The Corvette: An American classic renewed

And the Stingray even had a song: "Dead Man's Curve," by Jan and Dean.

But then came the '70s, and along with them unleaded fuel, the oil crisis, and the national 55 mile an hour speed limit.

By the '80s, sales were stuck in low gear -- and the Corvette seemed to symbolize more mid-life crisis than icon.

"It was a slot car on the race track, and on the road it was a farm implement!" laughed Automobile Magazine's Jennings. "You know, it had terrible suspension, you literally drove it, hit a pothole and banged your head on the head liner!"

Still, the Corvette survived, even through GM's bankruptcy.

"It would be such a shame for that car to be missing in the America's culture," said Chevy dealer Rick Hendrick. "I mean, I just think it's part of the DNA of Chevrolet."

Hendrick should know. He also owns Hendrick Motor Sports, one of the winningest teams in NASCAR.

Would he race anything else, besides a Chevy? "Never have," he laughed."

His passion for Chevy, has turned into, well, almost hoarding. He owns one of the largest private Corvette collections in the world -- nearly 150 in all.

His favorite was always the Stingray -- and he's more than willing to share the love.

What was it about Corvette for him? "The Corvette was just the ultimate car," Hendrick said. "I mean, it was you had the styling, the power, all the girls liked 'em."

In fact, it was in a Stingray where he wooed his future wife, Linda. "She rode with me in that first Corvette on our first date and it broke down," he laughed. "She wasn't very impressed."

Most of what is in his collection is priceless. Last night Hendrick purchased the rights to get the very first new Stingray off the line.

"I think this car will probably be one of the most sought after cars that we've seen in a long time," Hendrick said.

Will the new Stingray live up to its pop culture royalty?

That's between you, the wheel, and the open road....

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[frelsh]

Good car design,I like it!
There are some battery design,welcome to see!
http://www.akkus-adapter.com/dell-alienware-p08g-series.html

[MarcusPNH]

The Corvette Action Center has all the details and photos from the official unveiling of the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray on their web site:

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/c7-corvette/2014-c7-corvette/index.html

[sapphiresdaddy]

my apologies for the double post

[sapphiresdaddy]

"General Motors is hoping the new Stingray will put America's oldest auto nameplate back in the winner's circle." Really - the oldest??? Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903. Chevrolet was not incorporated until 1911. Louis Chevrolet did not even begin his racing career until 1905. It's good that you want to make a big deal about the Corvette but CBS should get the facts straight when making a statement like the above quote from their story line.

[twhanks]

Uh, I think he was talking about the Corvette model name, which is the oldest in America.

[sapphiresdaddy]

"General Motors is hoping the new Stingray will put America's oldest auto nameplate back in the winner's circle." Really - the oldest??? Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903. Chevrolet was not incorporated until 1911. Louis Chevrolet did not even begin his racing career until 1905. It's good that you want to make a big deal about the Corvette but CBS should get the facts straight when making a statement like the above quote from their story line.

[Twaker]

What's with the Camaro rear end?

[NB62]

The frustrating part that hasnt changed is that the vast majority of persons including myself will still never be able to afford to buy one anyway.Really sucks not be part of the 1% crowd.

[ralphing]

If you have a college degree and a upper middle class job and low debt, you can afford to buy one. You don't have to be one of the 1% to own one. I could buy one if I want one, but I already had a $900 car payment before, and have better things to do with my money. In fact, I no longer buy new cars, but buy them when they have depreciated after the first sucker, I mean owner buys it, then sells.

[twhanks]

My 12 year-old Vette convertible with 55,000 miles is worth somewhere around $18,000 (would be $16,000 as a coupe). It is a fabulous car with many more years of pleasure ahead!

Far more than "1%" can own this car, but it's a matter of priorities. You probably have some "toys" that I don't. If you are going to spend your life frustrated that you can't have the newest toy all the time, you will be miserable.

