Would You Buy? New Stripped Corvette?

nascar03

nascar03

Power User
2 You're 10
Jan 27, 2009
3,988
3,862
Township of Langley, BC
VetteCoins
35,984
Car
1975 coupe/2003 vert
Province
BC
I've wondered this for years..Would you buy a stripped down Corvette/Camaro or any muscle car if it just had the performance options?
We would still get the big motors, 7spd manual or 8 spd auto, computers, anti-lock brakes, traction control, and performance features as well as big brakes, suspension, etc.

But none of the following:
air conditioning, pwr seats, pwr windows, fancy audio, htd seats & wheel.
These probably add a significant amount of weight to the car.

The price would be cheaper as well.
Would you buy the car?
I assume car marketing people have looked into this?
Maybe there is no profit to be had in selling a bare-bones car?
Re-sale value might be low as well??
Remember the Road Runner? A bone stock Belvedere with a BIG power train..
I think it even had base rubber floor mats..
It was quite popular, and still is today.

Maybe the baby-boomers of today demand all these fancy convenience options.. I guess we want it all. Maybe we prefer track days with the air on and the tunes playing...LOL
I'm wondering if a new bare-bones Corvette with all the performance stuff came in at well under 3000lbs and under $60K would be a big seller?

graham
 
I'm a little spoiled Graham, but then I'm no kid anymore so I opt for all the bells and whistles to pamper me in my later years. :D


If the car would be mostly for track time, and I were a little younger, I could see the merit of the stripped car -- tho most cars these days now have A/C standard as well as a host of other features.

I'd get A/C anyway if it were an option even for track time.

C.
 
About the only amenities I would like would be power steering, power brakes and air. Too old to sweat any more. All the other gadgets and gizmos are just more fluff and stuff to go wrong. It is bad enough when these things start acting up. When you can no longer get the parts for repairs, there will be real problems. Corvette sales these days are not exactly booming so the aftermarket people won't be too inclined to move in to make replacement parts for such a limited market except for those parts that cover several years. Give me a plain old '69 Chevelle with a newer LS engine, one computer, and six speed and I would be just as happy as with having a Corvette.
 
Well....Porsche do it !!

The Cayman coupe, [ hard top vs. Boxster soft top]. Sold as Cayman R.
Pretty popular as a track car. But as proposed above, its 'missing' many
of the amenities. Power wise its not enhanced; so strictly a stripped down
Cayman.

Tony,
welland, and the P car !
 
no creature comforts for this ol' boy. bring back the stripped down demon/duster with a hellcat driveline. my old 340 car with some ,ahem, tweaks was a real handful but what a hoot. if chevy brought back a retro nova with ls power and no fancy-schmancy frills then we're talkin' fun, count me in.
 
Stripped down and $75K isn't what we are looking for. The Z/28, while stripped down of its creature comforts has the price jacked up with race car parts. We just want basic stuff, not $1K shocks and the like. That's for hard core track guys.
 
tony said:
Well....Porsche do it !!

The Cayman coupe, [ hard top vs. Boxster soft top]. Sold as Cayman R.
Pretty popular as a track car. But as proposed above, its 'missing' many
of the amenities. Power wise its not enhanced; so strictly a stripped down
Cayman.

Tony,
welland, and the P car !
Click to expand...

Yes! I would be all over it, but would want PS and ABS.
I agree with Tony. Porsche also has the GT3 RS, which is a stripped down track ready car......but costs more than a regular RS. Go figure.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk
 
I went as low as you can go, MY14 C7 7M 1LT, only option I got was the Q7T Black Rims.

Was 67K incl tax & delivery.

I could have lived without OnStar, the overly complicated Entertainment system and maybe the power windows, but not sure what else you could strip out of it.
 
I really think people insist on air conditioning these days--making the car lighter by sacrificing air cond seems silly to me--unless this was nothing but a vehicle for doing 1/4 mile runs. Even then......
 
