And that is how the new El Camino Z06 came about… 
That could have been bad, but Corvette buyers don’t exactly buy them for there excellent IIHS safety ratings… Glad no one was hurt…
Corvettes are a lot stronger than most give them credit for.
Back when I worked for GM there was a C4 '88 pre airbag test car that rolled a few times on a short test trip on public roads. I knew the guy who did it. He got a scratch on his nose. The car had a plexiglass removeable hatch roof that cracked, all the glass was broken, the body was a mess and the car was twisted.
The same structure that makes the cars handle, protects the passengers in an accident.
I remember when buying my S-10 back in 2000 that the dealer had a brand new Corvette sitting in the lot that was just DESTROYED. I guess a new owner decided to see what she could do and got it up over 100 mph late at night and rolled it many times. They say he walked away with only a few bruises and scratches.
A 2000 Chevy Cavalier would crack 100 mph… take longer to get there…
Now if Vette cracked 140, the driver might not have walked away.
For many years Corvettes lead all cars for single car and driver fatalities. Buyers wanted to know if it really would go that fast, I guess.
Was that percentage, or total? If total, then that’s kinda skewed since Corvette don’t sell nearly as many cars as most other vehicles.
This is from Forbes a few years ago… rates just fatal crashes per billion miles traveled. Just grabbed the top 5. Apparently the Mirage does not fare well. Not many of those are sold in the US. Likely they weren’t single car crashes.
Cars With The Most Fatal Crashes, 2013-2017 Model Years
- Mitsubishi Mirage: 10.2 cars per billion vehicle miles.
- Chevrolet Corvette: 9.8 cars per billion vehicle miles.
- Honda Fit: 7.7 cars per billion vehicle miles.
- Kia Forte: 7.4 cars per billion vehicle miles.
- Chevrolet Spark: 7.2 cars per billion vehicle miles.
If I remember correctly, it was usually gross deaths in single car accidents touted by the media and while they pointed out how few were sold. These figures get sliced out of the overall data when someone feels the need to criticize horsepower numbers of the newest cars.
Besides the low volume of cars sold, low mileage driven each year is factor. Friend of mine owns a 2017 Stingray. He averages about 5,000/yr. Based on other members in the corvette club he owns, he’s on the very high side of yearly mileage. Another factor is the age of the average corvette owner (59).
Absolutely! I have a similar friend that owns a 2017 (I think… it is a C7) that is a very, very typical owner. He’s 67, owns several cars, drives it less than 5k a year and I doubt he’s had the Vette over 85 mph.
The typical Corvette owner cycle…
1st buyer drives little, never stresses the car because they like the idea of owning the car more than actually driving it. (a long time Corvette owner and friend calls them “waxers”)
2nd owner drives it a LOT because they love the car, puts the miles on
3rd owner drives it HARD, track days, races or autocrosses it… drives it the way it was designed to be driven!
I call the 1st owner a poser, kinda like someone that pays $70K+ for a Jeep with big wheels and tires and then stores it for the winter…It’s a freaking Jeep, it was made for the winter… lol
Drive that thing like it was meant to be driven…
Yup…that’s a C7. I’ve driven my friends a couple times…Beautiful car. He’s the second owner. But by corvette standards - 5k miles is a LOT OF MILES for 6 months on the road.
The C7 is considered an excellent rally car. Doesn’t have to be driven to extremes to be fully enjoyed. We have some nice mountain roads here in NH that make driving a Corvette real fun. I’m retiring by March if everything goes well with this final project. I plan on owning a C7 (manual) when I do.
Second owner, so you get to enjoy what the first owner didn’t.
Corvettes are great touring cars. I am sure you’ll enjoy it!
What? A Corvette may have an automatic transmission??
Blastphemy.
Starting in 2020…ALL Corvettes are automatics