CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[AnalogRocks]

Why would you contaminate a Chrysler with Generic Motors engine? Just get a 440 and be done with it or follow the 318 - 425hp build you can find online. No you won't still have the 2bbl carb either. 727 transmission and off you go!

[AnalogRocks]

Why would you contaminate a Chrysler with Generic Motors engine? Just get a 440 and be done with it or follow the 318 - 425hp build you can find online. No you won't still have the 2bbl carb either. 727 transmission and off you go!

[the big E]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[the big E]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Almost no US cars came here, rebadged or not. Personal imports such as Corvettes aside, which also only ever was sold in Australia ONE TIME ONLY, 3x 1991 ZR1s, red exterior with black leather. 3 only. Thats it. The rest are personal imports.

Rebuild what you have. I dont know what your area's emissions standards are, but that will be generally pretty easy to get round since youre not in CA.

[the big E]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

The Corvette is America's only true sports car really, and while it is a very good one, its not even close to being worth the money to have one in Australia now, prices are simular to what they were 10 years ago, so you can very easily buy a much better car for a hell of a lot less money here now.

[the big E]

[ecrabb]

[the big E]

[km987654]

Not sure what Case is thinking about but how about this one

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Chevrolet-Corvette-2008/SSE-AD-970872/?Cr=5&sdmvc=1

Very low Kms but 5 years old. Not sure if that's indicative of corvette prices here but if it is there would be any number of European sports cars that could be had for less.

This vette reads like a mighty beast.

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[CasetheCorvetteman]

[the big E]

[ecrabb]

Case... Defensive much? I wasn't questioning the veracity of your claims. I haven't the faintest idea of what cars - new or used, imported or otherwise - cost in Australia. Not a clue. So, my question was just that - a question.

You can't be bothered to take two seconds to google what big E's Cordoba is, but I'm supposed to research used car prices in Australia. Yeah, OK... I'll get right on that.

The Corvette that km linked to... That's a Callaway Z06, for chrisssakes! That's a 650hp 300kph/200mph car. There are VERY few cars on the road as fast as that car. Is that expensive? Yeah, it's way expensive. But, all Callaway cars are... They're custom, one-off, extremely limited-production cars. They're special. You pay for having something hardly anybody else has. It's not at all what I'm interested in, but like any high-end tuner car - it's expensive.

The market here is obviously very different from Oz. You can buy a new Corvette here for a typical middle-aged white-collar guy's annual salary. Not a stripped-down one, either. Z51 and a few other goodies.

A nearly-20-year old Testarossa would be $100k for an old one to a $150k for one of the last/newest models - way, way more than a brand new Corvette, which is low-60's to mid-70's depending on coupe/roadster and options. Still, the Ferrari would be inferior to the new Corvette in almost every way save for material quality and pure collectibility. It's a Ferrari! You wouldn't be buying it because it was technologically the best at everything - after all, it's 20 years old. You'd be buying it because it's a Ferrari. You'd also better have deep pockets, because even just periodic maintenance is going to be EXPENSIVE. I love Ferrari's as much as any other Ferrari fan, but you don't buy a two-decade old Ferrari because it's faster than new cars - you buy it because it's a Ferrari, and even 20-year old Ferrari's are beautiful and collectible.

Case, I'm not as ignorant of Corvettes and cars as you seem to think... You may have restored a C4, but my dad and his buddies were buying and restoring Corvettes when you and I hadn't even been born yet. I was hanging out at Corvette concours and driving events when I was in diapers. I drive my old man's Corvette in a gymkhana long before most people even know what that word meant from watching a Ken Block YouTube video.

I've seen your article before. That's awesome. Maybe you've been away from it for awhile - the C6 cars are a whole different world from the older cars - truly world-class in terms of performance. Maybe not the same in terms of materials or build quality - especially the interior. But on the track, they're very competent, and right up there with Porsche, BMW, and Ferrari. By all accounts, the new cars have nothing to be ashamed of, offering performance with very decent materials and build quality for a fraction of the price of the imports. Obviously, the equation changes in Oz where the Corvettes are also imports. In that case, there are other options.

