Richard Jackson wrote:
> [snip]....to understand the American's, just look at the Corvette.
Although I am neither a Corvette or a Chevvy fan, I'll have to defend
it here. The real reason being is that someone may ask about the
Aussie mentality of producing the worlds fastest 4-door in the 1970s - the
Ford GTHO, and I may have to defend that!
In its earliest beginnings, the Corvette was a humble 6-cylinder. Designed
for America in the 50s, when bigger was better, reflecting post-war affluence,
a booming economy (look where the babies are today) and a gung-ho approach
towards technocracy and world imperialism. The Corvette, crafted in fibreglass
(because the cost of stamping steel into such radical curves was not
economically feasible), reflected all that was good and sporty. True,
the car differed tremendously from the Euro-norm of a sports car, but
Europe is not America.
The late 50s and early 60s rolled through, the Corvette gained V8s, and in
the onward rush of horsepower and stoplight grand prix', big blocks found their
way into the Corvette. To put things in persepective, the Corvette was
relatively inexpensive, and its only real class-competitor was the Cobra
(albeat a different cost-class!). Big Healeys cost much more, and really
only appealed to the enthusiast who was happy to tinker with his car,
perhaps several hundred miles from the nearest AH dealer. There
was a mechanic on every street corner who knew Chevrolets, and Corvettes were
just a wee bit more sophisticated.
Granted, The Corvette rode, steered and braked like a truck, but there is
no denying its very beautiful shape and the enormous strength of its engine.
The Corvette survived the 70s fuel crisis (unlike the Mustang and
several other LBCs), and became even more portly as the Corvette
designers were confused both by Federal laws, the purchasing whims
of the public, and the corporate (in)direction.
With the 4th generation of the Corvette, weight was trimmed and the direction
redefined. Towards the middle of its production run, around the early 90s,
the Corvette took on a distict new personality; it was becoming a world-beater.
With the latest Corvette, America has a car it can be truly proud of. The
car has had an uninterrupted production cycle of over 40 years. It
has survived some incredibly tough years and the somewhat fickle
American consumer. It is now capable of beating the best in the world,
and at a fraction of the cost. An entry-level Corvette is about the
same price as a BMW 6-cylinder Z3. The modern Corvette sports a level
of technical and personal sophistication equal to that of the current
Italian and British super-cars. In anyones language, it is one hell
of a car.
And look at the other "plastic" American sports-GTs; the Viper GTS
and Carrol Shelbys Series 1. Who could deny them? The Viper is
certainly in the Ferrari and Aston-Martin DB7 league.
But I still prefer the DeTomaso Pantera!
I hope I have not offended anyone here. I am sure there are others
more knowledgable about the Corvett that I, so please do correct me if
I have anything wrong!
One final note. I read in the paper that Larry Shinoda died yesterday.
Larry was one of the main designers for the Corvette in the 60s.
Those were the days when MEN designed cars, not computers or marketing
people.
Shane Ingate, novice historian in San Diego
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