Best Corvette Ever?

[Strokerswild]

As much as I love the ZL1 engine, I never cared for the 3rd gen body.

I like the early Gen3 cars, with the thin chrome bumpers. After that, not so much. In general, the '66-'67 is my favorite.

That said, the C8 is on the list for potential next fun car. I just have to see how well one fits.

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[Balr14]

I am a little biased as I loved my C7 Z51.

But by far the best Corvette ever made is the current C8. It beats the living shit out of every other Corvette (and basically every other car in the market with the exception of some cars priced WELL beyond what a C8 costs) in every category except ones that are personal preference such as appearance.

Truly what Chevrolet did with that car and at that price point is beyond anything else.

I know this is a Mustang forum and I do love my Mustang. But the C8 is truly a thing of beauty pure and simple.

I would agree with you about the C8, but the styling is just too much for me; especially the rear end.

 

[Rick#7]

I've owned 2 over the years, an '88 and an '81. I'd be the 1st to agree that the last version of the Mako generation were horrible for build quality, fit and finish, and stock performance, but the '80-'82 has to be my favorite style although the 2014-19 is a close 2nd.

 

[Kennysum1]

I would agree with you about the C8, but the styling is just too much for me; especially the rear end.

I could see that for sure. The styling is very very aggressive.

 

[Bikeman315]

C2 1963 Split Window Coupe. No question!

Have never owned one, but if I were to buy one this would be it!!!

 

[Weyland-Yutani]

... the '80-'82 has to be my favorite style although the 2014-19 is a close 2nd.

Same for me. I've never driven one and suspect I might hate it if I did, but the last of the C3s were, and still are, the coolest looking.

 

[Rick#7]

Same for me. I've never driven one and suspect I might hate it if I did, but the last of the C3s were, and still are, the coolest looking.

Yeah, those years it was all about style. Performance was acceptable compared to what else was available at the time, but the steering was slow and vague, road noise and interior rattles were louder than the radio, but mine had a "reworked" 350 that just screamed so it was a blast to drive, but maybe not representative of the generation.

The '88 I had was by contrast quite a comfortable ride, and a very noticeable improvement in handling as well, but my preference is still the Mako's just on looks!

 

[Strokerswild]

I will say that the C3s front fenders are cool to observe from inside the car.

Those late ones are turds though. A buddy picked up a mint one a few years ago and had to do a little suspension tweaking right away, along with plopping in a 383 that we conspired on to do away with the asthmatic performance.

 

[Chadillac]

On looks alone, the C5 is my favorite. C3 is also pretty cool. Vettes are like Jeeps, they’re neat but I don’t think I’d own one.

 

[Chadillac]

I would agree with you about the C8, but the styling is just too much for me; especially the rear end.

The interior is whack too. But I think that’s a corvette prerequisite.

 

[Balr14]

Of the Vettes we rebuilt, the C2 and early C3 models were always the worst, due to stress cracking and lousy headlight motors. I know the C3 stress cracking was partially due to the body mount material, so you had to lift the body off to change them. I don't recall exactly what years that was but I think it around the 69 model. The C2 fender design had very uneven fiberglass work that contributed to stress cracks (bad harmonics). They also did not allow much room for decent sized wheels and tires and the axles were weak.

 

[Deleted member 35644]

C3 will always be top of (my) heap for looks.

C6 seems to be most loved for overall experience.

 

[BLUE DEVIL]

Dad and I conceptualized this 1957 Corvette back in 1991 (One of, if not the first Restomod) and then set out to have a Master-Fabricator make it a reality. SRIII Motorsports did the build.

The first full round tubular frame made by SRIII Motorsports (he started a company based on our idea), C4 Suspension, full functional ABS, one-off hand formed stainless side coves and scoops, Lingenfelter tuned LT5 Engine and drivetrain (1990 ZR1 Corvette).

This car was scary fast even by today's standards and handled like nothing I have ever driven since. Sold at Auction in 2019.

https://monthly.mecum.com/2019/11/01/1957-chevrolet-corvette-sriii/

 

[Nardly]

The C5 really impressed me. Plenty of power, comfortable interior and good fun factor. I drove 14 hours straight from Mustang, OK to Atlanta, GA with no complaints and 29 mpg.

 

[JDHunz]

I “almost” owned a ’54…

Dad was a Chevy salesman his whole life and his main customers were some wealthy farmers. He had one customer who bought, new, a 53 and a 54…consecutive numbers. Well, he fell onto harder times in the mid 70s and offered my dad the pair for $20k, but dad had a family of four and couldn’t really swing that. He regrets it, but that kind of $$$ back then was hard to come by.

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