information this morning instead of last night.

But, if you want to read about how the Corvette Stingray Convertible is the ugliest, most Playskool looking car I’ve ever seen in person, plus some stuff about how the C8.R shows us how terribly executed the coupe/convertible is, stick around and click the jump.

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.

Who’s talking about the C7 Corvette these days? Precious few, that’s who, as the recent appearance of the mid-engined C8 has sucked all the attention away from the current-generation Chevrolet two-seater.

This situation, paired with the need to clear existing inventory, could be advantageous for buyers of the departing model, assuming you’re ready to shell out nearly six figures for the hottest C7s around.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA. — After months, if not years, of hype, plus another 30 minutes or so of introduction, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is finally here.

Dubbed C8, for eighth generation, the Corvette is now mid-engined for the first time ever.

It’s also sans stick, at least for the foreseeable future.

Chevy introduced just one version of the car in Southern California Thursday — the Stingray. A Z51 performance package is available, and Stingrays so equipped will be able to hit 60 mph from a standing start in under 3 seconds.

Oh, and the price tag? Under $60,000 to start.

I’m in California today so that I can see the new Chevrolet C8 Corvette in the flesh. The reveal will take place later tonight.

In advance of that event, friend of TTAC Bozi Tatarevic has tweeted out a photo of the car’s interior. It looks, um, interesting.

General Motors has officially announced that the Chevrolet Corvette will continue production in Bowling Green, KY after it transitions into a mid-engined car. The automaker will add 400 new jobs and a second shift to support production of the new model, bringing the factory’s workforce to more than 1,300 individuals.

However, the Corvette news — such as it is — doesn’t end there. The vehicle’s factory-sanctioned Facebook page also revealed the car’s new logo on Friday.

Chevrolet was expected to debut its new, mid-engine C8 Corvette sometime over the winter, but a series of delays meant the only glimpses we’ve had of the thing are of the spy shot variety. And boy, are there a lot of those. That thing gets around more than Wendy in Breaking Bad.

While a report late last year pointed to electrical issues as the reason for the delay, a new report points not only to this, but a structural problem, too.

Much has been written about Jim Perkins, the Texas boy with a keen love of Chevrolet whose relentless ambition finally placed him in GM’s sphere of influence. It’s thanks to Perkins that Chevrolet’s Corvette is still General Motors’ halo car, and not some long-departed nameplate culled during the height of badge engineering.

Perkins’ quintessentially American life came to an end this week. The two-time GM and one-time Toyota exec passed away in Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday at the age of 83, earning him tributes from fans of the car he saved.

On the last edition of Rare Rides we took a look at the Consulier GTP — a purpose-built race car that could also be driven on the road. After a name change and a couple of interim V8 updates on the original GTP, the company now known as Mosler Automotive released a new car, and then promptly modified it.

Presenting the MT900S.

Do you ever feel there just aren’t enough purpose-built racing cars that can also be driven on the road? Well, Consulier yourself with today’s Rare Ride.

Ugh.

In what’s bound to be one of the most obscure editions of Rare Rides yet, today’s ride is very limited-production in nature. So limited, in fact, that only one was produced. And it’s so limited in its exposure that the Internet can’t seem to decide the year it was actually built.

It’s hard to know where to start with this thing.