End of an Era

2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Coupe

(This listing is from Cars & Bids.)

First of all, some credit where credit is due. The seller of this C7 managed to capture this photo at a subtly unique angle that reminds everyone exactly what a Corvette is supposed to be.

Is the C8 objectively superior in every measurable way? Of course it is. But also: who cares. Nobody with a late model Corvette was pulling into the garage and lamenting that they weren’t commuting in an all-wheel drive mid-engine attention magnet with a frunk.

A proper ‘vette driver is out there looking for a long hood and satisfying dynamics that are plenty formidable on the street or the track, but also have some level of ability to get squirrelly when trying to put the power to the pavement.

This photo shows you that. It shouldn’t be possible to get that across in a still image of a still car, but you have to admit that it does. It’s like a Viper or a Huracan or a Mitsubishi Evo, you can intuit its spirit pretty accurately with nothing more than a glance.

So while Corvettes will probably always represent the most efficient democratization of racecar capabilities, this one happens to do so for an era that might be coming to an end forever. You’re not looking for a value brand Ferrari 458. You’re looking for a proper American sports car, and not the kind where Dodge takes something designed with airport rentals in mind and drops a Hellcat motor in there before calling it a day and moving on to arguing about whether the Pacifica gets another year of production.

No, we’re talking about power that you can use and a steering rack that isn’t just there for show. Not to be stoking FOMO about it, but you’re not going to be able to buy shit like this forever. (At least not for a price that wouldn’t make that 458 blush…)