I would not buy a C8

[richie500]

Sorry if this is an old subject but Roscobbc made me think..... so blame him
Am i the only one that would not buy a C8.
I have always been a fan of the corvette with order of preference
C1 - my dream car which i will get before i die
C2 - split window, no need to say anymore - lottery win required
C3 - love them to bits, my current car
C6 - would love to have a Z06
C4 - ZR1 game changer from the C3
C5 - good looking vette

Now the C8, I don't get it. It just looks like a ferrari/ lamborghini/ maserati/ ford GT40 mk2 clone (lazy design in my opinion) , to me its not a Vette.
To me a Corvette is a car that will start a conversation when parked up, aged 10 to 80 car people will look at and smile. The C8 looks like its trying to hard, if you were not a corvette fan then you would say Ferrari.
When i am out driving my C3 people always wind their windows down at traffic lights and say nice car mate
I think we all know what they would say about a C8 driver and it rhymes with banker
I know you don't buy a car to please other people , but hey i nearly bought a Bentley Continental convertible. My wife and I sat in one at the showroom and fell in love with it - black with cream interior. Then looked at each other and said exactly at the same time " we look like a couple of Prat's" we just couldn't pull it off.
The C8 is an amazing looking car which performs as good as it looks, but to me it will never be a Corvette its just a fantastic supercar with no soul.
Love to hear if i'm the only one

 

[Derek Nicol]

I will not buy a C8 but thats because im not in the market for a new £82k 2 seater i.c.e. car... if i was then i wouldnt hesitate in buying one, i wouldnt care about being called a banker. I would actually take a C8 over a C5, C6 or C7.
From what ive seen from photos and videos i think theyve done a good job of pulling off the impossible by not making something indistinguishable from a Ferrari or McLaren.
When the C4 was launched i said lots of unrepeatable things about it, i also said.. 'it will never be a Corvette'.. now 37 years later, if things got tight financially i would happily consider trading my C3 in for a C4 and pocketing the difference. The same applies to them 'ruining' the C3 in 1978 and again in 1980... i now own a 1981. Perceptions change.
I think to know for sure if its got 'soul' or not you would, at the very least, need to drive it. I just hope i dont hate it when i see it in the flesh.
I know for a fact that youre not the only one who holds your opinion, a C7 owner recently told me the exact same thing. Over time opinions can (but not necessarily will) change.

 

[GCorvette]

Would I have one? Yes, but only if I already had other Corvettes.
I get the appeal, but I prefer the appeal of old school Corvette design factors so much more.

It would only scrape in at 6th place on my wants list which is exclusively Corvette by choice.

 

[Nassau65]

The younger generation around would opt for the C8 in a heartbeat. It’s modern, it’s got the “look”. yes, it does look like a Ferrari or Lamborghini but that is what’s cool nowadays. My nephews would/do prefer it to all previous Corvette generations. I remember when I got my first C4, it was a 84 model in 85, most people thought it was a Ferrari, ( yes, it was red ) Not having seen a C8 in the flesh, I’m going on the pictures, but it certainly looks an eyeful.

 

[Oneball]

I really like them. The fact it’s RHD would swing it for me over a C7. I also think they look great and are different enough from the other stuff.

 

[Nassau65]

I forgot about the RHD, that will be a great improvement. However much your ok with LHD, in our country RHD is so much better. Will probably open up the Corvette market to a whole new generation of buyers. Nearly all of my friends would never ever buy a LHD vehicle.

 

[Derek Nicol]

yes, it does look like a Ferrari or Lamborghini

I would say it looks like a mid-engine sports car.. theres a reason for that. Car stylists have a hell of a job these days because everything is dictated by function over form. You feed the parameters into the computer and out comes exactly the same car as every other auto maker who fed the same parameters in to their computers.

 

[Roscobbc]

Can of worms this thread. Yes I'd have a C8 (but only if I had the funds to 'easily' buy and and have a new daily 'beater' too). TBH finding 'space' of todays crowded roads would probably make be regret buying a C8. As for being considered a bit of a 'Jodrell' in a new Vette - who cares. I might (like other C3 drivers) get loads of positive comments driving my car......but what are they really thinking? - what's that old fart doing driving a car like that........?

 

[Nassau65]

We thought the same in our day. “ look at that old b###### driving that car. The driver of said car was probably 40-50 years old, but when your 20, that’s old. Our friend was 18 when he was dating a 28 year old, we thought she was a granny.

 

[CaptainK]

I don't mind the C8 at all. Would I buy one? No chance - mostly because I'm not blessed with such financial means, and the other being that I believe the C8 doesn't come with a manual gearbox, so that's a solid nope from me. Sad to say that if I had £82k+ sitting around, it'd probably just go on the mortgage, or if I wasn't being boring then I'd buy another older car (or its big block + 6 speed manual conversion time for my 327 4 speed C3), as I much prefer older cars to modern ones. Just let me drive the car please instead of all the driving aids - I've no wish to drive amazingly fast, but I do wish to DRIVE the car.