I do think because you're a hard-core DIY'er and can probably fix almost anything yourself, you probably undervalue newer cars, and overvalue older cars, at least compared to most. There's nothing wrong with your value system - it just isn't most people's value systems. For the 80% of the world that can't or won't wrench on their own cars, owning a 15- or 20-year old Italian or German car - especially for anything resembling daily use - really isn't realistic.

SC

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Some good and valid points there Crabb, and while i agree for alot of the time, you will no doubt be old enough to remember the sensation that was the 1984 Corvette, the best handling car in the world and build quality wasnt too far down the order either. The thing is in 1995 the build quality was still about the same, but in 1996 on the last C4s, cheaper parts were used in some areas of the car.

I didnt research E's car cause im on a phone and my close vision is rooted. Although i think he missed the point of my request cause im interested to see HIS car!

Ive never driven a C6, i got out of it all before they were common enough here. Have seen them all stripped down to nothing for conversion to RHD.

Now 15 years ago here, there was nothing here that offered the performance of a C4 Corvette, which is why i went that way. Anything else in their price range was not even close. They were loads of cars that could very easily outdo one, but at 3 times the price.

Fast forward to now, a Corvette is still a top performer and a reliable enough daily driver, but it is now sitting in a price range here that means youre buying less car for considerably more money. Some of this has to do with the fact it WAS the best bang for buck, and some has to do with the cost of RHD conversion.

Not so much that im defensive about it all, it doesnt bother me either way. But the credibility is there for all to see

[ecrabb]

OK, so Corvettes are more expensive than they used to be, and they're expensive to convert to RHD, which then makes them not the performance bargain they once were. That's the info I was looking for.

So, that's the disconnect. You can buy nice, clean C5's with low miles on them for in the $20k's here. Even early C6's are in the mid-20's with a few miles. If you want a like-new C6, you can get into an '05 or '06 for under $30k.

They're not quite as cheap if you want perfect/low miles, but you can still find cars like this all day long:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=127066539

If you want a two-seat V8 sports car that's fun on the track, but still comfortable, enjoyable, and reliable to daily-drive, there is nothing new or used that will touch a Corvette. They may have the "old guy" reputation, but they're still a hell of a value.

Yes, I do remember driving several of my old man's cars... '85 was a great car. OTOH, my dad's had lots of them over the years, and I think two stand out in my mind: The '96 Grand Sport and a pretty run-of-the-mill '07 convertible w/Z51. The '07 just had a couple of very light mods - intake and exhaust - and it sounded and drive amazing.

Of course, from a pure performance standpoint, his CTS-V spanks 'em. Judas Priest, what a rocket that thing is... By far, the fastest street car I've ever driven. 556HP and all that instant-on torque make for acceleration that's just mind-boggling. It's amazing to me that relatively affordable production cars are now available that put to shame some of the fastest highly-modified cars from even just a decade ago... And they still get 20 or 25 MPG on the highway!

If I can get us into a house with a 3-car garage in a few years, I'd love to find a low-miles '04 or '05 BMW 330 ZHP for a weekend driver. They're typically around $20k in nice, clean shape with low miles. I drove one last summer, and it had a very similar handling feel to a couple of the old man's C4 Corvettes.

SC

[CasetheCorvetteman]

Yes its quite amazing how well the Germans can get a 4 door car to go round corners. Obviously my base model W202 Merc doesnt handle near as good as even a stock C4 with base suspension, but it DOES do reasonably well against the higher end Australian performance cars, even though its the absolute bottom model, it still has a really nice stiff chassis, which probably gets it to where it is.

Im still not sure which way ill go yet when i get a newer car soon, i dont want to spend any money. Itll be between the C32, C55, W211 E55, or possibly another W202 but the C43.

I havent ruled out other breeds yet, but Chevrolet wont be one of them. I was looking for an Alfa Romeo 155 they other night, but seems theyre abit rare here...

[km987654]