Winter - 2004/2005 by Dan Adovasio

One Hot Super CORVETTE!

The big news in Corvette land has to be the introduction of the 2006 C6 Z06 at the North American International Auto Show.

You’ll read more about this fabulous Corvette and its fantastic capabilities in this issue and upcoming issues, and also on our C5 website. Suffice it to say, we have ONE HOT SUPER CORVETTE! Everyone will be referring to this Z06 as the SUPER CAR for the masses! It keeps up with the Porsche, Ferrari and about any other multi-hundred-thousand dollar car for about a third of the price. While doing that, it’s probably more comfortable and easier to drive than any of the so-called SUPER CARS. I think this Z06 Corvette is going to be a quick study. It’s as comfortable on the track as it is on a 200-mile road trip. To me, it ranks up there as one of the best to come out of the General’s performance shop in a long time.

But there is a drawback. The biggest one that comes to mind is not mechanical or design, but rather a pesky little item called “DEALER MARKUP.” Because of the tremendous value this Z06 will have, I’m afraid that it’s going to be a great temptation for dealers to be selling it at thousands above MSRP. But rallying to our defense against that pesky dealer markup is Chevrolet who is planning to build 7,000 of these HOT SUPER CORVETTES during the 2006 model year. Hopefully this strategy will keep the dealer’s markup price reasonable. At this time the price has not yet been set, but I believe this is going to be a pretty affordable SUPER CAR!

My trip to Detroit was chilly; in fact it was downright cold! I’ve been laying in the Florida sun for a month now and I can finally move my frostbitten fingers to type this article! The event kicked off Thursday night at Les Stanford Chevrolet with a reception for our members. Gary Stanford and his brother Paul, along with Scott Montgomery, their Sales Manager, pulled out all the stops for our members. The Stanford brothers are great Corvette dealers and a true friend of the Registry. Everyone could tell by their customer comes first attitude and their friendly customer service why they have grown to be the second largest in Corvette sales in the country.

The highlight of the evening was a surprise appearance by David Hill, C6’s Chief Engineer. When I arrived he was already entertaining members, which he did for the next two hours! Members, I gotta tell ya, you can’t pay a person to have this kind of loyalty to customers. I could tell David was dog tired from a long press day at the auto show talking to the International and US press and executives from everywhere. He took what little free time he had that day and spent it with his customers, the Corvette enthusiasts. I’ve known David for a long time and I could tell he had put in a real hard long day, but he never let it show. He was all smiles, patiently answering whatever questions were asked of him by our members. The C6 Z06 will always be tied to David Hill’s vision for Corvette and it should be. David has consistently refused to compromise or take the easy way out in order to give enthusiasts the very best Corvette possible. To me, I think we’re “dog gone lucky” to have a Chief Engineer with his kind of dedication and passion for Corvette.

At our dinner Saturday night in Detroit, we had Nate Love, who is now running the show over at Corvette Marketing. His presentation was 100% about the Z06 and his marketing vision for it. He is a breath of fresh air! I gotta tell ya, we now have a marketing executive who really cares about the customers and about YOU the enthusiast! It’s Saturday night and you know he has a family to get home to, but his enthusiastic dedication allowed him to stay until the last member’s question was answered. Get this, the questions that he couldn’t answer……he emailed us the answers on Monday. UNBELIEVABLE! 

We finally have a Corvette marketing executive who cares. Between Nate Love; Harlan Charles; Jim Campbell, head of Chevrolet Marketing; and David Hill, head of Engineering; we have the perfect DREAM TEAM! I’m really looking forward to BIG things coming from Corvette over the next couple of years as it dominates the world’s sports car market and becomes the sports car of choice throughout the world.

Recently I’ve heard grumblings from C5/C6 Registry members who are also members of the National Corvette Museum regarding some misunder-standings that they have had with the Museum’s policies and/or procedures. As Director of the C5/C6 Registry I do get to hear both sides and they both have some excellent points. “What should I do about this, Dan?” is the most common question I’m asked. My reply is……as hobbyists, if the Corvette is really our world, then the National Corvette Museum is the center of our universe. And for the NCM to thrive it needs our support, but that is a two-way street. In order for the NCM to thrive and achieve, it is my belief that they need to support the Corvette enthusiasts. We need them to preserve the history and keep the focus of our hobby, but they need us to survive and thrive.

Let’s all remember that the Museum is there to serve its members and the Corvette enthusiasts, and that the Corvette enthusiasts need to give the Museum support because we don’t want it to fade away. Sometimes people in their day-to-day trials and tribulations lose track of this relation-ship between the enthusiasts and the Museum. Let’s hope that those who influence them get them back on the right track.