 

[Nick B]

If I was in the market for an £85,000 sports car I would have a short list of five or six cars to try out, a C8 would be on the list but would not be automatically preffered above any of the others just because it's a Corvette as I'm not really a 'Vette Head'.

 

[Tattooboy]

In a word NO, it’s been beaten by a FUGLY stick repeatedly.

 

[Derek Nicol]

In a word NO, it’s been beaten by a FUGLY stick repeatedly.

So youre on the fence then?.. put you down as a maybe?..

 

[Tattooboy]

So youre on the fence then?.. put you down as a maybe?..

Erm…………….

 

[CANDYAMSAN]

Can of worms this thread. Yes I'd have a C8 (but only if I had the funds to 'easily' buy and and have a new daily 'beater' too). TBH finding 'space' of todays crowded roads would probably make be regret buying a C8. As for being considered a bit of a 'Jodrell' in a new Vette - who cares. I might (like other C3 drivers) get loads of positive comments driving my car......but what are they really thinking? - what's that old fart doing driving a car like that........?

Yes thats what I wonder when they see an old bird driving her Vette!!!

 

[Mad4slalom]

Sorry if this is an old subject but Roscobbc made me think..... so blame him
Am i the only one that would not buy a C8.
I have always been a fan of the corvette with order of preference
C1 - my dream car which i will get before i die
C2 - split window, no need to say anymore - lottery win required
C3 - love them to bits, my current car
C6 - would love to have a Z06
C4 - ZR1 game changer from the C3
C5 - good looking vette

Now the C8, I don't get it. It just looks like a ferrari/ lamborghini/ maserati/ ford GT40 mk2 clone (lazy design in my opinion) , to me its not a Vette.
To me a Corvette is a car that will start a conversation when parked up, aged 10 to 80 car people will look at and smile. The C8 looks like its trying to hard, if you were not a corvette fan then you would say Ferrari.
When i am out driving my C3 people always wind their windows down at traffic lights and say nice car mate
I think we all know what they would say about a C8 driver and it rhymes with banker
I know you don't buy a car to please other people , but hey i nearly bought a Bentley Continental convertible. My wife and I sat in one at the showroom and fell in love with it - black with cream interior. Then looked at each other and said exactly at the same time " we look like a couple of Prat's" we just couldn't pull it off.
The C8 is an amazing looking car which performs as good as it looks, but to me it will never be a Corvette its just a fantastic supercar with no soul.
Love to hear if i'm the only one

I see yr point but the c3 was a classic mid life crisis car 30 years ago in the eyes of many. I talked myself out of some down to worrying what other people would think.
The admiration and longing for these cars never diminished tho and one good thing about taking so long to buy one is that they are viewed as much more of a classic now than as a bit of a joke car. I think they are well on the way to becoming cool cars , a way to go to catch up with the c1 and c2 yet but on the way.

 

[Stingray]

I suspect it's probably easier to make the case for C8 in USA than it is in Europe. In the US a C8 in European equivalent specification costs about $77,000 . A 6-cylinder Porsche Cayman GTS is more expensive starting from $90,000

Compare UK where C8 Corvette kicks off at £81,000 while a Cayman GTS can be bought from £65,000

This is probably enough of a difference to swing the balance for many sports car buyers, especially when you take into account things like access to a dealer and spare parts availability.

 

[Chevrolet]

Compare UK where C8 Corvette kicks off at £81,000 while a Cayman GTS can be bought from £65,000

Hear what you are saying Stingray, but suspect that some people think the C8 Porsche competitor is a 911? Thats what Autocar compared it with. Your £81,700 is getting you a high spec UK Launch Edition (3LT/Z51/Magnetic Ride/Competition seats etc). Yes, a Cayman GTS is "from" £65k, but you probably have to add a fair "wedge" to that to get all the kit a Launch Edition C8 has, including the PDK auto box etc?

 

[Chevrolet]

Yes thats what I wonder when they see an old bird driving her Vette!!!

Lady Vette owner/driver. Absolutely no way! Love it/Fantastic!

 

[James Vette]

I see yr point but the c3 was a classic mid life crisis car 30 years ago in the eyes of many. I talked myself out of some down to worrying what other people would think.
The admiration and longing for these cars never diminished tho and one good thing about taking so long to buy one is that they are viewed as much more of a classic now than as a bit of a joke car. I think they are well on the way to becoming cool cars , a way to go to catch up with the c1 and c2 yet but on the way.

I don't want to drive a Corvette because of what other people think but because I think it's cool.