Corvettes and gold chains are no more!

Remember the stereotype of the Corvette owner? Mid-life crisis, hairy chest, gold chains; a Disco-Danny or a "wild 'n' crazy guy"! People STILL believe this is the stereotype. The Corvette broke this mold over a decade ago. It is now one of the world's premier sports cars, the best performance value for the money. Many people don't know this . You know who - the guy or girl who has never opened the hood of his car(s). Even for the last 30 years. My dear brother is one of "them". He doesn't have the "gene". A recent discussion made me realize this.

This started undoubtedly in the mid-70's when virtually every car was unremarkable. And quite honestly, so was the Corvette. An generally unreliable car from a company not known for reliability anyway. It's performance was pitiful compared to the heyday during the late 60s.

Anemic performance was a staple then with virtually all cars. But the 'Vette which has always looked fast now wasn't. Fiberglass body panels were clever for weight reduction and resistant to door dings, but difficult for paint to wear well due to flex and surface prep at the time, so I'm told.

The 50s and 60s were good years for the Corvette, but like most cars, the 70's ruined its image. In 1984, the start of the 4th generation Corvette (C4), saw a new styling edge. Before '91, it made at most a dismal 250hp. How much does your 6 cylinder family sedan make today? Exactly. The Disco-Danny's didn't care, and probably didn't know better. Believe me, I still see middle-age men driving new models in the right lane at or under the speed limit. I'm sure many have never seen full-throttle acceleration. But they made a great buying decision.

Some exceptions worth mentioning are the 1990-1995 ZR-1 Corvette. A 400hp model that was quite expensive vs. the standard model and wasn't sold in large numbers. But the interior was still rather lousy. The 1991 model year saw a nice jump to 300hp with a motor called the "LT1". While better, it really needed more.

When the 5th generation model appeared in 1997, everything changed. A lighter, stiffer hydroformed frame, a rear-mounted transaxle (transmission) for optimal weight distribution, a better interior and an excellent "LSX" family motor that in '02 was available in the Z-06 model making 405hp. The Corvette was now a world-class sports car and the best bang-for-the-buck.

Today the Corvette and especially the Z-06 remains the best value in the world among sports cars by tens of thousands of dollars with phenomenal performance. Even the 2009 base Coupe with an MSRP of $49,415 is near the top in performance.

So what about those gold chains? They are now gold medals.