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There is a brutal masculine warriors beauty in the crude muscle car nature of the 4th Gen that's engineered out of newer cars like the C6. Most people don't like the throw back to the 60's nature of the 4th Gen.
I agree. I've always felt that the 4th gen was the newest car built that still had an old car soul. The origins of the platform make it a dinosaur of sorts; it lacks much of the buffering, driver isolation and multi-purpose functionality that's become typical (and even desirable) in most new vehicles. It's a machine first, and a transportation appliance second - gives me a healthy taste of old muscle without the complete "freight train" (and sometimes fussy) experience of my '71.
I like corvettes, they are nice cars and i admire them but just not me so I would never buy one. My TA has almost every suspension piece you can buy. I went from from bilstein / hotchkis combo to BMR / koni yellows last year and it drives like a whole new car now. They are expensive but if you can afford the Konis get them. It will be a totally different driving experience.
And if you are looking for a smoother ride i would also advise against SFCs.
ive had both, but still have the fbody. they just arent apples cars. the vette felt like a play pretty compared a small aspect of felt like a status symbol over a sports car.......I was in my mid 20's when i had it and the mos infuriating thing was to take it out and someone comment on how it was nice my dad let me drive his vette.......... it was fast and fun but didnt have that visceral feel of an fbody. esepcially one not stock. Despite still wanting another one some day I vote 4th gen
I've been through a few nicer cars at this point, s2k, 2010 2SS camaro, a new benz off the lot and a couple of Jeeps (still have one of those), but at the end of the day I always wound up back on LS1tech looking at 4th gens. If you're like me the 4th gen is the ticket.
Like it or not, the C6 is a 100% better vehicle than a 4th gen TA/SS. I own both, and would die on the sword saying my C6 is just a better car.
If you prefer how a Trans Am looks though, then by all means get the TA.
C6 vs 4th gen F-body is sort of an apples to oranges comparison in several key ways, so there can't really be an objectively better car - just subjectively.
Problem with corvette is there are too many of them, the new one comes out (c7, c8, c8 mid engine) and yours is just an old vette. Rather have an old viper, or an old chrome bumper pantera.
That said, the c6 and c7 vette are great performance machine relative to eveything else in the price range and even well above it. I’d still never own one.
As for the 4th gen, there are no new trans ams. The custom genV/IV camaro reskins don’t count. So you get that uniqueness, and as the kids by em and total them over the years, the survivors will be even more unique. It is still lude and crude, but cheaper to mod than a vette, and the look still stand out to me.
Last edited by lees02WS6; 07-01-2018 at 08:54 AM.
Reason: grammar
I'm finding another negative about the C6. Rarely does a day go by, when I take it out for a nice ride, when someone pulls alongside and starts revving the engine to race. Not other Corvettes, or F-bodies, or Mustangs, just non-fast rides like old pickup trucks that have fart cans for exhaust, and foreign stuff that could barely keep up with my old minivan that I used to own. Give me a break! Go away. Maybe they just want to see the car accelerate quickly. It's a new experience and I've owned all types of cars. No one does it with my T/A or GT. Yesterday I had my 86 year old neighbor in the car taking him to visit a friend at a local nursing home. As if I'm going to race.
My experience with modern Corvettes is limited to a friend's LS6 C5 and LS7 C6. They are amazing cars, hands down.
But to me, Corvettes are an old man's car. Most of the guys driving them are in their 60's and up. Now that I'm that age, I get the appeal of those cars - but that scene somehow still doesn't fit me. I've looked many times at DSOM 2005-2006 Corvettes and have come close to making an offer on one. But I just can't see myself driving one around town.
My Formulas are rude and crude. For many years I identified with that - in that respect, they're not to much different from my old GTO's which I love. But daily driving can get tiresome - and yet, suddenly, here and there, it gets exhilarating and I don't want to give it up. So far, I just can't go Corvette.
^^^ RevGTO, I certainly agree about the old man statement but it's mainly due to financial reasons. I have noticed at the many car shows I attend, including 'all Corvette' shows, that you are spot on about age. It seems to be a reward for us that have worked hard during our careers. I've always wanted a Corvette but could never afford a decent one until I was in my 50's. Even then I could only afford a 'used' one and bought an air cooled 911 at that point because I also always wanted one of those too, and a Corvette would be more similar to my F-bodies that I have owned since 1996 (a new Formula for $21k). I bought a C4 a few years ago and moved up to a C6 this past winter, again 'used' but it only had 5,000 miles on it. I really enjoy this C6 with it's unreal performance, but if I had to choose between this and my '01 T/A for some reason, I'm not sure which way I would go. The Trans Am is very special to me and does provide that old school crude feel to it, yet being modern at the same time, just like you said. Maybe I will outgrow that feeling but I'm 63 already. For now, I can enjoy both, and heaven forbid, my GT as well, a totally different animal with it's 5 speed.
It's funny you like the Daytona Orange rides. It was always my favorite until the Atomic Orange came along for a 3 year run. Mine is 1 of 91 'verts made for the '09 year, partly due to the poor Corvette sales in '09 during and right after the recession.
Beautiful car! The C6 is the only Corvette I've really liked since the 60's Stingrays.
And I agree it's for financial reasons. A lot of guys can't afford to get one till they're in their 50's or 60's. Certainly true in my case.
