[Jersey Mike]

Originally Posted by Blacdout96

Well it's not exactly an exotic car when more then 1.5 million have been made. Might want to give it an image where a younger generation will appreciate it, and continue to produce an interest for it.

50's and 60's, it was a symbol of America's sports car, those baby boomers whos fathers, or themselves owned one are a large portion of current owners. By the 70's 80's it became more of a status symbol with poor performance numbers (sans ZR1) By the 90's and 2000's, those baby boomers now are the symbol of Corvette. Bald or white head, a bad porno mustache, sporting a Corvette shirt, hat, AND jacket at the same time, and recently divorced from their wifes thanks to their mid life crisis. Unfortunately while that was going on, a new era of the car culture emerged, which is imports. They are affordable, and cheap to maintain with a great aftermarket support, and for some reason, excite this generation since a 18-24 year old is more prone to buying a new Honda Civic, VW, or if their pockets are big enough, but still 10K+ less then a Corvette, a Subaru or Evo.

Does this hurt Corvette now, hell no, they have a demographic right now that's swarming the Corvette, and with their line up, give some great choices. Down the line though, this generation is more prone to looking for that WRX or genesis they had during those "fun times" then when daddy left mom and spent a wad on an automatic Corvette that he kept in a climate controlled garage under a silk sheet.

Sorry, but people ( at least a majority) don't use the Corvette for it's intended use anymore, except to parade at the local car meet, and raise their noses to anything less then a twin version that bob from down the street bought after seeing yours, or to tell you what is and what is not Corvette original on your car. Sorry but you say if you can't afford it too bad? I say if you can, but baby it for fear of it looking less then show room ready, then too bad for you, you've wasted a perfectly good car. It would have a more fitting end wrapping it around a tree or guard rail because it was driven in anger during a track event, then to forever to never exceed 55mph or become a trailor queen.

I say if these people aren't going to use the car for it's intended purpose ( namely it's speed), no need to put a big engine in it, when a smaller displacement, better fuel economy, and a price tag that could raise a few eyebrows. not only that but for the younger generation, it would give Evo/Subaru shoppers a third option. If so then I say go for it. Leave th e ZR1, GS, and Z06 to the older and more financially situated buyers.

You say stop trying to make it an everyman's car, I say you're exactly the type of person that holds the Corvette back from it's true potential in the market.

Now Al, let me say, I'm not saying all this to argue with you. I expressed my interest in the Corvette's possible turn to using alternative ways to produce power, and this is my reasoning for why I support it, and why I dissagree with your anser to me, but like I said, I'm just voicing my opinion. No internet battle will be taking place lol.

Personally, I don't think it's broken, so why try to "fix" it.

While you make some great points as to why the Corvette should have a more inexpensive & lesser performing base-model, I think we should leave it as-is.

A lot of the appeal of something is in it's attainability and reputation. I full-on agree with you that most Corvette's don't see their power potential, however I don't think that's sufficient grounds for messing with it. There are plenty of 'Vette owners that do open their cars up, and when they do, it's a well-above-average performance. There's a certain respect that's had for these cars; it's that you know they can lay the smackdown on you with the blip of the throttle. In addition to that, they're not something you see left and right. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't define the Corvette as "rare" at all, but besides maybe another one in your town, or one you know of in the next town over, they're not common either. On any given day, I see 3-4 WRX/STis and countless Mustangs. While the STis are incredible performers and certain trim Mustangs are badass, they lose their appeal to me because Tim, John & Harry all have one too, and while it doesn't take away from their performance, it takes away from some of it's specialty that way.
I think we'd both agree that a big chunk of the Corvette market is people who bought it for it's reputation. Mess with that, and I think sales would decrease.