Looking at the Corvette C7

For as long as I can remember I've been a fan of the Corvette, particularly the second generation, 1963 to 1967 Sting Ray. When this car was introduced I had just become a teenager and this car was like nothing I'd ever seen before! Sleek, powerful, ultramodern and dare I say, SEXY! Just about every page of my school notebooks had a Sting Ray doodle on it.
General Motors introduced the Corvette in 1953. While the car looked great, its performance was uninspiring to say the least. Mostly because the only motor GM had available was a wheezing inline six and the only transmission a two-speed automatic.
Then along came  Zora Arkus-Duntov a Belgian-born engineer. He single-handedly convinced GM Brass that if the Corvette was to have a long life, it needed to have performance to match its looks. 1955 saw the car come alive with the new 265 cubic inch V8 and a 3 speed standard transmission. The rest, as they say, is history.
Below is a picture showing the seven generations of Corvette beginning with the 1953 model (C1) on the right and progressing through to the C6 on the left. In front is the latest Corvette, the C7. Never has a Corvette had more performance than this. It steers, stops and accelerates flawlessly all the while sipping gas reasonably economically and compared to other cars with equal performance, costs much less.
Alright I know you can hear there's a "but" coming, here it is... the car is ugly! I didn't ever think I'd ever say or write that about a Corvette. OK, I'll admit I like the overall shape of the car, but why clutter it up with so many scoops, vents, bumps and sharply creased edges. In most design, less is more – to show what I mean, using photoshop I've created MY version of the C7 Corvette.

The original 2013 C7 Corvette

Starting from the front: I smoothed out the two bumps under the grille; headlights smaller and simpler; eliminated louvred hood scoop; eliminated the awkward vent behind the front wheels; lowered the bulge on the bottom of the door; mirrors not on posts but integrated into side glass; body colour on windshield post; eliminated grille in the fender over the rear wheels; extended side glass; eliminated the tacked-on rear spoiler; and lastly, I pinched in the rear fenders to reduce the mass when viewed from the rear. I'll admit some of the scoops and openings I eliminated might be needed for cooling, but if so, they could be incorporated in a much less heavy-handed way. While most of my changes are deletions, I did add two minor details. The first was to widen the chrome bar over the grille – this is a bit of a tribute to the early Corvettes which had thin chrome "bumpers" running past the grille to the corners of the car. I also took the Corvette logo on the front of the car and placed it on the front fender just ahead of the door – I've always liked how Ferrari often puts their prancing horse in this location. Lastly, I smoothed out a lot of the creases and edges on the body – think Jennifer Lopez rather than Hulk Hogan.

My version – less is more!

Moms always say, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Usually I try and follow that advice, especially when I'm putting something in writing. But the Corvette is such a cornerstone in the performance automotive scene, I just couldn't stay silent.
GM, you've built a truly great performing sports car, that I would never buy. Yes I could enjoy driving a C7 on a nice winding road, but this class of car needs to look the part to complete the package. I need a sports car that draws me back out to the garage, to spend time leaning on the workbench, perhaps sipping a beer, just looking at it! The C7 doesn't have that kind of visual appeal.