On Thursday I took delivery of my C8. I put the deposit down on July 30, 2019. My order was one of the cars that never progressed beyond 1100 and was subsequently cancelled and re-entered as a 2021 order. It was produced on January 8, 2021 and took 34 days to get to me from Bowling Green to Southern California. So, after 561 days, over 18 months, my car arrived.
I am including a number of photos. The car’s color was originally Long Beach Red Metallic but due to model year color changes, the color is Red Mist. I love a car’s sculpture and the Red Mist shows the angles and curvatures very well. In my opinion, the option “body color accents” maximizes the sculpture look. I added the black rocker panel at the bottom to fool the eye into lowering the car in the mind of the viewer and moving the eye from one wheel to the other. It integrates well with the other black accents on the car. The exterior is completed with grey trident wheels and the Edge Red calipers, which tie back to the Red Mist.
I ordered an Edge Red Engine Cover, but that is out of stock and on back order. So, the black window will eventually draw interest, but not now. The engine bay has the engine appearance package to set off the cover once it arrives.
The trim level is 3LT with natural dipped with carbon fiber interior trim. Mechanical options include the Z51, MRC, and Lift.
Reaction
My dealer, Simpson Chevrolet of Irvine, positioned the car directly in front of the entry doors when my wife and I approached it on Thursday. A neighbor who has a black C6 Z06 and a Ferrari 360 in classic red came by to view the car. He later came by the house and said the quality for a GM car was phenomenal, better than Ferrari. All the salesmen came by to view the car, and a guy pulled up and parked, and then came up to ask me a bunch of questions. “What was the color?” “The interior is natural dipped, isn’t it?”
Yesterday, my wife and I took the car down to the San Clemente Outlet Mall to take pictures. A guy, an Aussie, came buy in his Tesla 3 to complement me on the car. We then drove a few feet away and parked to get pizza. But due to Covid we brought it back and ate by the car. An Audi drove around the parking lot, twice, and the driver complemented me on the car as he drove by the last time. The car has been drawing massive compliments and looks.
Driving
So far I am restrained in my driving during the first 500 miles. I am staying off the freeways. But the car does not just fire up – it roars up. I don’t even press the gas. The roar is heard all the way down the street. It also wants to run, really run, and turn, turn quickly. The driving experience is significantly from previous generations of the Corvette. I am not being pulled along a moving vector. I feel the center of the car and I have to process a lot more inputs that I am just now beginning to understand. I feel that I really have to concentrate or the car will get away from me. I am also insecure about the right side of the car. I don’t yet know where it is, so I am focusing on staying very close to the left side of the lane. Sounds weird I know. In the meantime, I am learning about the car. Yesterday I attached all the netting in the trunks, and learned that the rear trunk is deep enough to transport and individual sized pizza box. I am not sure about a family sized one. I need to install the PDK, and I am learning the lift, and driving modes.
Thank You
A year and a half waiting for a car is massive. This blog has been an incredible support through this process. It helps set expectations on the process, which is key. Thank you to all. A special thank you to John who oversees this blog with a very encouraging and understanding attitude. He sets the best tone for the blog. Also, thank you to Murray who is phenomenal for the endurance to report daily production numbers for more than a year. And thank you to Marc from New York who created a poster of my car from the visualizer. I have it framed and it reminded me that this experience was real and that the car was coming. Such an encouragement. Now that the car is here, it does not seem real.
I feel like I am beginning to ramble, but I have one final impression. I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 or whatever for a supercar experience from a Ferrari, Lamborghini or whatever when owning this car is possible. It Is just that great.
I am including a number of photos. The car’s color was originally Long Beach Red Metallic but due to model year color changes, the color is Red Mist. I love a car’s sculpture and the Red Mist shows the angles and curvatures very well. In my opinion, the option “body color accents” maximizes the sculpture look. I added the black rocker panel at the bottom to fool the eye into lowering the car in the mind of the viewer and moving the eye from one wheel to the other. It integrates well with the other black accents on the car. The exterior is completed with grey trident wheels and the Edge Red calipers, which tie back to the Red Mist.
I ordered an Edge Red Engine Cover, but that is out of stock and on back order. So, the black window will eventually draw interest, but not now. The engine bay has the engine appearance package to set off the cover once it arrives.
The trim level is 3LT with natural dipped with carbon fiber interior trim. Mechanical options include the Z51, MRC, and Lift.
Reaction
My dealer, Simpson Chevrolet of Irvine, positioned the car directly in front of the entry doors when my wife and I approached it on Thursday. A neighbor who has a black C6 Z06 and a Ferrari 360 in classic red came by to view the car. He later came by the house and said the quality for a GM car was phenomenal, better than Ferrari. All the salesmen came by to view the car, and a guy pulled up and parked, and then came up to ask me a bunch of questions. “What was the color?” “The interior is natural dipped, isn’t it?”
Yesterday, my wife and I took the car down to the San Clemente Outlet Mall to take pictures. A guy, an Aussie, came buy in his Tesla 3 to complement me on the car. We then drove a few feet away and parked to get pizza. But due to Covid we brought it back and ate by the car. An Audi drove around the parking lot, twice, and the driver complemented me on the car as he drove by the last time. The car has been drawing massive compliments and looks.
Driving
So far I am restrained in my driving during the first 500 miles. I am staying off the freeways. But the car does not just fire up – it roars up. I don’t even press the gas. The roar is heard all the way down the street. It also wants to run, really run, and turn, turn quickly. The driving experience is significantly from previous generations of the Corvette. I am not being pulled along a moving vector. I feel the center of the car and I have to process a lot more inputs that I am just now beginning to understand. I feel that I really have to concentrate or the car will get away from me. I am also insecure about the right side of the car. I don’t yet know where it is, so I am focusing on staying very close to the left side of the lane. Sounds weird I know. In the meantime, I am learning about the car. Yesterday I attached all the netting in the trunks, and learned that the rear trunk is deep enough to transport and individual sized pizza box. I am not sure about a family sized one. I need to install the PDK, and I am learning the lift, and driving modes.
Thank You
A year and a half waiting for a car is massive. This blog has been an incredible support through this process. It helps set expectations on the process, which is key. Thank you to all. A special thank you to John who oversees this blog with a very encouraging and understanding attitude. He sets the best tone for the blog. Also, thank you to Murray who is phenomenal for the endurance to report daily production numbers for more than a year. And thank you to Marc from New York who created a poster of my car from the visualizer. I have it framed and it reminded me that this experience was real and that the car was coming. Such an encouragement. Now that the car is here, it does not seem real.
I feel like I am beginning to ramble, but I have one final impression. I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 or whatever for a supercar experience from a Ferrari, Lamborghini or whatever when owning this car is possible. It Is just that great.
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