Vellum Venom Vignette: Ridin’ Spinners (Part II)

I'd be a day late and a dollar short if I cared about being professional automotive journalist. To wit, we recently discussed how the digitally rendered C7 Stingray droptop Vette's 5-spoke wheels look like a last-minute "virtual" hackjob for a looming deadline. The nice folks at Corvetteblogger show otherwise during their visit to the New York Auto Show: these hoops made production spinning the wrong way. This is a new Corvette from the New GM, son. But this ain't right. We assume that the new, invigorated, not-beancounted General Motors does everything possible to make the C7 a credible threat to "le package totale" of sports cars, the Porsche 911. We know the stunning chassis and brutally elegant power train gets the job done. LT1-FTW? Obviously. And the styling might be beautiful in the real world. Hard to know on this thing called the Internet.   Except when the wheels are spinning the wrong frickin' way on the passenger side! I suspect that computer assisted rendering makes left/right directional wheels an easier cost to stomach, but The General still forks over big cash for extra work on the production/inventory management side.  But these (according to Corvetteblogger) are optional, not part of the appealing, easy-to-market base price. So what is the incremental cost for two different castings? An extra $50 per car, MSRP? Even if it was quadruple, don't you think Corvette buyers–folks that gladly pay extra for Museum delivery–would fork that cheddar over in…wait for it…a heartbeat? The Corvette is a halo car; a Flagship for the entire company.  And it's the real damn deal: the quintessential Vulgar Ass-kicking American ever since the uber-wedge, Z51-equipped 1984 Corvette put down Porsche stomping numbers.  Ferrari scaring numbers, at the least.  All for a fraction of the price. But cheap for a reason. Instead of being (maybe) 20% cheaper than a baseline Porsche 911, why can't the C7 be (maybe) 15% cheaper with better design and superior attention to detail? Flagships deserve better, even if the numbers aren't ideal for a balance sheet. Off to you, Best and Brightest. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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