My Generation
Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick
by Rick Tavel© 1-16-13
All Rights Reserved
One13thirteen has come and gone and the unveiling Chevrolet
promised was everything that the loyal Corvette enthusiasts expected. Though the final design was no real surprise
to those of us who have been following it closely for more than a year, the
renderings of the 2014 Corvette C7 from Jalopnik®, Car & Driver®, and
others were strikingly close to the actual car unveiled Sunday to the media and
which will be available to a hungry public later this year.
But even though most of the renderings were surprisingly
accurate, being able to see the real car added a “finality”, either good or
bad, to the first step of passing the torch to a new generation of
Corvette. No longer can the
traditionalists “hope” that the renderings were incorrect on the “Camaroesque”
tail lights and somehow the round quads would actually show up in the final
design. The renderings weren’t wrong and
they are pretty much just like rendered.
No longer can we hope the that a better “Orange” paint color would
become available, it’s not, infact there is no “orange” for 2014 so Texas and
Tennessee fans can send their complaints to GM.
But many hoped the “Stingray” moniker would return and it did to an
overwhelmingly positive public.
In many
ways the unveiling was similar to seeing your “mail order bride” for the first
time, or a more appropriate twenty first century analogy, meeting that special
person from the “chat room” with whom only photographs have been
exchanged. Photos technically do not lie
but they can deceive. But that is over,
now we know, we’ve seen it and “What you see is what you get,” so to
speak. The designers and engineers at
GM have given us what we have so excitedly anticipated; much of the speculation
on the C7 has been put to rest. The
seventh in a string of exciting Corvette generations is ours, what we see is
what we get!
I’m not going to rehash the hundreds of articles recapping
every little detail of the last Sunday evening.
Suffice it to say, the initial response was overwhelmingly positive. I think the biggest surprise was how few
surprises there were. How close the
renderings were to “nailing” much of the new car’s design.
Some may think that General Motors North American President, Mark Reuss’s use of,
“breathtaking”, to describe the design may have been an over-exaggeration but,
put in perspective, I can’t think of a single word more appropriate for our new
Corvette. Had we not been bombarded with
hundreds of spy photos and “leaks” of the new design over the past year, few of
us could have come up with a more accurate, descriptive word when the curtain
was raised on the new “Stingray”. Initial
comments and reviews from the media who were privileged enough to see the car “up
close and personal” praised the design of the body and the interior. And the
media reviews appear to reflect the overall response from first time viewers where
the response in one on line poll focused on the new look was running 86%
“Love”, 9% “Indifferent” and only 5% “Hate”.
I am confident that there are thousands of GM employees that
are breathing a little easier following the unveiling, knowing that the
thousands of hours and the piles of money spent sweating, not only the “small
stuff”, but every little detail of the new car “opened” to such overwhelmingly positive reviews. Those
thousands of GM employees deserve to be proud of what has been achieved; take a
minute, oh what the hell, take a day or two, sit back, toast each other, and
get some well deserved rest because what you gave us on Sunday was only the
foundation, the platform, on which the “greatness” of the C7 will be modified,
refined and molded moving forward to remain the King. Though the design was “breathtaking” and will
serve the generation well we need to begin the process of insuring this car
will remain the King of the Hill. And I
am sure you noticed some of the competition is working hard to take away that
title. So GM engineers rest up there is
some major work ahead.
In many ways the introduction of the C7 is similar to the
introduction of the C5 in 1997 in the performance area. What I mean is the generation will debut with
a completely new engine design and few if any performance upgrades. There will be no engines carried over from
the prior generations as was the case (other than minor modifications) when the
C2, C3, C4 and C6 generations previewed. Those engines had years of refinement
and development and their performance assured the new generation a strong
start. If history is any indication
based on the success of the all new LS1 introduced in the C5 back in 1997,
maybe there is no need to worry about the new LT1.
Hopefully the new LT1 engine is already being
prepared to make an assault on the HP, ¼ mile, and top speed titles. The simple fact is, like never before, the
Corvette’s overall performance title is in jeopardy of being stolen. Thankfully at this point the 2013 ZR1 has assured some breathing room, comfort level if you will, helping secure the
performance crown by besting one of the Corvette’s most dangerous competitors,
the SRT Viper. You most likely have read how the ZR1 bested the Viper on the
track, on the dyno and even in a “burnout” faceoff. But as we all know fame is fleeting and the troops
at Viper will mount another assault and we will have to be prepared with a more
powerful, performance based version on the C7 once the ZR1 is retired at the
end of this model year.
