S6E45 – Chevrolet Corvette at The Quail: Past, Present & Future

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Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast, bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.

And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Fix and Javier Mota.

Well, Carl, we're not sitting inside a car because there are thousands of cars here,

but they don't let us sit in one of them.

I think they break your finger if you touch the cars here, so don't touch them.

But yeah, we're at Quale, which is one of the most premier events really in the world.

I mean, I feel like it has become the out of show in the world

because there's no Geneva anymore.

The Qatar Geneva show is kind of, eh, I don't know, maybe.

Well, remember once upon a time, Javier, when you would go to an out of show

and it was like hard to get a car,

and it was like hard to keep up with how many press conferences were going on,

and now that doesn't happen at the traditional out of shows,

but it's happening here where it's like you kind of have to run between booths and between displays.

So we saw this morning, well, I saw Cadillac, Lamborghini, Bugatti,

well Corvette that we're going to talk about now.

Gunther words, Porsche Gunther works.

And some of their new brands that...

Carma.

Carma is not new, but there was an Exit, I think, or something like that.

Something like an Italian new brand that like, like, custom made cars that are...

It feels like a very vibrant auto show is what this feels like.

And most auto shows haven't felt vibrant for years,

so it's kind of fresh, breath of fresh air to be here like that.

So let's talk to the Corvette guys because this is the first time they've been at the...

Their first quail appearance.

Even though the brand has been around since 1953.

Yeah.

So they're trying to make a push to make the car more premium.

More upscale.

But at the same time, respect like the loyal fans, which I mean,

you can still get a Corvette for around $79,000, $80,000.

But now they have cars that are over $200,000.

So it's very interesting what they're doing.

And not only in the present, but there's some concept cars.

So let's listen to that.

We're a good thing we're not in video because we're like behind the stage here at the quail.

Could be more behind the scenes at quail right now than behind the Corvette stage.

Display, which on the front is beautiful and you brought...

I mean, this is a great display because you're showing the past, the present and the future.

So I'm really horrible with names and titles, so please introduce yourself.

I don't make a mistake.

No problem.

It's Tristan Murphy.

I'm the interior design director.

I'm Vlad Kapitonov.

I'm an advanced design manager for Corvette.

So here you brought at the quail the current CR1.

Exclusive quail edition?

Yes.

What's the official name?

It's a quail silver edition.

Exactly.

It's a color.

It's not just a color.

It's actually a combination.

So the color is special.

So it's a satin silver.

And it comes with the interior and the trim that's particular to that car.

So like the edition you can get just like that.

And how many of those are you making?

Hundreds?

Less than a hundred.

Yes, up to a hundred.

So getting more exclusive.

Yes.

Everything you do new with Corvette, right?

Yes.

And then you have two concepts that are like really, really futuristic.

Yes.

Because I don't know, I mean concept car, they mostly don't make it to production.

But it shows the future thinking of the company on the run.

You want to describe each concept and kind of what's behind it?

Yeah, I mean, really the reason we have two is because, you know, again, Corvette

really kind of lives in two different worlds, right?

We do a GT road car and that's really one persona.

But then we always are very excited about the racetrack

and that, you know, track enthusiast customer.

So having these two cars here really allows us to kind of really express

what those two, you know, kind of characteristics of the car really are, right?

The CX is more the road car.

Again, it aims a little bit more the GT side with, again, the beautiful silver paint

with a really, really expressive orange, you know, luxurious interior.

And then obviously the CXR is made with the, you know, high revving, you know,

small displacement V8 hybrid system.

And clearly aimed in connecting back to our racing current heritage.

Yeah, the 1959 that is here is beautiful.

We say, you know, we say it, Corvettes are rooted in motorsports.

The 59 that's there isn't just a show car.

It's actually a race car that won an SCCA championship.

Wow, yeah.

And it was street driven by Bill Mitchell after it was built.

So it's that represents kind of like the real root of Corvette.

And not just aesthetically, but just spiritually.

But even aesthetically for as designers, we pull a lot from that one.

That one really, we, you know, when you look through all the history of Corvettes,

that one kind of holds a special plate in designer's hearts just because it's so pure

and really kind of like what we build on.

Like we talked a lot about when the team was developing these two cars,

Corvette distilled, right?

Like how do you really reduce elements, reduce the design and really get it back to that really,

really iconic look, pure design inside and out that feel unmistakably Corvette,

not like anything else.

That was really important for us as we look to the future.

And that car sat in our studio.

The 59 sat in our studio.

Almost the whole time that we were doing it.

Yep.

Now you've got the two concepts.

And you again, you describe like the CX is more kind of the GT,

you know, kind of consumer oriented car.

And the other one's the race one.

And the race oriented car has the hybrid small displacement V8.

What's the drivetrain of the CX?

The CX is showing all EV.

It's all EV.

Yep.

But I think, you know, really again, going back to the two cars,

we're, you know, we know everybody gets really nervous with the whole EV and Corvette.

And I think, you know, what we're trying to show here is really the Corvette as we go forward.

We want to be able to have a one Corvette platform that really can flex either way.

