- Admin
- #1
C6 Corvette: Reality or Restraint?
<img src="/images/columns/wheelspin/wheelspin2.gif" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" />It's always interesting to sit back and read all the love/hate mail that gets published in car magazines after a new generation of Corvette is unveiled. As soon as the fake body panels, plastic shrouding, duct tape and plastic chunks are removed from the prototypes, and the final production version is shown to the public, the Corvette community mutates into a feeding frenzy of blood-thirsty sharks nipping and tearing at the newest Corvette's tucked and tightened body.
The lines are immediately drawn, and the camps develop. On the one side, you have the enthusiasts who absolutely love the car. And on the other side, you have the enthusiasts that now consider themselves to be ex-enthusiasts, taking every chance they get to bemoan, belittle and incinerate, the car, the engineers, Chevrolet and all of GM.
<img src="/specs/2005/images/508_13sm.jpg" border="1" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right" />Did Corvette engineers fail with the new C6? Did they do a poor, shoddy, lazy job at designing the next generation of our pride and joy? Could they have gone much further with it? Should they have gone much further with it? Well, lets take a brief look back into Corvette design in history...
In looking at the 1953 - 1962 Corvettes, "C1" as we call them, also known as the first generation of Corvette, we see some very significant changes in design. The 1962 model looks nothing like the 1953 model.
The second generation, or 1963-1967 models are once again, a drastic change in design from the first generation models. In 1968, the third generation of Corvette hits the streets featuring a radical design change from the previous generation. This design will end up becoming the longest production run of any Corvette generation thus far.
In 1983/1984, the fourth generation of Corvette is unveiled and yet again, we see another radical change in design. Not as radical as the change from C2 to C3 production, but still, it was a significant redesign in Corvette history.
In 1997, the fifth generation of Corvette is unveiled to the public and as expected, fan-fare was mixed. It featured an obvious redesign compared to the C4 generation, but radical? In some ways, yes, and in some ways no. From an engineering perspective, it was a radical change for the most part, but from a design perspective, you could still see the evolutionary changes in the skin from the C4. The "visual" redesign was not as radical, again as we see in going from the C2 to the C3 generation. Is it possible that we could be seeing a "slow down" in the Corvette's evolutionary design?
<img src="/specs/2005/images/508_10sm.jpg" border="1" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" />So now that the sixth generation of Corvette is prancing around in its birthday suit, a large group of enthusiasts are stark raving mad. Why? Because even though it's a new generation, visually, it doesn't look much different than the previous generation. Regardless of what it may look like, as Corvette engineers have stated, 80% of the parts used in the car are new. They basically stated all along it would not be revolutionary, but evolutionary in design. For all intents and purposes, the redesign is not radical at all, and nowhere near the degree of change we have seen from previous generations.
In my opinion, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Let's face it, the C5 is a damn good Corvette, and until the C6, it is the best Corvette yet. It does a tremendous job at meeting the needs and demands of a finicky segment of the market, and you can't deny the fact that it is the best bang for the buck out there. That's one of the things that the Corvette has always been well known for. From the hydroformed steel frame rails, to the chassis/suspension setup, Chevrolet has one hell of a winner in the C5 and they know it.
So if you have a real winner on your hands, why look a gift horse in the mouth? Why invest an astronomical amount of money into developing a complete and radical redesign when all that's really needed, is a makeover that will greatly improve upon what has already been established?
<img src="/specs/2005/images/508_14sm.jpg" border="1" alt="" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="right" />A couple of the main goals of the Corvette engineers for C6 was to continue getting the weight out and increase quality, features, and potential without adding more weight. From the pre-production prototypes that we've seen so far, it's fair to assume that they're not too far off the mark.
So what if there is an apparent similarity between the look of the C5 and C6? Is this really a bad thing? Let's take a brief look at Porsche design.
For 40 years, Porsche has been building incredible sports cars capable of attracting many different customers from all types of income levels. From the Porsche Boxster to the $400,000+ Carrera GT, one thing remains visually apparent - design. You can't mistake the obvious look of a Porsche.
In looking at the design changes of the Porsche 911 over the years, I think it's fair to say, that model has never really seen a radical design change like the Corvette has seen during its lifetime. Yet, the Porsche continues to win on the street, the track, and in the hearts of its owners and enthusiasts. You could say, that Porsche has a winning and accomplished design theme on their hands.
So isn't it possible to say, that maybe...just maybe, Corvette engineers have a winning and accomplished design theme on their hands for the first time in Corvette history? In my opinion, I think so.
As for the pictures of the C6 front license plate we've been seeing...let's just leave that for another topic on another day.
Comments, rebuttals, insults? Let's hear 'em!
-Rob
Related Links: C6, Naked and Exposed: Corvette Action Center's First Look at the 2005 Corvette
