Discussion
www.carmagazine.co.uk/video.php?il
You can watch it on their website
Zero journalistic value but it's fairly entertaining.
Having seen a couple of regular XKs I think they're a bit ugly - and performance-wise isn't the standard C6 more like the competition??
You can watch it on their website
Zero journalistic value but it's fairly entertaining.
Having seen a couple of regular XKs I think they're a bit ugly - and performance-wise isn't the standard C6 more like the competition??
godzilla said:
Cool, and as we both know, a certain other thrilling magazine rated my car quite highly against some very expensive machinery... 
Front cover story in a couple of weeks time!
Front cover story in a couple of weeks time!
Dastard! You followed up on that story I told you they wanted to do (yes I know you know them well enough anyway but you hadn't noticed)... I never quite got round to it!
Good to hear it.
On a "completely separate topic", do you know if the next Evo will feature the 997TT and 599GTB?
cheeky said:
godzilla said:
Cool, and as we both know, a certain other thrilling magazine rated my car quite highly against some very expensive machinery...
Front cover story in a couple of weeks time!
Front cover story in a couple of weeks time!
Dastard! You followed up on that story I told you they wanted to do (yes I know you know them well enough anyway but you hadn't noticed)... I never quite got round to it!
Good to hear it.
On a "completely separate topic", do you know if the next Evo will feature the 997TT and 599GTB?
I can't remember which story you mean. My car was used in the big annual article that a whole issue is being dedicated to. This issue will feature the 599GTB but another 997, the GT3.
Rob LM said:
www.carmagazine.co.uk/video.php?il
....
Having seen a couple of regular XKs I think they're a bit ugly - and performance-wise isn't the standard C6 more like the competition??
....
Having seen a couple of regular XKs I think they're a bit ugly - and performance-wise isn't the standard C6 more like the competition??
I saw my first 2 locally a couple of weeks ago with 50yds of each other. A coup and a vert; I would have to say that the vert left its C6 rival standing in the looks dept. by a considerbale margin
For me, the engine and brute power of the Z06 would mean the Jag wouldn't even get a look in but I'd still have to squint rather than look at it. I still prefer the old XK to the new one and I've seen several of the new ones on the road and find them bland. Yet to see an XKR but doubt it would alter my view.
For me, the C6 design just doesn't work. I get annoyed just looking at it as a fantastic opportunity missed. I have loved every shape of Corvette up to the C6 based on design detail and flow and in the details that made it different in every iteration - a bit like the Dr Who of sports cars. In the case of the C6, I looked forward to it for such a long time and having imported a Z06 was fully expecting to be blown away by some breathless object of desire. When it arrived, I and a lot of people thought it was a fake. Maybe in isolation, as a generic coupe, it's OK but it doesn't take the Corvette design any further forward and doesn't really capitalise on the past designs if retro was the intention.
The remaining factors are all personal opinions rather than criticisms. I detest the headlamp nacelle. It's shape doesn't match the rest of the car. It's forced, contrived and being the "face of the car", looks characterless and "multi-eyed". The lower air intake looks like it was pencilled in by someone with no design flair at all. When I saw one in the plastic, I thought the side swage line going into the door and the side scoop handles looked like a kit car and as though GM had shunted the clay model to make it shorter. The rear end just looks like a C4 but even the C4 had something to break up the design.
So for me, the design just doesn't hang together, there are too many parts of the car that look as though they were designed separately and overall, it lacks beauty and cohesion and, for me, lacks identity. It could be any old car if you took the badges off and certainly no stunner like some Ferraris. Not that I'd want it to look like a Ferrari, I just wanted something more strikingly aggressive.
Beautiful cars sell themselves and, LHD aside, the relative failure of the C6 to sell means a lot of people must think likewise because the Z06 is perhaps the first Corvette to be widely accepted as a performance and even handling benchmark in Europe and yet it's still not selling like hot cakes. I don't know about Europe where LHD isn't an issue and I don't know if supply is a problem. I do know that my friend went down on Friday afternoon to see a C6 and found the showroom shut. He was allowed access by the sister dealership and was left alone with the car which was er....locked...not exactly the way to seize customers is it? LOL.
In the case of the C6, I looked forward to it for such a long time and having imported a Z06 was fully expecting to be blown away by some breathless object of desire. When it arrived, I and a lot of people thought it was a fake. Maybe in isolation, as a generic coupe, it's OK but it doesn't take the Corvette design any further forward and doesn't really capitalise on the past designs if retro was the intention. The remaining factors are all personal opinions rather than criticisms. I detest the headlamp nacelle. It's shape doesn't match the rest of the car. It's forced, contrived and being the "face of the car", looks characterless and "multi-eyed". The lower air intake looks like it was pencilled in by someone with no design flair at all. When I saw one in the plastic, I thought the side swage line going into the door and the side scoop handles looked like a kit car and as though GM had shunted the clay model to make it shorter. The rear end just looks like a C4 but even the C4 had something to break up the design.
So for me, the design just doesn't hang together, there are too many parts of the car that look as though they were designed separately and overall, it lacks beauty and cohesion and, for me, lacks identity. It could be any old car if you took the badges off and certainly no stunner like some Ferraris. Not that I'd want it to look like a Ferrari, I just wanted something more strikingly aggressive.