It's not just EV.

It's not just ice.

You know, again, it's more than that.

It's really about this all performance and giving the customers exactly what they want.

So if they want something like the zero one X, which has electrification,

that we can do stuff like that.

Or there are people that want to have a full EV sports car.

So we want to make sure that we are looking into the future,

that what those technologies really are going to open up from us,

not only a performance standpoint, but a design standpoint.

Yeah.

And flexibility is good.

Yes.

Flexibility and giving customers what they want and the best we can give them.

And it's a, and the other thing is like to us, you know, Corvette is not just about one thing.

Like it's not just about the powertrain.

It's not just about the, it's about a combination of, you know,

good cars are more than the sum of their parts.

Yeah.

And they like the concept car for the racer.

The good thing is that it gives the beauty on Gran Turismo.

So people got experience.

Yeah.

Both of them are going to be in the game.

Both are going to be in the game.

Yes.

So you'll at the end of this month be able to get in and actually be able to virtually experience these cars.

As a matter of fact, tomorrow at Laguna Seca, you'll be,

there's going to be a couple of sim rigs that you're going to be set up.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Talk a little bit about the interior of the concept car because it's beautiful.

Wow.

First, the way it opens up, it's just spectacular.

Then you get inside and you, as you said, you see some Corvette details here and there.

Yeah.

Historically and modern.

Yep.

So again, Corvette's a very dramatic car, right?

I mean, like even just, even standing still, it's very, very expressive.

It's very, very exciting when you see it.

So we wanted to build on that excitement with even the idea of how you get in

and out of the car.

And as a concept, we can do some things where it pushed beyond.

And we have the whole canopy that lifts off.

And then we chose that color to contrast against that silver because now,

you get hit with this really bright, orangy red hit of the color there.

Absolutely gorgeous and really contrast that silver paint really nicely.

So it was really about kind of making a statement and even in its full,

I keep calling it its full peacock form.

It's full on, like it's a statement by itself.

It looks amazing.

It really feels dramatic and really continues that story of what we think

Corvette is, is it really, it's an emotional vehicle, right?

It's something that really draws something deep inside you.

And we want to make sure that every bit of that experience is communicating

that to you through and through the brand.

Yeah.

And with the present car this year, whether we drove yesterday from here

to Big Sur, I mean, that kind of draws a lot of attention.

Yes, it does.

And people know what it is.

Yes, it does.

I mean, because the new, the C08, it's been in 2020.

No, the current generation.

It's 2020, C08 generation.

But the C01 just came out this one now.

Yes.

And people were looking and they were, oh, that's a new one.

Pretty incredible that people noticed.

So it draws a lot of attention.

So this new design shows what the modern version of it is,

but also very traditional.

It's, yeah, it's a new thing that kind of distills the Corvette

to its basics almost.

It's simple, but it's, it's, it could be nothing but Corvette.

Like there's a few key elements about it that to get,

individually the elements mean nothing,

but together they make this, yeah.

I think we always think of it like, you know,

Porsche, they are a very small clock spinning turn

every time they do a new generation.

You know, it's almost like, where's Walter?

You got to find the differences.

That's not Corvette.

Corvette, we want to make sure that every time we do a

generation, it feels really new.

It's a very big jump forward.

It's a wall, still making those cues that make it

where it's like, wow, it is unmistakably Corvette,

which is a really difficult thing.

It's like, oh, we want to make sure we go very far out there.

You're like going to the opposite.

But you still make sure.

We don't lose it.

It doesn't become generic.

You still keep it.

So that's really always the challenge we have

with Corvette.

And even that's why every time when we do a new car,

the cross flags even change and evolve, right?

Every generation is its own kind of story,

and it's less about being just kind of stuck in time.

It really is about every time we do a new one,

a big jump.

And that's what's the benefit of doing these concept cars.

It really allows, when we start thinking about future programs

and future cars, we can literally point at something.

Look, we want to get to something like this, right?

And it really gives everybody outside of design,

they can fully understand what we're trying to get to.

It's funny you mentioned the 911, right?

Which is an iconic car, but they do like,

they evolve very incrementally.

And that's their thing.

We kind of were discussing what we just came,

like we kind of said, like our evolution is revolution.

We, every time we reinvent,

but every time it's the spirit is there.

The interesting thing also yesterday is like,

this week, Monterey Car Week, everything is here.

I mean, every supercar is here.

Yesterday, when we were driving, we saw a car van of Bugatti,

like 12 of them.

And still, the Corvette draws attention.

So that's something good about your job.

You know, this is the first time Corvette's been at Quill.

And I was just going to say, I've never seen you guys here before.

Correct.

And this is where, you know, with the ZR1X and the customers

we're talking to, the price point we're at,

we're like, we feel like we're able to,

we felt like we're already at that level for a while

when we launched Corvette.

But now we really feel like, you know,

the numbers that car puts out, you know,

and what it's really beating out there as far as competition,

we really feel like, oh, we're at the moment.

This is the time to really show up with these concepts,

with that production car and really make our presence

at Quill known and, you know,

it's part of the conversation here for real.