[jgfawsett]

You sound like my wife did in 1966. I had two kids a steady job and lots of debt but wanted a $5000 Corvette. My wife said we couldn't afford it, We couldn't. but we all wanted it so bad we bought it anyway. No down payment and $89 per mo. I worked overtime, cut down on some non essential expenses, got promoted and never missed a payment. We still have our beautiful trophy blue 66 Sting Ray. It now has more than 360,000 miles on it - most from 20 years of TSD rallying in the DC area -- and it looks better and runs better than it ever did. It is now driven locally in Fremont CA about twice a week and I still enjoy all the Thumbs up I get. The point is that this new stingray seems worth sacrificing to own. If you don't you will probably live to regret it. This would probably be the best $60,000 investment you can ever make . My $5,000 Sting Ray is now worth about $45 or $50,000. This new one is the 1st Corvette I would even think of buying to replace our 66 providing of course they will sell this young mans WOW machine to an 83 year old senior. 20 years from now it will probably be worth more than its cost. Go for it

[tsigili]

It stopped being an iconic car, in the 1970's, and indeed it became a really poorly designed car.

[thechooch1]

tsigili yeah most cars 40+ years ago don't stand up to today's standards. But the modern Corvette is a great car for the money.

[dormandlong]

It is profoundly interesting that my favorite program, Sunday Morning, has chosen to feature the Santa Clause-like Rick Hendrick, with its Corvette piece.

This kindly and jovial Mr. Hendrick is widely aclaimed for his domination of the
NASCAR racing circuit with his Hendrick Motorsports racing team. The Dallas Morning News reported in a piece on that racing team that it had an unlimited budget.

Various reports indicate that Hendrick Automotive is the largest auto dealership chain in the country. One of its holdings is Honda Cars of McKinney ( Texas )from which our family has purchased six cars. We initially found the staff to be exceptionally conducive to repeat and referral business.

Perhaps the financial burden of having a racing team with an unlimited budget put a strain on the working capital of the auto dealership chain. The great management team that we were so comfortable with were tossed into the streets and were replaced with a general manager and subordinates who implemented a more Detroit oriented management style of "How much money can we make off of this customer right now."

I do not have direct information, but published reports convey another dark side of the jovial Mr. Hendrick that may be of some interest carefully kept under wraps.

If you will Google the terms "rick hendrick" + "mail fraud" you will be lead to published reports from which you can form your own decision.

If you Google the terms "rick hendrick" + "home confinement" + leukemia, any doubts that you have as to our country having two very distinct systems of criminal justice should be put to bed.

If you Google the terms "rick hendrick" + "clinton presidential library" you will see a parallel to the Marc Rich Presidential Pardon in the waning moments of the Clinton Administration, which you might want also to Google or to review at ProPublica.

If you Google "bank of america foundation" + "rick hendrick", you will lose any doubt remaining that we have two very distinct tiers in our macro criminal justice system.

If character has any meaning to you in whom you chose to do business with, these several Google searches may save you and those you care about a massive number of headaches on the many cars that you buy in the future.

I will say that few appear to be more jovial and friendly and Santa Claus-like than does the kindly Mr. Hendrick on this morning's clip.

One would have to wonder if Honda Motor Company has granted impunity to those who sell a bunch of cars through their various and sundry dealerships while flaunting rules and laws that those of us in the great unwashed must adhere to.

If you do not like what you read from your Google enlightenment, you might consider writing to the top people at Honda Motor Company to voice your concern. You might also contact the media that you obtain information from, suggesting that this is a topic that warrants coverage.

Do not waste your time contacting the Dallas Morning News, as they seek to continue selling a ton of ad pages to the aforementioned Honda Cars of McKinney, which constitutes a critical mass of their aggregate revenues.

I would hope that both you and the kindly and jovial Mr. Hendrick have a very nice day!!!!!

[thechooch1]

dormandlong obviously you don't like Mr. Hendrick, but the article is about the American sports car. Not HONDA.

[dormandlong]

Sir thechoosch1

I have never met the jovial and Santa Claus-like Mr. Hendrick, who has some two minutes of portrayal in this CBS News piece titled about the Corvette. If you have issues with Mr. Hendrick being addressed in a comment, you might bring that point up with CBS News, which chose to dedicate some two minutes of this piece to covering himm including his largest in America chain of car dealerships, which are mostly Chevrolet and Honda dealerships.

It is not that I do not like the jovial Mr. Hendrick; it is that I do not like HIS ACTIONS. Nor do I suspect the dozens of Federal Trade Commission investigators and prosecutors, whose thousands of hours of work went down the drain with the action that Google will enlighten you to, should you care to follow those simple instructions which will lead you to published information on his actions, which I find to be repulsive.

Have a good day, Mr. thechooch1. If you punch in a Hendrick entity
time clock, expect a pat on the head.