The launch of the 2014 Corvette Stingray, the C7
edition of the 60-year-old American sports car icon, is
being covered everywhere in the press and on the internet,
and even here on Drive.
So I don't need to retrace all of the obvious
car facts out there.
And at the Corvette press events, too many of my
questions were being answered with the official, I can talk
about that now, with a knowing smile, but still no factual
benefit to today's discussion, which is about
Corvette C7 and racing.
I did get one clear message from the official C7 spew.
Corvette wants this car to be taken seriously.
They want you car boys and girls to cast away your
negative thinking about crude technology and build quality
and about Corvetters being 58-year-old mullet-haired
plumbers from Long Island.
You know, Some GM exec actually used the successful
plumber analogy in a press release.
And I swear to God, I had that plumber line in a marketing
deck I presented to Chevy way back in 2009, so copyright
infringement.
The point is, Corvette, seriously?
Corvette Racing, a necessity to tell the C7 story so you
non-Corvette holy water drinkers will take this new
Corvette seriously.
But at the press launch, except for a few cross
references to the racing-inspired airflow, the
only other Corvette to racing connection at the Sunday night
launch party was Corvette Racing legend, Ron Fellows.
And I found him over at the food table.
I figure he was there only because NHL
hockey hadn't restarted.
Too much of a Canadian stereotype joke?
OK, he was there only because he heard that only the
Corvette party had poutine.
And the hors d'oeuvres tray was full of Canadian bacon on
a Tim Horton maple syrup doughnut.
Have I gone too far?
When we come back, Corvette C7?
Because race car.
[CAR ENGINE]
Let's talk Corvette C7 and racing because the car needs
to establish credibility with non-Corvette lovers, younger
buyers, and God knows how many sports car elitists.
And racing may be the best way.
Corvette C7 was the talk of the auto show.
And the talk was all about making the C7 better than ever
before in every aspect-- design, engineering,
ergonomics, performance.
And it sounds like a race car could help
with all that to me.
And Corvette Racing is part of the story.
There's a collaboration between GM design, GM
engineering, and the Pratt Miller techies that run
Corvette Racing.
And we've been down this road before with the ZR1 and this
Corvette poster connecting race car
tech to road car tech.
This new Corvette continues this interconnection story,
but so far, all I've taken away is C7 has a racing
forward tilted radiator position, the hood air
extractor, and those rear fender vents.
And for, I guess, sales reasons, because C7 is still
six to seven months away from being out for sale, Corvette
will race the C6R in 2013.
And here it is.
C7R is not until 2014, but it is coming.
Don't let me confuse you.
Here are a few unofficial renderings of the C7R already
out on the internet.
And they all kind of look cool.
But let's discuss right now a few key points about C7 and
racing to set you viewers off on a flurry of comments to add
your thoughts, knowledge, and opinion to what we're about to
say regarding the "because race car"
Corvette C7 story line.
And let's start with the Stingray name, first used
here, the 1959 Corvette race car.
So now they've connected racing to the base C7.
And why did they call the base car a Stingray?
Because that's what they wanted people to buy, not hey,
I just bought the base car.
And the Stingray name, does that make it sound younger and
cooler still?
Now let's talk design.
I suggested earlier that there's a lot of race car
function and aero bits in this.
But there's also a lot of design lineage, busy lines
going on here.
And I'm being told they did that to make the car look
younger and more international.
But why is the Corvette international?
Why does it need to be international?
Global people like the Corvette when it shows up in
Le Mans because it is bold, loud, and American.
An international Corvette, doesn't that drift?
Engineering should be an obvious connection to racing
and having racing tell the story because the Corvette C7
engineering is all about weight and the technology in
there, and the engine, which finally gets direct injection
for the road car, which gives it direct
injection on the race car.
And as you heard in the last Drive show about Corvette,
Road Testament, the Corvette engineer spent a bit too much
time talking about fuel efficiency.
But you know what?
That's a racing story too.
Because how did Corvette win Le Mans?
Not just raw speed, fuel efficiency.
And then there's ergonomics.
A big deal being made about the interior of the C7.
Well, seating matters, obviously.
But with the C7 you feel more plugged in and your position
is good for vision outside the car as well.
And then there's the video dash.
And in racing, data is good.
Data will be good here.
Another story that can be told through Corvette Racing.
And then finally, performance.
This Corvette is positioned to be the best Corvette base car
performer ever.
Base?
Did I say base?
Stingray.
But it's all about the driving experience, and that's a story
that obviously can be told through race car dynamics.
And here's another racing connection.
Corvette Racing uses Michelin tires.
And this road car is on Michelin this
year, moving forward.
So what am I missing?
Racing to make the C7, to get a different audience, to get
credibility.
Or nothing will ever change the minds of the die-hard
anti-Corvette group.
So in closing, a couple of comments.
In all of Corvette's history, Corvette's best ever sales
year was 54,000, I think in 1979.
And now we're selling less than 12,000 annually.
Sales average year was about 30,000.
And God knows the demographics and psychographics of the
Corvette buyer are not ideal.
So there's room for improvement, and C7
has to do the job.
But in Detroit, at the North American International Auto
Show, I felt two things were missing from this and most
American auto shows.
Not enough sex, or sexy, except for VW and their table
dancing disco girls.
The other booth professionals, by the way, might as well have
been office workers at an accounting firm.
And racing, again, not enough.
Well Ferrari said, F you, to the five-year-old Red Bull F-1
Infinity show car by displaying Alonso's current
2012 F-1 race car.
But the show itself could have had more racing.
Sex and racing to amp up the buzz, to get people excited,
to connect with an audience from today that is active,
alive, and in touch with the social vibe.
That's good for auto shows and it's good for Corvette.
So think about it when you think about Corvette C7 and
how racing would help cell C7 to an audience bigger than
just the current Corvette disciples and a demographic
that's age dead.
Racing to give Corvette the car its credibility in the US
and internationally.
Remember Viper?
They launched themselves with its race car.
Corvette did not.
I'm just saying.
So now what are you guys thinking?
Does Corvette need use racing to establish its credibility,
or can C7 stand on its own and change the mind
of today's car fan?
Thanks for listening.
Tell me what you think.
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