Vettes of Atlanta Magazine – Podcast
This day had been a long time coming. The bow-tie faithful has been looking forward to this mid-engine platform for about six decades. For us at Vettes of Atlanta Magazine, the real excitement started on Thursday, July 18, 2019, when we watched the live stream of the unveiling of the all-new C8 Corvette in Tustin, California.
Now fast forward to the Corvette Mobile Tour at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Duluth on October 14th, 2019, held from 11:00 am – 7:00 pm. Hendrick’s dealership in Duluth was the only Chevrolet dealership in Georgia to get the Corvette Mobile Tour.
So this was the only opportunity those in the Atlanta area and the state of Georgia would have to see the wholly redesigned car before the production vehicles started rolling off the line.
Leading up to the Atlanta unveiling on October 14th, we had watched every video and read every article we could get our hands about this new edition. Seriously, you would be hard-pressed in the past ten years to find another new vehicle that had more press coverage, more articles written about it, or videos shot of it than the new C8. Like so many of you, we had seen it from every angle, every possible viewpoint except in person.
We were eager to find out if it passed the eyeball test.
Entering its 67th year of production, the new Corvette is an engineering moonshot, a marketing leap of faith, and a statement about what an American sports car can truly be.
John Pearley Huffman, Car and Driver
C8 Corvette back storage and engine bay. Photo by Rod Worley
Our Top Three Questions
- Is the design an extension or evolution of the brand we love?
- Did the interior take the next step forward?
- Do I want this new Vette in my garage?
Design – Extension or Evolution?
We spent considerable time looking over the new C8 in person. The first point is that it looks SO much better in real life than it does in pictures or videos.
Perhaps it’s the 3-dimensional aspect that seeing it live can give you. Maybe it’s the ability to touch it or sit inside its luxurious cabin, which makes the difference. Either way, you owe it to yourself to first see it in a dealer’s showroom before making up your mind.
One question we kept asking ourselves was, “If you took off the nameplate, and badges, would you think it was a Corvette?” The answer for us was no. As Tadge Juechter has said several times during interviews, “This is a clean-sheet design,” and that’s apparent. Other than the taillight shape, and the small-block Chevy engine, there are no visible links to its past heritage.
Now is that good or bad? The part of me that grew up with the recognizable aesthetic of the third generation wishes it could have had more carry over design elements.
The other part of me has a different view entirely. This part puts world-class performance and affordability at the top of the priority list for this American made sports car. To that end, the front engine design had reached its limits.
For performance to improve, a clean-sheet concept was the only alternative. The design is an evolution over previous generations.
Even though the engine is now in the middle, the C8’s overall exterior design isn’t a tremendous departure from the C7. It turns out the numerous renderings we’ve seen over the last year were pretty darned close, with forward-canted side intakes not unlike those used on the mid-engined Corvette Indy and CERV III concepts being the dominant exterior feature.”
— Christopher Smith, Motor1
Front nose section view of the C8 Corvette
Did the Interior Take The Next Step Forward?
The Corvette will offer six different interior theme options. Jet Black, Adrenaline Red, Sky Cool Gray, Adrenaline Red, Natural dipped two-tone blue, and Morello Red are available to individualize your C8. Easily, this is the most luxurious Corvette we’ve seen. Even the strip of buttons for the HVAC controls, to the electric shifter, gives the C8 Corvette the feel of a real luxury sports car.
The interior of a fully optioned Corvettes has suede from the headliner to the door panels. The interior has a premium feel everywhere you touch. There are carbon-fiber bits and aluminum trim in parts of the cabin as well. Even the air vents are very well integrated into the dash. The whole interior looks and feels plush.
Yes, the steering wheel takes a moment to adjust to because of the unique shape, but it’s evident why they designed it as they did. The dashboard is easily visible from the driving position.
One thing that we kept reading was that the interior took its design cues from fighter aircraft. Having been in the U.S. Air Force, I can tell you that this interior does indeed give you that immersive, wrap-around feel. On the other hand, modern fighter aircraft give you the feeling you are sitting on top of the plane for maximum visibility, with the Vette, you are in a cocoon.
The ease of entry and exit from the cabin was a concern I had coming into this reveal. At 6’3″ and not being on the svelt side of the scale, I was worried about headroom, claustrophobia, and legroom.
On all accounts, the interior to me feels a tad larger than a C7. The row of buttons does wall you off from the passenger, but there are always compromises when designing one of the most complicated consumer products on the planet.
I neither love it or hate it. Overall, the interior is on par with cars costing two or three times as much. Definitely, this interior is the next step forward for the brand.
“The C8’s design avoids the awkward proportions that often plague mid-engine cars (the rear-heavy 1990 Acura NSX and sideburn-clad Audi R8 come to mind). It bears comparison to mid-engine lookers like the Lotus Evora and Ferrari 488.”
— Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Photo by Rod Worley
Do I Want This New Vette In My Garage?
Before the Hendrick Chevrolet reveal, I was leaning heavily towards saying, no, the C8 wouldn’t be in my garage. Of course, the new generation would be better all the way around, but what was the price it would have to pay? Would it lose what makes a Vette a Vette? In many ways, visually, it now has more in common with a Ferrari than the Vettes of previous generations.
What changed my mind was seeing it in person. Please make no mistake. The C8 is purposefully built to punch far above its weight class. To do so, it had to evolve. For those who say its not a Vette because it doesn’t have the same visual cues as previous generations, I would say sit in it first before making up your mind.
Look at the small block V8, and take another look at the designs Zora Arkus-Duntov envisioned for our fiberglass creation. The truth is that there are many similarities with the CERV III and the mid-engine Corvette Indy. Had Zora had his way, we would have grown up with a mid-engine car and spent the last decades laughing at those old cars that had their engines in the front.
Think about Zora and what could have been when you sit in the C8 for the first time. I guarantee it will change your perspective. As for me, now I can’t wait to have an eighth-generation Corvette in my garage. Thank you, Tadge Juechter and everyone at Chevrolet, for bringing this dream to reality!
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