And there was a fairly big crowd during your press conference.

So it's not like you didn't draw people in.

Yes.

We have the heritage and the pedigree.

We're the longest running sports car nameplate in the world,

older than 9-11 by 10 years.

Well, now you're the new West at the Quill.

Congratulations.

Thank you very much for your time.

And congratulations at the job.

The cars look amazing.

Thank you.

And we can wait to play with that.

Interesting future coming up.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, gentlemen.

So there you go, Carl.

What do you think?

Can Corvette compete with the Porsches that they were

mentioning or the Lamborghini phenomena that we just saw

or other cars?

What do you think?

Well, I mean, I think Corvette's history

of high value performance,

spending relatively little and getting a lot

in terms of the kind of numbers you generate

on the spreadsheet when you're going to the test track

has always existed and will always exist.

The bigger hurdle is trying to convert the brand

and the image of the vehicle into something

that's a truly premium vehicle.

And I think everything from how many they produce,

of course, they've got that limited production.

Yeah, 100.

Of the Quill special version of the ZR1.

So that's a good sign.

But personally, I would like to see Corvette evolve away

from some of the things that are so traditional about it,

like the big two golf club trunk.

I've said this before in various articles on Forbes and all

is that I stop making the car for who you've made it

for for so many years.

And I think that's very tough for them.

I think it's like, well, we don't want to lose

our original customers.

It's like, well, you can't, like so many things,

you know, you can't straddle two things

and do both of them well.

Exactly.

And they're trying that.

They even mention it.

They want to be revolutionary but keep it

like more or less traditional.

So it's difficult.

It's a tough challenge.

I feel like if you're trying to do two things at once,

you can't do both of them really well typically.

And one other thing I just wanted to note

is that they talked about how it's the longest running

sports car from 1953, except it didn't exist for one year.

I believe it was 1982 or 83.

I always forget, but it's one of those two years.

There was no Corvette.

It almost died.

And then that's when GM, you know,

thankfully decided to keep building it.

There's a book out there called All Corvettes Are Red.

It talks about how hard it was to keep that car model

alive throughout so many different changes at GM,

because the bean counters, as always happens in

corporate America, couldn't see the point of it.

And thankfully the car guys won, but they almost lost

and they lost long enough that they,

that it went away for one year.

So it does not have, so the 9-11,

not that I own one and I'm biased or anything like that,

but the 9-11 is the longest running,

unbroken production produced sports car from 63 until now.

But they're doing very interesting.

I have to admit that the modern version of the CR1 looks,

or the current version of the CR1 looks really amazing.

I drove it yesterday, not to its full capacity,

because we were in traffic here.

You can't go on a public street.

It's like 1,064 horsepower, but it felt really good,

very refined.

And again, as I mentioned, and this is not a lie,

I mean, we were driving around Bugattis,

Ferraris, Lamborghinis and people came to see,

what is this?

It's the new CR1.

It looks beautiful.

We had a yellow color, so it draws more attention even.

But I mean, I think they're doing something cool

and the concept cars look very good.

The concept cars are really exciting to me,

because they don't look at all like the current ones at all.

I'm going to just be frank.

I'm not a fan of the current one's styling.

I feel like it's like a garish Ferrari.

It's trying to be a Ferrari, but it's like a Ferrari

that someone who needed to stop about 70% in.

It's like, OK, no more lines, no more body panels,

no more pieces, stop.

And that often seems to be a challenge within the GM

design house.

I mean, there was the Pontiac brand for the brand of the

claddings and all that and stuff like that.

So it's like, OK, sometimes less is more, guys.

So I would love to see a less is more approach to the Corvette's

design.

And when I look at these concepts, they look much cleaner

and more streamlined.

We'll see what it is.

And now if we keep coming to the queuing the next few years,

we'll keep seeing maybe Corvette here.

Like I said, it's not that I don't want American car

companies and models to succeed.

I would love for them to all succeed.

But I've got to be honest when I have my issues,

hopefully that the feedback gets to somebody

makes a decision.

Well, it's a good thing that you said it.

Yeah.

So let's keep enjoying the queues.

I think there's a lot of free food too here.

Yeah, I know.

I feel like you could run nonstop for six hours here

and you're going to still miss stuff.

OK, thank you, girl.

See you.

That's a wrap for this episode of the Total Car Score

podcast.

Want more expert takes on the hottest cars, industry trends

and insider insights?

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See you next time.

This product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating.

And so, as a black woman in recovery,

hope must be loud.

It grows louder when you ask for help

and you're vulnerable.

It is the first time I've ever seen a black woman

in a black woman's life.

It grows louder when you ask for help

and you're vulnerable.

It is the thread that lets you know that no matter

what happens, you will be OK.

When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible.

Find out how at startwithhope.com.

Brought to you by the National Council

for Mental Well-being, Shatterproof and the Ad Council.

S6E45 – Chevrolet Corvette at The Quail: Past, Present & Future

Chevrolet Corvette

Porsche 911

Mercury Monterey

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