Iceman

This thread has gotten me thinking...

Chevy's in trouble. It appears that most of us here (I'm willing to wager in the 20-40 demographic) perceive the Covette as "an old guy's car". In other words, not a car we'd ever want to own! By the time we're "old guys", we will want something newer, better, faster, whatever.

Today is the final hey-day for the Corvette. It's kind of like Buick--no matter what they do to the cars, they are perceived as "old peoples' cars" so young folks generally won't get them. GM is firing workers for more reasons than simple pension payments...

Inabj2

And they can scream prestige as the see they get left on the dust!

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Guy's, its not me that proclaims this prestige thing. Look back at all the debates we've had here and I was the one that couldn't care less about it like the arguments about prestige of the GS over the RL and such. I'm always the one saying the car itself should be measured on its own merrit. With that said, my point is at the $75K+ range you are entering into a whole different market of potential buyers and cutting out many of the previous potential buyers that could once afford a ZO6. Everyone loves the Corvette for what it is. I'm asian yet while growing up the Corvette was the car we all aspired to own. No doubt rarely anything can match it in performance let alone cost/performance. The thing is most Corvette owners, even the few ZO6 owners I know don't go tracking the car or street racing. They buy the car because it is the baddest OEM Corvette they can get, and it is at a great price. There are many Corvette buyers that can afford to trade in their Vette's for a Z06 and pay off a $35K loan and be okay. There are much less of those Vette owners that can do the same now if the car cost $75K. I myself am not in that league where I can drop $75K for a car. Those people that are more well off IMHO do not only look at performance. That is why I say those people might look to the M5, M6, and AMG cars as alternatives, because they offer 8/10s the Corvette's performance especially on the street but ofter all the other luxury goodies and German fit and finish as well. I'm not knocking any Corvette at all. I know better than that. I'm questioning the potential $75K+ price tag. The Corvette is the Americn Sports car icon that we all wanted to own at one point. It was always considered to be the baddest car around at a great price. Notice in my first post I said it still offers great bang for the price but it no longer is the bargin it used to be. My friend has a supercharge C5 ZO6. Even though he wanted all that perforance, he doesn't track the car or street race. I believe most owners don't do that sort of thing. Even if a snob owner of an M5 gets blown away by a new ZO6 on the freeway I feel most of them wouldn't care less because they are not the type to be street racing anyway. While street racing is a bad problem, I feel most drivers don't get caught up in those types of things. My car has a stock top speed of 165+ MPH, but I've never taken it nearly anywhere that speed. What's the point? I'm a fan of the Corvette; however, I realize it is still a GM car. What do I mean by that? One of the best lines I've heard about it was from a C5 ZO6 owner on the Corvette forums (Yes, I read the Corvette forumes as well ) which he said the Corvette doesn't have enough Corvette and has too much GM in it. What did he mean by that? I'm guessing he means the Corvette is such a great car, but at the end of the day, it still feels like a GM car inside and looks like a GM car inside. Many people can over look that because of the performance, but I believe less people will be willing to over look that at $75K. This is just my perspective. At $55K I would jump all over a ZO6. At $75K I personally would opt fot the used M5 or M6. There are others out there that hold my position as well. How many I don't know and we will just see how the market places dictates things. This new C6 ZO6 is a great car, but at $75K+ a lot of other doors are starting to open as well.

hatchback

Wondered about that myself....

http://www.corvettemuseum.com/ncm_delivery/index.shtml

We are extremely proud and pleased to continue the opportunity of providing customers the unique option of the NCM Delivery Program. Approximately fifteen enthusiasts take delivery of their new Corvette each week … Join Team NCM members as we conduct an adventure second to none!

How It All Starts: NCM Delivery is referred to as OPTION "R8C" and is available through any Chevrolet Dealer at a minimal cost of $490. It must be specified at the time the order is finalized and a special Ship Code of "184590" must also be used to identify your Corvette for Museum Delivery.

