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    2014 Chevrolet Corvette
    #1
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    2014 Chevrolet Corvette



    General Motors this evening took the wraps off the seventh generation Chevrolet Corvette, a 450-horsepower high-tech American sports car that says as much about GM in the post-bankruptcy era as any financial spreadsheet or marketing campaign.

    “It’s a huge statement,” Mark Reuss, GM’s president of North American operations, told me earlier in the day, after giving some 400 employees a sneak peak. “It punctuates a new General Motors that takes risks, important risks,” like incorporating cutting-edge technology that will work its way into the rest of GM’s lineup.

    The new Corvette, for instance, incorporates lightweight materials to a degree not seen on even the most exotic cars, including a carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel, and a carbon-reinforced aluminum frame. The normally high-priced carbon materials are standard on every Corvette, yet the car’s price will be about the same as today’s Corvette, which ranges from about $50,000 to $113,000.

    The Corvette also signals a new, more collaborative way of designing cars and trucks that cuts waste and improves quality. Hourly workers from the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky., spent eighteen months commuting back and forth every week to Detroit, where they were embedded with the engineers and designers working to create the next-generation Corvette. And engineers spent time assembling the current-generation Corvette in Bowling Green to better understand the challenges of putting the cars together.

    “We’ve had input from the very beginning to make sure we could build it,” said plant manager Dave Tatman.

    The unprecedented level of collaboration early in the design process enabled GM to avoid some potentially embarrassing problems later. Assembly workers, for instance, pointed out a potential problem in the way hand stitching on the leather-wrapped dashboard and door panel came together in the Corvette’s striking cockpit-like interior.

    “Our whole design was really threatened by that,” said Ryan Vaughan, 33, the Corvette’s interior designer. Together, engineers and factory workers came up with a specially designed tool that allows workers to pivot the two pieces as much as 2 millimeters in either direction to ensure a perfect fit every time.

    Plant workers’ input also influenced the design and placement of crucial parts like hoses, electrical components and fasteners to make it easier for the factory to build it right the first time. “If we can build it well, that translates into quality on the road,” explained Mary Barra, GM’s senior vice president of global product development. She’s been working to improve GM quality and wring $1 billion in waste out of its engineering and product development efforts. “The Corvette is a model for how we want the company to work together,” she said.

    The first Corvette debuted at the GM Motorama in New York City on January 17, 1953, and was an instant sensation. Since then, it has been an enduring automotive icon with a deeply loyal fan base. Of the 1.5 million built over the last 60 years, 1.4 million of them still exist.

    But each generation was different, noted Reuss, who recalls being squeezed in the back of a Corvette while riding around with his father, former GM President Lloyd Reuss. “They’ve always been a sign of the times,” he said, pointing to underpowered models during the fuel crises of the 1970s. The 1978 Corvette base, for instance, managed 0-60mph in a slow 7.7 seconds on just 165 horsepower. Then there was the landmark 1984 Corvette, the first to achieve more than 1 g in cornering grip.

    Like the ’63 Sting Ray, the best Corvettes, Reuss said, delivered cutting-edge technologies, spectacular design and “awe-inspiring” driving experiences. “This one reaches into the future,” he told me.

    The new Corvette — one of only a few worthy of the Stingray name, GM decided — shares only two parts with the its predecessor. Highlights include:

    • An interior that includes real carbon fiber, aluminum and hand-wrapped leather materials, two new seat choices – each featuring a lightweight magnesium frame for exceptional support – and dual eight-inch configurable driver/infotainment screens;

    • Advanced driver technologies, including a five-position Drive Mode Selector that tailors 12 vehicle attributes to fit the driver’s environment and a new seven-speed manual transmission with Active Rev Matching that anticipates gear selections and matches engine speed to help drivers shift more skillfully;

    • An all-new 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine combines advanced technologies, including direct injection, cylinder deactivation, continuously variable valve timing and an advanced combustion system that delivers more power while using less fuel. It’s expected to deliver 450 horsepower and 450 lb.-ft. of torque, and be capable of going from 0-60 in less than four seconds. And it should be the most fuel-efficient Corvette, exceeding the EPA-estimated 26 mpg of the current model.;

    • Lightweight materials, in addition to the carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel, including composite fenders, doors and rear quarter panels; carbon-nano composite underbody panels and a new aluminum frame, all of which help achieve an optimal 50/50 weight balance for better handling;

    • A sculptured exterior features advanced high-intensity discharge and light-emitting diode lighting and racing-proven aerodynamics for improved stability and track capability that helps the car stayed glued to the road even on tight corners at high speeds.

    “Stingray is one of the hallowed names in automotive history,” said Ed Welburn, GM vice president of global design. “We knew we couldn’t use the Stingray name unless the new car truly lived up to the legacy. The result is a new Corvette Stingray that breaks from tradition, while remaining instantly recognizable as a Corvette the world over.”

