Dave Hill

[Jack H.]

was in town with his wife, Karen. Local Chevy dealers sponsored a talk in the auditorium of a local hotel last Sunday. Format was: (1) some interesting C5's parked outside to gander at, (2) cash bar in the lobby, (3) a one hour lecture on Team Corvette and what's going on in R&D/Marketing, (4) some door prizes, and (5) town forum/open microphone for about 30 minutes. The pitch was well worth the $20 ticket!

A couple points of interest from the talk. First, the 50th Anniversary Corvette is scheduled for a 'mule' run of 40 cars in Bowling Green next week. They will use these for acceptance qualification. Car will be offered on the current convertible and coupe platforms (no 50th dress for hatch/Z06). They expect 20-30% of production to be allocated to 50th special build and have supplier 'flex' to make sure nobody who wants one goes begging and/or prices 'kite'....

Basically, 50th Anniversary edition will be standard C5 platform with special interior/exterior dress and a 'modest' performance tweak. No further details disclosed, PERIOD. First, public unveiling at the end of the 50th anniversary road trip from Flint to the National Corvette Museum on Memorial Day with the 50th being the Indy Pace car.

Dave said budgets were stretched all around in the wake of 9/11 and the zero percent financing sales incentives. One impact is Corvette will NOT be at Daytona to conserve funds and maintain LeMans track appearance.

Also, Dave said the C6 HAD been smack dab on schedule, but profitability comes first and the release schedule is delayed. When asked what that meant in terms of time, a lot of good natured shoe shuffling ensued. But, the bottom line was not to expect anything for at LEAST a year and maybe longer.

Last, Dave explained why the Z06 performance package could NOT be incorporated on the current C5 coupe/convertible platforms. This 'sounded' good, but a few chuckles broke out as one of the gallery view cars outside was one of the two Z06 convertibles that exist!

Rolle Purifoy, a Denver local Chevy Dealer holding one of the 12 seats on the Corvette dealer counsel, built these two cars. Basically, a standard factory C5 hatch platform Z06 was bought and delivered from Bowling Green. Then, Rolle's service folks chopped the top and swapped in as required components from standard C5 convertible spare parts (including a pair of tastefully chromed low-rise roll bars behind each seat). Rolle said his cost in the conversion was about $15K--not bad for a VERY unique Corvette....

Rolle and Dave continued to have running chuckles with each other in the Q&A session that touched several times on why the Z06 performance package could NOT be factory supplied on coupe/convertible platforms and what the heck was that car we walked by outside??????

[Gary Bishop]

Thanks Jack "NM" *NM*

[Mike Yager]

Re: Dave Hill

Thanks for the update. Its very disappointing to hear that the 50th anniversary Corvette will not be more than what you described. It doesn't sound much different than what was done for the 35th and 40th editions - primarily cosemtic changes. I was hoping for at least a significant increase in performance, if not some unique bodywork.

It makes me a little crazy to hear so many corporate managers blame their drop-off in business on 9/11. While many businesses have suffered (including the company I work for), the reality is that GM's business in general (Corvette is one exception) was in decline long before 9/11/01. Dull, poorly made, lackluster products have driven down GM's market share to the point that many of their products compete on price, resulting in the sales incentives. For example, in the family sedan market, GM is not even competitive any longer against cars such as the Camry and Accord. While those cars are not exciting, they are well made and do get the job done. Given the choice between two bland products, most buyers will go for the high quality car. Lutz seems to understand this. Hopefully it will catch on with others at GM. While I can understand that budgets might be tight, it seems the last thing they would want to do is pass up capitalizing to the fullest extent on a significant marketing opportunity such as the Corvette's 50th birthday. Look at the mileage Ford is getting out of the new T-bird. Imagine what Corvette could do with a 50th anniversary model with some significant performance upgrades and some retro touches to the body work. They wouldn't need to worry about sales incentives for a car like that. Unfortunately, It sounds like it won't happen. Hopefully GM (and Corvette) won't end up one day as a Harvard School of Business case study.

[Duke W.]

Z06 Convertibles

There are more than two out there. NCRS member John Strachan, Scottsdale AZ, owns several Corvettes (Top Flight on his '69 L-88 at the Western Regional last year) including a '02 Z06 that he had converted to a convert. It's Electron Blue with a mod red interior. Great looking car.

There are no real technical reasons why the Z06 package could not be offered on the convert. or coupe. Granted, the Hardtop model is slightly stiffer than the others, but the coupe and convert. are stiffer than most other closed cars in production. The reason for not offering the Z06 package on other models
is purely marketing.

Being as how Chevrolet has easily sold out the entire production run of C5s since inception with all the OT the UAW will allow, they can pretty much do it their way, such as bundling options into "packages". It makes for less flexibility for the buyer, but simplifies production planning.

Duke

[Roberto L.]

Re: Dave Hill

Uhm, glad to know that Corvette C5-R will be at least in Le Mans again, it was a must after last year's great performance in the legendary race.

Thanks for the information, Roberto, NCRS #30019, RMC

[Jim T.]

Re: Dave Hill

Great post of updated information. Thanks.

[John H.]

Re: Dave Hill

Not surprising that Dave had to do a little tap-dancing on the subject of the C6 schedule; Lutz shut the C6 program down ("froze" it) in September, as soon as he saw it during his first Studio Tour. He walked around it twice and said "Nope, we're not going to do that". He said it looked too much like the C5, asked why they'd spend the money to do the car again and not make it fresh, and re-directed the program with the top priorities to take weight out and increase performance. He approved the "revised" program (including a modified front and rear end) in mid-January, with a 6-9 month delay from the original schedule.

Lutz has been VERY active - he killed the (new) '04 Buick LeSabre and Regal programs entirely two weeks ago - said they were the most disappointing things he'd seen since the Aztek, and told a local reporter "I can't imagine what they were thinking when they did these two cars, but the cars are gone now".

[George J.]

Lutz for President!! NM *NM*

[Art A.]

Re: Dave Hill

Don't forget, even though Dave Hill is close to Chevrolet--and a nice guy, I might add---, he has been RETIRED for at least 4 years and may be out of the "IN" loop and may not be privy to the real deal on the C6.
Duke, The C5 was designed ORIGINALLY as a convert---but released initially only as a coupe.

Art