The Communications: After a TARGET PRODUCTION WEEK has been established, the National Corvette Museum will contact the selling dealer and/or the customer and offer a reasonable timeframe in which the customer can choose a date for delivery. This contact will normally occur approximately one week prior to the TARGET PRODUCTION WEEK allowing ample time for the customer to make travel arrangements. The Museum will confirm the date, agreed upon by customer, in writing and will handle all further communications. If at any time the selling dealer and/or customer should have any questions regarding the delivery, they may contact the Museum at 1-800-205-4248.

The Paperwork: Customers must arrive at the NCM with the following items before a delivery can take place:

* A License Plate or Temporary Tag
* Proof of Ownership
(Bill of sale, etc.)
* Proof of Insurance
* Valid Operator's License

The Delivery: The customer arrives at the NCM and is welcomed with signs commemorating the event. They are taken to the Corvette Assembly Plant (located across the street from the NCM) for their own NCM Delivery Team guided VIP tour (when available). Click here for required tour guidelines.

A personal, special VIP guided tour of the NCM is conducted where they will see their Corvette on display. Next, a member of the NCM Delivery Team provides a quality orientation followed by a thorough delivery presentation of their new vehicle. A unique gold decal is placed on the inside of the drivers door jamb to signify the importance of this memorable occasion.

The customer is presented with an individual one year NCM membership.

Post Delivery: A laser engraved wooden plaque (with the customer's name, date of delivery and VIN) is ordered for the participant the day of delivery. The plaque will then be shipped directly to the customer. Exclusive NCM Delivery merchandise may also be ordered by participants.

Gary Cockriel manages this one of a kind program for the NCM. He will be happy to assist you with any questions or concerns using the special NCM Delivery Hotline of 1-800-205-4248 ext 124.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Even with all I posted in my post above, I will still disagree that this is nearing the end of the Corvette. The standard Corvette is still very much bang for the buck and equals the last C5 ZO6. These standard C6 cars will continue to sell well. My above coments are only for the ZO6 at is potential loaded price tag. As long as the standard Corvette which is the bread and butter of the Corvette still offers what it does at its price, it will be okay. If the price of the standard Corvette starts to raise lot, than it could be trouble. Until then, there is a lot of life left in the Corvette. After all, it is the American Sports car icon.

Inabj2

The people that once could afford the lower performing Z06 can now obtain a Z51 equipped C6 and still get the near identical performance. (ok so its 2 tenths slower... boo hoo hoo. its also 7 grand cheaper!)

morris

iTrader: (2)

Theres actually a 15K difference betweent the base C6 and the base Z06 Actually more if you get the low end option pack.

The c6 can be had for 48K the Z06 starts at 65K

Gojirra99

I agree, & it's the most affordable performance you can get for younger people with a tighter budget & it looks good too, so I don't see how it's not going to to have broad appeal to a wide range of demographics, just because of stupid stereotypes ?

J.P.

Issue, as Gene said, do you want to take that 75k car to the dealer where someone is bringing in their Cobalt?

Growing up with Big 3 cars, knowing how dealer service is I would have a real hard time dealing with that when the car costs so much.

LexFather

I agree the Corvette Image is not there with many of us but people think more "Corvette" than Chevy when they buy this car.

It has a loyal audiance that will continue to buy the car. I do agree as the price goes higher, it may scare some off but for the money the performance is still staggering.

Even at 75k your getting a base 911 with a couple options, the 645 can't begin to keep up, a Viper is 85k (didn't know that) http://www-5.dodge.com/vehsuite/dispatch.do
The GT-R will be in this price range but its not out yet.

And would you buy a 75k Nissan GT-R with comparable performance?

99GS300

I wonder if you opt for this "museum delivery" option / ceremony if you still have to pay the $900 destination charge? If not, then it would be a pretty cool way to pick up your new hotness!