Beautiful cars sell themselves and, LHD aside, the relative failure of the C6 to sell means a lot of people must think likewise because the Z06 is perhaps the first Corvette to be widely accepted as a performance and even handling benchmark in Europe and yet it's still not selling like hot cakes. I don't know about Europe where LHD isn't an issue and I don't know if supply is a problem. I do know that my friend went down on Friday afternoon to see a C6 and found the showroom shut. He was allowed access by the sister dealership and was left alone with the car which was er....locked...not exactly the way to seize customers is it? LOL.
Interesting points you make LuS1fer.
Showing again about the subjective nature of looks, the only Corvette I don't feel anything for is the C4.
No offence to anyone who owns one, just does not do a thing for me.
How much is down to the LHD aspect is interesting, but spending a couple of months a year driving in
Continental Europe on the Driving Adventures tours, the Corvette is second only to Porsche on the most
spotted sports car list and I'd say a good 40% were a C6 related model.
Now you may have hit one aspect cleanly on the head. "doesn't really capitalise on the past designs if
retro was the intention."
Corvette have stated that the C6 / ZO6 borrows heavily from the race development program and as such,
effectiveness over styling may have been the intended route?
Clearly they got that right given the rave reviews along the lines of "Finally a Corvette that corners" etc.
Your reference to Ferrari styling "It could be any old car if you took the badges off and certainly no stunner
like some Ferraris." is also an interesting one to me.
I looked at this photo of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano that won "The World's Most Beautiful Automobile" 2006 in
a poll, and perhaps I have a controversial view, but I personally couldn't help but see a resemblance?
As for sales, I'd say apart from the obvious LHD issues, cost is putting people off.
Not that it is too much money, but even I had a physiological mental block to get past.
Say as ZO6 comes in fully loaded in the US at $80k, currently that is just £42,000, so why do we end
up paying £24 more here for one.
I seriously looked at importing and while it would still be cheaper, that gap narrows to around £8k.
You then of course have to go through the time consuming process of getting it here and from those
I have spoken to, it can become drawn out. You also have no warrantee and perhaps, resale issues
as an import. I personally also feel we should support the UK dealer network or we will loose them.
So having gone through all that a) Do you pay what appears to be £24K more or b) Have the
hassle factor and that decision alone 'could' put people off and they go buy an easy option in
say a 911 or a Sagaris.
Just some thoughts...
Showing again about the subjective nature of looks, the only Corvette I don't feel anything for is the C4.
No offence to anyone who owns one, just does not do a thing for me.
How much is down to the LHD aspect is interesting, but spending a couple of months a year driving in
Continental Europe on the Driving Adventures tours, the Corvette is second only to Porsche on the most
spotted sports car list and I'd say a good 40% were a C6 related model.
Now you may have hit one aspect cleanly on the head. "doesn't really capitalise on the past designs if
retro was the intention."
Corvette have stated that the C6 / ZO6 borrows heavily from the race development program and as such,
effectiveness over styling may have been the intended route?
Clearly they got that right given the rave reviews along the lines of "Finally a Corvette that corners" etc.
Your reference to Ferrari styling "It could be any old car if you took the badges off and certainly no stunner
like some Ferraris." is also an interesting one to me.
I looked at this photo of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano that won "The World's Most Beautiful Automobile" 2006 in
a poll, and perhaps I have a controversial view, but I personally couldn't help but see a resemblance?
As for sales, I'd say apart from the obvious LHD issues, cost is putting people off.
Not that it is too much money, but even I had a physiological mental block to get past.
Say as ZO6 comes in fully loaded in the US at $80k, currently that is just £42,000, so why do we end
up paying £24 more here for one.
I seriously looked at importing and while it would still be cheaper, that gap narrows to around £8k.
You then of course have to go through the time consuming process of getting it here and from those
I have spoken to, it can become drawn out. You also have no warrantee and perhaps, resale issues
as an import. I personally also feel we should support the UK dealer network or we will loose them.
So having gone through all that a) Do you pay what appears to be £24K more or b) Have the
hassle factor and that decision alone 'could' put people off and they go buy an easy option in
say a 911 or a Sagaris.
Just some thoughts...
Edited by Cuban on Monday 6th November 13:57
Sometimes at weekends I leave my Z06 parked outside my house and can see the car from the front room. No end of people of all ages stop and stand around, looking at it from every angle, peering through the window. People are clearly interested in it's looks. I've seen some people stop for about 10 minutes just to look at it!
It attracted a good deal of attention in Staplefield this weekend, where I went to spectate the London to Brighton run. It was parked alongside many beautiful classics around the green but the Corvette still drew a good share of admirers. (What a great day for the L-B run! Beautiful weather!)
I'd have to say that 90% of all people (including non-enthusiasts) like the cars looks.
You really have to have a pre-formed opinion on the looks to say that it's ugly, I don't think it's the most beautiful shape ever to be drawn, but it certainly isn't ugly.
The Z shape of the creases along the doors, the fat rear arches, the vent in front of the rear wheels - all subtle and effective little touches that give the Z06 an understated muscular appearance.
It attracted a good deal of attention in Staplefield this weekend, where I went to spectate the London to Brighton run. It was parked alongside many beautiful classics around the green but the Corvette still drew a good share of admirers. (What a great day for the L-B run! Beautiful weather!)
I'd have to say that 90% of all people (including non-enthusiasts) like the cars looks.
You really have to have a pre-formed opinion on the looks to say that it's ugly, I don't think it's the most beautiful shape ever to be drawn, but it certainly isn't ugly.
The Z shape of the creases along the doors, the fat rear arches, the vent in front of the rear wheels - all subtle and effective little touches that give the Z06 an understated muscular appearance.
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