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There’s little debate that the Corvette is one of the things GM does do right. As in really right. But does this mean that the program deserves the resources for new concepts like this Stingray? Or does it mean that the money would be better spent working on mass-market offerings, where the track record is not so good? It’s your money (if you pay taxes); you decide!
The front and side have some interesting design elements. But from the back it looks ridiculous. However, if these design exercises keep the Corvette looking fresh and interesting (and doesn’t cost too much!) then I am all for it. May as well keep their winning hand in play as long as possible.
Isn’t this going to appear in Transformers 2? They might quite a bit of mileage out of the expenditure, if so. Look at how well that sped along the Camaro’s development once the 16 year old boys started drooling.
All I can say is this is the first Corvette design since I was eight, that’s gotten me excited.
It looks futuristic, and that’s something I think cars have been missing for the past 15 years.
If it retains the same performance prowess as the current Corvettes, this will become an aspirational car for me.
I would suggest that the taxpayers have long since lost control of how our money is spent; the astounding rapidity with which welfare money is converted to “Fubu” gear and Jimmie Johnson T-shirts testifies to this lack of control, to say nothing about the billions of bonus dollars paid to the banks. Designing a Corvette Stingray and sending it to Metalcrafters to have it built probably cost about $1.5 million — which is just about the average Goldman Sachs bonus for mid-level traders last year, I think.
Still, GM needs to be in the Corvette business as long as it is humanly possible to do so. It’s profitable — at least for the dealers — it keeps the Bowling Green plant humming, it brings people into showroom, it promotes a positive image of GM and Chevrolet products, and it gives GM a place to “rotate” some of their best engineers to keep them motivated.
You’ve got to be kidding me. This thing is hideous! Who designed this? An adolescent?
Jack Baruth:
At the risk of stirring up the usual hornet’s nest, the Corvette is mis-branded. As long as it it remains so, promoting it is, ultimately, self-defeating.
Even if it makes money for GM. As one of the company’s recently dragooned “investors,” I’d like to see the books on that…
[As you are no doubt aware, the Corvette is a separate brand in Europe.]
Spending money in a Corvette > Spending money in an Aveo.
Want to really send GM swirling down the drain? Kill the Vette. The article is spot-on – this is the only GM vehicle (certainly the only GM non-truck vehicle) that GM has done consistently correctly for many years. Kill it, and the gloom surrounding the company becomes terminal. The stench of death, and all that.
Every car company needs those fanatical few customers who live and die by their car brand. You know, the ones with decals of Calvin peeing on some other car’s logo. Chevy is the only GM brand that has a significant number of these people. Kill Vette, and it will be like waiving a white flag, saying “We give up, we are desparate, and please buy an Impala for under invoice.” Won’t work. The general public, most of whom will never buy a Corvette, will conclude that GM is toast, and will shop elsewhere. I mean the ones who are not already to that point of view.
Every car company needs those fanatical few customers who live and die by their car brand. You know, the ones with decals of Calvin peeing on some other car’s logo.
I actually searched for some time for a “Calvin Peeing on a Volvo” sticker. For my Saab.
Farago:
Chevrolet in Europe is also a different brand than it is in North America. It is entirely rebadged Daewoos outside of the HHR. It slots below Opel/Vauxhall as a budget brand, not the mainstream brand it is on this side of the pond.
Hence GM not wanting to associate the Corvette with the Chevrolet the rest of the world knows. It’s probably one of the few marketing things GM has done right in recent history.
Gad that is hideous. It looks like one of those body kits that “improve” the look of the basic Corvette. GM has really lost its way as far as styling goes. Especially with Corvette they need to be leading rather than looking backwards.
I’ve always thought that the C5 and more-so the C6 have almost bland styling and hoped that they could move away from that. If this is the best effort…ugh.
@Stingray:
If GM did give as much effort into an Aveo as they do the Corvette they might be better off. Honda has people waiting 3 months for a new Fit.
Who was responsible for the styling on this thing?
Salvador Dali?
Holy Harley Earl! That thing is a nightmare, and that’s being charitable.
Come on GM. Start doing some substantive, forward-leaning design with serious appeal, not these juvenile Transformer toy concepts that appeal only to aging baby boomer white males.
How difficult is to replace the JATO pack (that nestle in the cutouts in the rear) after each launch? Does it achieve LEO?
Short Answer: No. Especially not in this financial climate.
Yet GM’s sub-brands like Pontiac, GMC, Buick & Saturn sloth around with inferior or rebadged technology.
The Corvette is the embodiment of the ‘Halo Car’, that lifts the otherwise prosaic image of its maker and gives enthusiasts some reason to care that the company even exists. GM *cannot* survive without a Halo Car, and I want some of whatever you’re drinking if you think the Volt is going to fill that role.
That said, the front wheel flares along the top sides of the hood are way too big from most angles, and they give the car an odd, cheeky look. It does look like a flat, bottom-dwelling fish all right, but ia flounder instead of a stingray.
They also make the otherwise menacing front=end (shark’s snout and shark’s teeth grille) look like a smirk instead of a snarl. Freeze the film clip at 1:26 and ask yourself: Jason Statham, or Don Rickles?
Looks like the Mach 5 from Speed Racer (just with a roof).
John R said,
“You’vd got to be kidding me. This thing is hideous! Who designed this? An adolescent?”
Yes, the designer was an adolescent in 1959 and his Dad had a Impala Convertible. Damn he loved that car.
If history repeats itself, then this is GM’s Avanti. (Except the Avanti wasn’t just a wet dream.)
This is merely an exaggerated concept, tone down the heavily accented design cues a bit, maintaining the stated elements and this is a good looking Vette. Loose the split window though, ugh!
Yes its EXTREME!
Just what the Vette Needs!
Not perfect but you talk about a traffic stopper!!!
Ill bet the rest of the EXOTIC manufacturers HOPE G.M. doesn’t build it.
The Corvette is already a world class sports car and this design would Finally put in the SUPERCAR arena.
I say ‘go for it’
and watch the rest of the automobile world reel in response..what would Jeremy Clarkston say?
How about”outrageous”
and that’s what we Americans are and need to show the automobile world!!!
as far as my tax dollars go,Id rather spend it on this than trying to educate some gun carrying thug, or giving a house to every American that whines in front of Obama.
Ok RF so how is the corvette brand, mis-branded?