    New Corvette Is A Sign Of The Times At GM - Forbes
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    #2
    Registered rschap1's Avatar
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    Too much new Camaro
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    #3
    I don't like the Camaro like tail lights. The rest is Corvette like to me and I like it!
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    #4
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    #5
    Little better when its the real thing vs an artist rendering. But still don't like the taillights. Overall it looks like a Ferrari 599.
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    #6
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    It'll grow on me ??
    ,we wish they'd do a C3 retro EDITION L88 conv.
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    #7
    Charter Member old377guy's Avatar
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    the Ferrari in it jumps out at ya
    People we meet in life are either a Blessing or a Lesson
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    #8
    Yep the Ferrari influence does jump out. Starting to like it though. Leno's Garage did a segment on it and after seeing kind of want one now. First Look: 2014 Corvette Stingray - Jay Leno's Garage - YouTube sorry I don't know how to embed on this forum.


    Like this
    Last edited by Ratickle; 02-03-2013 at 11:51 PM. Reason: embed vid
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    #9
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    New convertible was released in Europe now.....

    New Corvette Stingray goes topless in Geneva - MSN Autos

    New Corvette Stingray goes topless in Geneva
    Chevrolet Corvette Stingray loses its roof to bring the noise.
    By Richard Aucock of MSN Autos

    How important is Europe to Chevrolet? Very important. To underline this, the automaker made a significant world debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show: the 2014 Corvette Stingray convertible. The coupe debuted in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and the premiere of the soft-top so soon after the hardtop indicates that Chevrolet means business with the Corvette in the halo car's two most lucrative markets.

    There's a fondness for the Corvette in Europe, helped in part by its exploits at Le Mans each year, but also aided by Europeans' love of sports cars. With the radically improved new C7, Chevy finally has a car to take the fight to the Porsche 911.

    The Stingray ragtop drew plenty of attention in Geneva. Some visitors made an interesting observation: Here's Chevrolet going after Porsche with an open-top Stingray, while downstairs at the show Jaguar is getting ready to do the same with its open-top F-Type. We're betting in time they will all be together in a three-way face-off — the battle of America, England and Germany?

    What is it? The new seventh-generation Chevrolet Corvette was revealed in January, reviving the Stingray name along with it, but Chevy has lopped off the roof already for the Corvette Stingray convertible. The Stingray's new 6.2-liter V8 engine puts out a nice, round 450 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque — enough to hurtle the convertible from zero to 62 mph in less than four seconds, according to Chevrolet.

    What's hot? All C7 Corvettes get Chevrolet's Active Rev Matching feature, which automatically blips downshifts on the new 7-speed manual gearbox. Better still is the engine's new Active Fuel Management system, which shuts down half of the V8's cylinders when cruising. It means this Motor City muscle car will return 31 mpg highway. Designed with a drop-top version in mind from the start, the chassis should be relatively stiff, too.

    What's not? The interior is an improvement on past Corvettes, but it still has a way to go before it matches some European rivals. The coupe actually gets a removable targa-style roof as well, so we wonder if the open car will warrant the likely price premium.

    How much and when? Chevrolet hasn't confirmed when it will go on sale or how much it will cost, but we'd expect the Stingray convertible to start between $55,000 and $65,000 when it does.

    MSN Autos' verdict: Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type, watch out: A new U.S. challenger is in town.
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    #10
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    I like the way it looks....

    Click image for larger version. 

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    #11
    I prefer the oldies


    It's for sale somebody buy it so I can put it towards an Apache
    454 4sp conv # match original glass
    Pm me if your interested
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    #12
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Nice.


    I can't tell the year from the front. '72?
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    #13
    Charter Member old377guy's Avatar
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    People we meet in life are either a Blessing or a Lesson
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    #14
    woops left the most important part out 1970 lowest production year vette plus Carlisle celebrity choice award.
    Here you go
    1970 Corvette Photos by louiefdny | Photobucket
    It's gota go I NEED A BOAT
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    #15
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    My Vette


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    #16
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Terri's Vette


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    #17
    Two very nice vettes you have there, I think I will always own a vette its in my blood. Here is my 71 350 Steel Cities Gray


    Just got it back from paint hope to have it ready for summer need to make some room so I can work on it.
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    #18
    Founding Member / Super Moderator Ratickle's Avatar
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    Nice lookin '71. I can't imagine being without one either. Every time I am, I end up getting another pretty quickly.

    If yours was a '72, it would be tough to resist. I've had a few Vettes.

    My old '57 was a riot to own (I was in my early 20's). But it handled like crap, especially above 130 or so.....

    I had a '63 split I turned into a drag race car, complete with straight axle and tubbed rear. How's that for dumb?
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    #19
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    #20
    I had an 85 Vette for awhile. Bought it in 91 and sold it a year later. It wasn't a bad car, just wanted the 944 turbo more! Have thought about getting another ever since though. A leasing company here has an 08 black on black, that they'll lease for $489 per month. Still thinking maybe as a fun replacement for my 928S4. Waiting to see if the prices really drop when the new one is out.
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