Again if we look back at the C5 as a comparison, it took the
team three years before the Z06 joined the performance battle. I will be the first to say we do not have
three years. Sometimes as being a part of the Corvette society we can become a
little myopic. If you haven’t taken the
time recently to read up on what is happening over at the blue oval and even
from Chrysler it may keep you awake at night. One of the major differences
between 1997 and now is the sheer number of potential assassins on all levels,
even from within our own castle walls
from the Camaro ZL1. But perhaps the
greatest threat will come from the new Shelby GT500, a real life “mouse that
roared”. The question is, “are we
prepared?” Are the engineers at GM well
on their way to developing new weapons for the arsenal?
Thought you’d like to see some official performance specs.
Corvette 2014 Corvette 2013 Corvette
2013 ZR1 Camaro 2013 ZL1 2013 GT500 Shelby
Engine 6.2-liter V8 6.2-liter V8 6.2-liter V8 Supercharged 6.2-liter V8 Supercharged 5.8- liter Supercharged
HP 450@5,900 rpm
430@5,900 rpm 638 @ 6,500
rpm 580 @ 6,000 662 HP
Torque 450@4,400 rpm
424@4,600 rpm 604@ 3,800
rpm 556 @ 4,200 631
0-60 4.3 3.4 3.9 3.7
Top Speed 190 MPH (est) 210 MPH (est) 180 MPH 200
MPH
¼ mile
12.6 @ 115 11.4 @ 129.7 12.1 @ 117 11.8
@ 125
Those numbers are are as of
today. The GT500 numbers are the 2013
numbers and the “Blue Oval Boys” are working hard on the all new 2015 that
according to them will completely dethrone the King. Already enthusiast magazines are hailing the
2013 GT500’s engine as the best performance engine, bar none, that can be
purchased at any price. Concerning! Quick hand me my Ambien, my Lunesta! Better yet get me my “Jack”!
It would be interesting to know just how many Corvette sales
have been generated because it is not only the “best” but also the “baddest”
American production performance car that can be had. How many buyers fork-over their cash, sign on
the dotted line in order to won the best and the baddest? Personally I don’t deceive myself, my days of
pushing a ZR1 or Z06 to their limits have passed me by. There once was a time….(but that is another
story for another day). So like so many
others I am more than satisfied with my base C6 with the performance suspension
and exhaust. The car fits me and I love
it, like I love my C5. But I also like
knowing that I drive a Corvette, the King of the Hill, even though with my
diminishing racing skills and lack of performance upgrades another model ) a
ZL1 or even a GT500 (with a competent driver) could hand me my ass. It’s not that I brag about it or flaunt it I
just take solace in knowing that “my big brother can beat you up!” (Right about now I can hear my wife getting
on the phone with my therapist.) I think
we all know what I am talking about. As
first year marketing students learn early on
about the buyer who goes into the showroom and spends hours looking at
the Torch Red convertible and then sign on the dotted line for an Acadia, or
the legendary stories about “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday”. There are as many reasons a Corvette buyer
hands over the money as there are RPO’s.
And I think I could make a pretty good case that a lot of those reasons
are tied to being number 1! They may not
buy the ZR1 or Z06, but just owning a Corvette gains the owner admission inside
the battle scarred walls off retaining the crown. And then ask how many of those “loyal”
Corvette owners would still be waving the Corvette flag if it is continually
being beat-up by some “lesser” automobiles?
Okay so it’s an oxymoron to call anything “lesser” if it bears the
standard bearer. (Sorry)
Understand, I am not one of those “crepe hangers” and
hopefully have no reason to be concerned.
As I have stated several times over the past year, the engineers at GM
have done an outstanding job of delivering the best performance car on earth. But “Forewarned Is Forearmed!” I think nothing describes the Corvette any
better than Campbell-Ewald’s® epic “Baseball,
Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet” advertising campaign. Is there any symbol of our country more
identifiable and appropriate than the Corvette? And as such America loves a
winner. We have a tradition of winning
and it carries on. We put our winners on
pedestals and honor them, we try to learn from them, emulate them. I am not advocating bragging and boasting but
rather just having the tools to get the job done, to remain on the throne.
As being a part of the Corvette round table I am confident
that we will prevail. We have all learned
the importance of that Scout motto to “Be Prepared!” And that is simply all I am advocating. Being prepared. We will continue to refine and develop the
new C7 as we have other past generations to assure we retain the crown. At this moment I think it would do GM well to
subscribe to what Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed, “Walk softly and carry a big stick!”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment