You can get spoiled having Caffeine & Octane every month in your backyard at the Perimeter Mall. Yes, everyone knows it’s the largest monthly car show in North America by a country mile.
But if you attend it every month you get used to large turnouts. That is until it hits on all cylinders as it did over Labor Day weekend. Attendance on this picture-perfect first Sunday of September topped 25,000!
Let me try to put those numbers into perspective for you. Imagine the Perimeter Mall parking lot on the busiest days before Christmas.
You can’t find a parking space, and you’ve got to drive around for a while to find a halfway decent spot. Sunday’s Caffeine & Octane’s turnout covered most of the parking sections of this Mall like that for four hours.
The C8’s Come Out To Play
Even with Bowling Green adding a second shift, it is still somewhat rare to see a C8 out in the wild. At this event, we spotted no less than 5 of them parked at various areas around the mall.
What we hadn’t seen yet was the much-hyped $59,995 base model. We finally had a chance to see one, and to be honest, we were impressed.
When you see it in person, you walk away with a deep appreciation for what G.M. is willing to provide at this entry price point. Performance-wise, you still get the 6.2-liter V-8 engine that produces 490 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque.
You also get the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, four-piston Brembo brakes and the mechanical limited-slip differential. The 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard on the Corvette C8, so you don’t lose any major technology.
Yes, there are always going to be options we want, that’s just the way life is, but the base model is no slouch.
Stopped Counting At 50
This was the day to see and be seen in your Corvette. Walking the expansive parking lot, we stopped counting the number of Corvettes when we hit 50.
Classic Glass Corvette Club, as usual, was out in full force with a bunch of members. Amazing Corvettes Club also had members there.
What surprised us was the number of Vette owners we talked to who were looking for a club to join. These are the top three questions we were asked:
Which club do you recommend? What activities do they have? Will they care that I don’t have a C8?
A Block Party Feel
Caffeine and Octane events never feel like a traditional car show. They feel like one big block party of car-loving people mingling around talking about cars.
Its a place to see and be seen for sure, but its more than that. It’s a great time to meet new people and talk to them about what they brought today.
When you have 25,000 car enthusiasts mingling about, well perhaps it is more than just a block party. The truth is, it becomes the largest car show in North America.
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