The introduction of the mid engine Corvette C8 has clearly taken the entire automotive world and flipped it upside down domestic and abroad. The concept of a rear engine Corvette dates back over 20 years with Corvette icon Zora Arkus Duntov’s earlier designs that never seemed to get past the concept due to budgeting and bean counters. The truth of the matter is the US Big 3 automakers have had such a long stretch of building horrible quality cars especially from the late 1970s after the OPEC crisis all until the early 2000’s. As a result of declining sales, the import auto makers were dominating car sales in the USA. It was a very slow and gradual process for US brands like General Motors to step things up. We first saw strides with Cadillac which then barely trickled down into other Chevy and GM products.

As an engineer and designer I always knew the American car companies had the passion, resources and engineering to make great leaps in the automotive world which have been nothing but the demise of reality due to poor corporate infrastructure, regulations and passion. Do not just think the Europeans are the only ones who know how to build good cars and great sports cars because the history of cars like the Corvette and Mustang and others have dominated racing since inception decades ago. Remember Americans have the Ford GT40, Shelby Cobra, Shelby GT350 and the Chevrolet Corvette, thats something special to really appreciate and to see a dramatic iteration like the C8 come to fruition just blew everyones mind.

Just like Ford, General Motors has a high performance division of some amazing and talented engineers, designers and staff who always seem to have been limited on what they truly could create. Just look at the Corvette GT2 race program and how successful they have been in Rolex and Lemans year after year under Pratt and Miller’s support.

With the C8 program starting on paper well over 10 years ago this was finally a chance for the talented crew at GM Performance to unleash everything they could by applying new technologies and everything learned and failed over the last 30 years. It is not easy to build back consumer confidence after decades of pure garbage cars that were so easily surpassed by the Japanese and Germans. Consumers today want fresh and exciting experiences not the same old of the past. It’s a shame because the Corvette name has always been called the Mid Life Crisis car and this also alienated lots of younger buyers from even considering the Corvette because among their peers it just was not cool enough. Sorry Midlife Vette owners this new C8 is not the same old Corvette of the past and it may not appeal to you but GM realizes you guys are not buying cars and they needed a drastic change. Do not call GM a sellout but call them smart because without change there would never been room for progression in anything in life.

GM has finally made a substantial leap into a truly remarkable and cutting edge arena with a state of the art new sports car, the C8 Corvette. Taking their extensive background using aluminum as the main monocoque structure the concept and application has been proven since the C4 was introduced in 1984. As each generation of Corvette was introduced the improvements came with them but in very marginal fashion. They always suffered horrible build quality, cheap budget focused interiors and lack of tech that the competition seemed to have in spades. I understand the legacy of the Corvette was considered the affordable mans sports car but as newer cars were offering more tech, better quality and value all the products General Motors was dishing out just never could even compete neck and neck with the Germans or Japanese. I felt they tried but never tried hard enough or executed 100%.

Enthusiast like us who see the passion and hoped things would change were continuously disappointed in one version after the next of the Corvette, they just never hit the mark 100%. I remember complaining about the cars horrible paint job, wavy body panels and outdated interior since the 1980s. There was only so much consumers would accept because there are so many options to chose today in the automotive market. The reality is the competition is steep so how does GM retain the Corvette Legacy and attract new buyers? By finally taking the risk and stepping out of the box with the radial C8 is how you do it.

With a major decline in C7 sales because the C7 was not a radical leap in the Corvette Legacy. If an automaker fails to sell cars, the performance divisions are the first to shut down and cancel special products like the C8. Let’s not forget the demise of the Dodge Viper, a car with so much passion in the development department that just never sold in numbers to keep things alive. Maybe if Dodge took a risk with a radial change, offered a Dual Clutch gearbox and more refinement the Viper would have lived on. It was a pure miracle that our economy has stayed on course and GM was able to pull of what we all thought was impossible.

So here we are today, it is August of 2019 and I finally ordered a brand new C8 Corvette. Once the car was revealed weeks ago I picked up the phone, made a deal and wire transferred my money without even a hesitation. I know this new C8 is something very special and I want to be part of it as soon as possible. This car is just proof that with enough passion and freedom to let the experts and engineers make cars they want good things will happen.

I canceled my GT500 order without a hitch, the car is just not special or innovative enough to be worth a $100,000 premium for just another Mustang that I have been driving since 2014. If I want a higher HP Shelby I will just supercharge my GT350 but I feel no desire to do so. I am all about change, new experiences and cutting edge technology and the new C8 seems to have checked off all the boxes for automotive enthusiasts around the globe. I am # 646 on the order blocks and will keep everyone posted along the way. I have a feeling I am going to be so excited when these cars land at dealers I may scoop one up and pay a premium just to have it.

Lots of exciting things coming for the Auto Fanatic brand, the new C8, new exciting products I plan to design and create to share with the automotive world. This is my lifestyle and a true automotive lifestyle as you guys see some behind he scenes of what goes on each week with me and the brand. Stay tuned this will be one hell of a fun ride and I look forward to meeting and sharing with all you fans who also jumped on board to order your very own C8. Corvettes of Carlisle here we come for 2020.