I find this interesting. As we get older I suppose most people want their creature comforts.
My other car is a late model Monte Carlo with every option and is a pleasure to drive. It's got some pretty good performance, is a good looker and does the job of getting down the road in comfort very well. We took it to Disneyland earlier this year and had a great time.
My Corvette on the other hand only has what it needs to run...a crate motor with a 4speed and big tires....no radio, no air, no pwr windows/seats/etc..
It is low, loud and plenty fast.(not 700HP fast, but quick) I've owned it for 30+ years and taken it everywhere across Western Canada to slalom & shows events.. also California and Vegas on numerous occasions. It's a perfect Friday nite cruiser, great on the dragstrip too.
I don't hesitate to take it anywhere... but then again I don't head for Vegas or Texas in the middle of August..!
A couple of other discussions here talked about how the Camaro and Challenger are 'heavy' cars...That is what got me thinking of an over the counter race car..
Would it sell? I guess it probably wouldn't make it in todays world.
I guess with today's horsepower race between brands it is possible to have big power and still drive all the accessories as well.
If I want to go for a 'drive' I can take the Monte.. If I wanna go out and have FUN I take the Corvette.
With all the above being said I am looking for a newer Corvette, 2003-2006, with ALL the creature comforts. Not to replace my Corvette fun car but to use as a long distance cruiser.
graham
 
From my understanding, Chevy tried the "stripped down" Corvette in 1999. It didn't get stripped that much, only weighed 80lbs less and was only a couple thousand less than the coupe. People didn't really jump for it so Chevy turned it into the Z06 in 2001.

Well, I may not have this correct as I wasn't really around for the 60's but....
For stripped cars in general... It seems to me that things are totally different now. Back in the day, high hp cars were noisy, raw machines that were meant to go fast in a straight line, and p/w, p/s, a/c, etc on wasn't that common in general when compared to all of today's cars where nearly every car built is quiet, has p/w, p/s, a/c, etc. To strip a car out in the past didn't make as huge of a difference in the experience but stripping out a modern performance car means removing a lot. Plus, I don't think people travelled as much or covered the distances people cover now and the idea of driving on the highway in a hot, noisy car just doesn't appeal when you have a car that already blows the tires off while the A/C is on. (But I may be wrong about this)
I have zero interest in any creature comforts in the Chevelle. If it doesn't make it faster, it won't be installed in the car, whereas with the Corvette, I don't want to have to yell to talk with my wife on the highway so I'll keep the comforts there.
 
COPO Chevelle Basic Car

The original post was probably referring to a Corvette comparable to our old COPO Chevelle. It had the L72 427 425 hp engine, M20 Muncie 4 speed, 4.10 posi 12 bolt rearend, PDB, tach and gauge dash, speed warning, SS wheels and that was about it. Not a lot to go wrong there. Close to 200K miles and one broken valve spring in my case. Other expenses were normal wear items. If it isn't in the car, it can't quit or break. The profit is in the options on loaded up cars. The manufacturers are not interested in stripped cars so were are not likely to see them produced. As I said before, this old guy would like air. They can keep the other stuff.
 
you'll never see a strip vette, the base car with aftermarket go-fast goodies is about as close as you would ever get. as i mentioned before, i'd like to see a no frills retro version of the 68-72 nova with an ls driveline. the only stuff currently in this form are pickup trucks. the old days of low buck barn burning tire shredders are just a distant memory for us old guys that cut our teeth on them.
 
I'm afraid you are right Doug. The days of EVERYTHING being an option are gone. Everything comes in packages and the most popular options are spread among the packages. Back in '05 when we were ordering our Jimmy, I wouldn't have minded getting the tilt wheel. To get it you had to take the package of tilt, cruise, power locks and I believe the kitchen sink too.
 
Our car has two storage wells in either side at the rear. I guess I could always fab up a stainless steel liner and drop it in with a drain out the bottom. Now, we need running water. I think I had better go back to bed and get some more sleep. :eek:
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for at least 100 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Top Bottom