Your pic has stimulated me to start looking at them again. But I have that recurring thought that I'd feel really funny driving around in one on a regular basis ... I'd just be another old guy in his Corvette, lol
Try working on that vet it is a mothafuker. Its way to tight and no room for anything w/o a lot of work. How it comes apart can sway me one way or the other
A few years back, I bought a one owner 2000 z28 with under 30000 miles. Life circumstances (divorce of course) forced me to sell it back to its original owner, at a loss of course. Then, a few months ago, I was finally financially stable enough to start looking again. I was dead set on getting a vette, around 2000-2006, based on my budget. I looked at a few, and took a couple for a drive. Then, I found a 2000 ws6 Trans Am. It was like day and night. The Trans Am won me over, based on style and comfort. There are so many vettes out there that they are just another car. The experience you get every time you get behind the wheel of the ws6, and the compliments received daily on your ride are worth the so called "down grade" from the vette, in my opinion. I, for one, am glad I chose to opt for the T/A. Needless to say, these new vettes lost their glory with the new body design. A vette is not a vette without the traditional quad round taillights in my opinion.
I'll agree with this much - the rear end of the C7 is exceptionally ugly. As I said above, the C6 is first Corvette I've liked since 1967. I think the styling is exceptionally well done. Add in DSOM in 2005-6 and you have one beautiful car.
There aren't so many 4th gens around anymore. So nice examples really get a lot of love out there - especially WS6's.
Advantages of the Trans Am:
1) They aren't making more of them, so you'll probably end up with a pretty cool classic car in a decade.
2) You get a back seat in case you want to cruise around with your kids etc.
3) Price advantage.
Advantages of the Trans Am:
1) They aren't making more of them, so you'll probably end up with a pretty cool classic car in a decade.
I'm not entirely sure this counts as an advantage though, as they aren't making any more C6s either. The Corvette model is obviously still in production, but C7 is not the same and C8 will be even more different still. Looking back at some of the most desirable classic Corvettes, such as C2s and early C3s, (and putting personal favorites aside) I don't think most folks find them any less cool than an early Firebird simply because Corvette remained in production to the present day and Firebird didn't.
On the other hand, I do agree that a 4th gen Trans Am will hit the "cool old car" status first, as it's an older car based on an even older design. But I believe that C6 will eventually get there all the same.
Some people seem to think that 4th gens have already hit that^^^^ status as super low mileage examples are more than they were brand new and decent 100k mile examples are $15k. Unless you live in Texas of course. Two years ago $10k bought you a really nice SS or WS6 with a T56. Heck 5 years ago I bought a nice 150k mile Trans Am M6 for $4k, all it needed was tires and an idler pulley. My point is, the price of a 4th gen F-body is a bit absurd to me now and has me looking at C6, C7, and CTS-V2, and even the now defunct Chevy SS sedan.
Some people seem to think that 4th gens have already hit that^^^^ status as super low mileage examples are more than they were brand new
Dreamers can ask these prices, but nobody is buying at figures higher than original MSRP unless perhaps it's something uniquely special (e.g. delivery mileage, MSO vehicle, etc.) For example, there's a 1,500 mile '02 WS6 A4 in red that I've seen listed for sale all spring and summer for $29k. That's still a few thousand less than MSRP, but so far nobody is willing to pay even that - even with only 1,500 miles. And there's another '02 WS6 in white, this one an M6, with just 7,800 miles for $26k. That's about $5-6k less than MSRP and it's been listed for sale for a while too.
But I do agree that some of the asking prices for cars with ~40-80k miles are sort of nuts, some of them are nearly as high as those ultra low mileage examples. But it doesn't mean they are actually selling for those prices. Auction data and some recent confirmed purchase/sale prices from various members here would indicate otherwise.
Originally Posted by Jenson
...and decent 100k mile examples are $15k. Unless you live in Texas of course. Two years ago $10k bought you a really nice SS or WS6 with a T56.
Some of this is definitely dependent on region. For example, there's a 90k mile '00 WS6 M6 listed local to me for $10.5k. And an '00 Firehawk T/A A4 with 39k miles for $13.5k. Both look like nice cars. I wouldn't dream of paying $15k at 100k miles or up (assuming original/stock). But there are a lot of overpriced cars in my area as well, they don't sell though. I see those same ads just getting renewed over and over - some have been for sale since last year or longer. This platform is popular enough that any fairly priced example should be able to sell within a year. If it hasn't, it's either overpriced or poorly advertised. You have to look for the sellers who actually want to sell their cars.
I have a C6 and a 01 SS. The nice thing with the C6 is if you plan on building it and racing at the track you are good with no cage to 9.99 I believe. The vettes get some sort of exemption other cars do not. Wish I would have known that before I put a turbo on my SS, now I have to cut it up and put a cage in it.
After reading this thread I'm glad I'm not the only one that still thinks the WS6 has something special about it. A friend of mine had a c6 supercharged that was sure enough nasty... but....after driving it I honestly didn't enjoy it as much as my ws6 even with much more power. I didn't like the drone of the exhaust feeling like it was right behind your head and I didn't feel like I could throw the car around like my car.....just something I can't put my finger on that the ws6 has it didn't. I've had the car since 04 so I understand I'm attached to it but that something special about the WS6 will not let me part with it.
05-12-2018, 07:05 PM
