I did not watch the C8 Corvette reveal last night. I’m just now catching up on all of the images and details of the new car, and so far, I really like what I see.
Naturally, with something as so near and dear to the hearts of so many Americans, one of the key pillars of the ongoing story is the heartburn felt by so many over this new car. Too exotic, too impractical, etc. etc. Why did they have to change up the formula so much? Why didn’t they just make a C7++?
I think I’ve pinpointed why I’m taking such glee in others’ agonies. This new Corvette is no longer “the regular kind.”
Seth Godin talks about this all the time. Most people are pretty conservative with their choices, choosing to stick to the kinds of things that everyone else likes. These days, crossovers, SUVs, and trucks are “the regular kind,” proliferating in the marketplace to meet demand from seemingly every other person in the world except me.
The Corvette for the longest time was stuck in a no-man’s land. On one hand, it was a car dedicated to shaming other sports cars around a race track; on the the other, it was the blue collar Mercedes — a status symbol for the frequently derided and ridiculed Corvette Man.
But now, those chains (ba-dum-tish!) have come off. There is no pretending anymore. A mid-engined car designed totally for speed, like an Acura NSX or Ferr-R-ee? This ain’t the America I know!
I love it. If you want a fast Chevy to tootle around town in with a trunk in the back, you can get yourself a Camaro.
In a day and age where economic forces pulls everything into the gravitational black hole that is “the regular kind,” I love that the Corvette has taken the bold path of going the other way. While Ford attempts to paste “ST” badges on regular crossovers and SUVs and say with a straight face “they’re just like the sports cars and fast cars that you’re too scared to buy,” Chevy is willing to push the envelope and say to folks, “hey, this Corvette may not actually be for everyone.”