I guess I'm having a hard time understanding a lot of the negativity I'm seeing here based upon a bunch of spy shots of a camoflaged prototype.
I tend to be the type of person who draws my final conclusions when the proof is in the pudding and there's a bowl of pudding on the table in front of me.
The same holds true for a sports car.
Yes, the Corvette is about passion. It always has been, and I'm confident, it always will be. When some sports cars hit production and finally get some press complete with photos that are not covered in vinyl mockup and bumper covers, they still appear to be butt-ugly. UNTIL, I actually see the car sitting in front of me in the flesh (or metal/plastic - whatever the case may be)
The perfect example was the Ferrari 360 Modena. I absolutely LOVE the F355. It is one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever produced. When I first saw the 360 Modena break press, I wanted to lurch. Then I had a chance to actually see a few in person. I even had the chance to race down the local highway in front of one last year.
I just saw a red F355 parked in a local gym parking lot yesterday. The car still yanks on my heart-strings, but NOT like the 360 Modena does. Now that I've seen the Modena in person, for me, it has come a LONG way from the days when I saw it in the magazine. Even now, magazine pictures don't do that car justice.
Another example is the Lamborghini Murcielago. I absolutely love the Diablo and think it is one of the sexiest and most classy looking sports cars ever built. When the Murcielago broke press in the magazines, I wanted to barf. There was not one single characteristic of that car that I found appealing.
Last year, I was at a Golds Gym in Ft. Lauderdale and walked out at the end of my workout to see a bright Yellow Murcielago parked next to a navy blue metallic Diablo. I had a chance to walk around each car, side by side and examine both.
The Murcielago is much better in person and again, pictures in magazines, don't do it justice. However, it still doesn't do a whole lot for me unlike the Diablo. The Diablo just takes my breath away. It may be a bear to drive compared to the Murcielago, but from an artistic/design perspective, it is still one hell of a stunning automobile.
I wasn't crazy about the C5 when it first came out. My first impression was - "is it an RX7 or an Acura NSX on steroids"? The more I saw it in person, the more it grew on me. It grew on me to the point that now, I find most C4s kind of boring.
All I'm trying to say here is, before you slam the C6 based upon what someone has told you they've seen and based upon some camoflaged spy shots in a magazine, give the damn car a chance before you abort it and call it a "Cadillac under Corvette clothing".
If I'm not mistaken, the blue flame 6 cylinder engine that debuted on the 1953 Corvette was a slightly modified version from the Chevy Sedan parts bin. Older generation chassis used components from other GM platforms. Hell, some of the chassis/powertrain combinations that Corvette engineers used on Corvette prototypes came from Oldsmobile Toronados. Those mongrel-based parts started 50 years of one of the greatest sports car marques to ever exist.
You see the same thing with Jaguar using some Ford parts, Lamborghini using some Audi parts, etc. As long as the parts used do not pale or eclipse the intended definition or soul of that car, who cares!?
Honestly, it bothers me more to know that the door handles on a C5 came from the Oldsmobile Aurora than it does to know that the Corvette C6 chassis may or may not be that of a Cadillac. Why? Because I can see that door handle every day. It visually influences me and makes me think of an Oldsmobile. When I walk up to a C6, as long as it visually tugs at my heart strings like the current C5 does now, and it performs as well and hopefully better than the C5 does now, I don't care if the styling is not revolutionary and/or the chassis consists of Cadillac components.
I will wait to see the car sitting in front of me, in final production trim, and give it a chance before I pass final judgement on it. All I'm saying is, consider doing the same before you quickly write it off.
