Heaven Forbid: A Corvette from Toyota? - Autoblog

[RamJet502]

Hell no, the Corvette dies with Chevrolet!

[red_rider]

Originally Posted by MonaroSS

They have the money to keep Corvette at the top of its game. Unlike the high performance I4's and V6 mentality of say Honda, Toyota does appreciate the big capacity V8. They could slip in the 5.7 DI V8 from the Tundra as a base engine and build from there.

Toyota's 5.7 DOHC could likely add noseweight, they should adopt GM's pushrod design.

*Pukes in mouth a little and stops thinking about a Toyota 'Vette immediately*

[BigAls87Z28]

Give me 5 reasons why I shouldnt ban you right now Monaro?

And when did Toyota get a DI V8? Someone should tell Toyota that.

[SuperSS27]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

Give me 5 reasons why I shouldnt ban you right now Monaro?

This thread suck!

[BGH]

I would say Mazda or Honda would be a better fit, and they could buy the patents for the small block. Honda is coming out with its own V8 and already has tons of engine expertise (they sell more engines than anyone), so they could have some flexibility.

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

What is Corvette it is just a word...

I mean Toyota can make their own Corvette beater and have a different name... there is no patent on the formula of a front/mid-engine vee eight rear driver 2 seater hatchback vehicle...

[wescoent]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

Give me 5 reasons why I shouldnt ban you right now Monaro?

And when did Toyota get a DI V8? Someone should tell Toyota that.

Relax. It's just a "What If?" scenario, in the quite realistic event GM goes into Chapter 7. Is it an unpleasant possibility? Sure. But you should be angrier with GM management getting into this spot than you ought to be with MonaroSS for talking about it.

How is the Toyota-ized Corvette, which is basically a rebadge of GM's pride and joy, ANY different from THIS, which is a Chevy rebadge of Toyota's pride and joy?



AND as a final point, because I'm so irked at even the suggestion of banning someone for this, I'll bring up this possibility. I wonder what your reaction would be if Ford went into Chapter 7, GM bought the tooling and rights for the Mustang, and turned it into a Chevy.

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by wescoent

Relax. It's just a "What If?" scenario, in the quite realistic event GM goes into Chapter 7. Is it an unpleasant possibility? Sure. But you should be angrier with GM management getting into this spot than you ought to be with MonaroSS for talking about it.

How is the Toyota-ized Corvette, which is basically a rebadge of GM's pride and joy, ANY different from THIS, which is a Chevy rebadge of Toyota's pride and joy?

How many Corrola enthusiest clubs are there across Noth America, or the world for that matter? How many people have made a name for themselves by driving a Corrolla to victory in racing? How many people have made a living by chronicling the Corrolla's history and speculating at it's future? That's the difference. The answer might not be zero for the Corrolla, but the numbers can't stack up to that of the Corvette.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by wescoent

Relax. It's just a "What If?" scenario, in the quite realistic event GM goes into Chapter 7. Is it an unpleasant possibility? Sure. But you should be angrier with GM management getting into this spot than you ought to be with MonaroSS for talking about it.

How is the Toyota-ized Corvette, which is basically a rebadge of GM's pride and joy, ANY different from THIS, which is a Chevy rebadge of Toyota's pride and joy?



AND as a final point, because I'm so irked at even the suggestion of banning someone for this, I'll bring up this possibility. I wonder what your reaction would be if Ford went into Chapter 7, GM bought the tooling and rights for the Mustang, and turned it into a Chevy.

The fact you even ask those kinds of questions shows how hopelessly lost you really are.

Is this all about avoiding discussion of Toyota's results for October in Europe - including Lexus - whom the Corvette alone is competitive with on sales numbers ie Corvette (Worldwide) vs (all) Lexus EU15 ???
__________________

[wescoent]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

How many Corrola enthusiest clubs are there across Noth America, or the world for that matter? How many people have made a name for themselves by driving a Corrolla to victory in racing? How many people have made a living by chronicling the Corrolla's history and speculating at it's future? That's the difference. The answer might not be zero for the Corrolla, but the numbers can't stack up to that of the Corvette.

Oh, so we're going here, are we?

Know what this is?

[wescoent]

Originally Posted by AMERICA 123

The fact you even ask those kinds of questions shows how hopelessly lost you really are.

Is this all about avoiding discussion of Toyota's results for October in Europe ???
__________________

You mean the fact that Toyota sells poorly in Europe? Is this really news, or shocking to anyone?

What does that have to do with asking, in the event of liquidation, where the Corvette operation would best be kept?

I maintain a private shop, operating in alliances with other companies, would be the best steward of the name, much like the Viper.

[Triple-X08]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

How many Corrola enthusiest clubs are there across Noth America, or the world for that matter? How many people have made a name for themselves by driving a Corrolla to victory in racing? How many people have made a living by chronicling the Corrolla's history and speculating at it's future? That's the difference. The answer might not be zero for the Corrolla, but the numbers can't stack up to that of the Corvette.

exactly. how can you even compare the two. the vette would never be cross produced, it is a GM heritage item, killing the vette would be killing GM, and the same for GM killing the vette, it just would not make sense. every manufacturer needs a car that has a religeous following and shows the pure power of the car maker, as in the case of the vette, there are so many clubs and people that are basically a cult. its insane the amount of people follow the heritage and future of this car. there isnt any toyota models that can compare to the backing of the vette. 50+ years and still going, a legend in racing, on the street, and a legend of GM, let alone the small block as well, as it has been the bread and butter of the vette, showing what it can really do. and just in stock form.

if GM were to sell the vette to any other manufacturer i guarantee you that all hell would break loose.

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

Originally Posted by wescoent

AND as a final point, because I'm so irked at even the suggestion of banning someone for this, .

That is pretty ****in bad... I mean it is like anti-Western civilisation

[wescoent]

Originally Posted by Triple-X08

exactly. how can you even compare the two. the vette would never be cross produced, it is a GM heritage item, killing the vette would be killing GM, and the same for GM killing the vette, it just would not make sense. every manufacturer needs a car that has a religeous following and shows the pure power of the car maker, as in the case of the vette, there are so many clubs and people that are basically a cult. its insane the amount of people follow the heritage and future of this car. there isnt any toyota models that can compare to the backing of the vette. 50+ years and still going, a legend in racing, on the street, and a legend of GM, let alone the small block as well, as it has been the bread and butter of the vette, showing what it can really do. and just in stock form.

if GM were to sell the vette to any other manufacturer i guarantee you that all hell would break loose.

Okay, once again... the topic is, IF GM goes into Chapter 7, and everything is auctioned off to the highest bidder, where does the 'Vette go?

Worst thing that'll happen is no one will buy them from anyone but GM, but the jury is still out on that.

[Tone]

The Corvette has brand equity with or without GM, IMO.

IF GM went under, I could foresee a couple of scenerios:

- The Corvette would become like the Avanti was for Studebaker. When that company collapsed, a company bought the tooling and naming rights and continued to build the Avanti II as a "cottage industry" car for several decades.

- Given the number of companies dedicated to tuning Covettes, it seems plausable that someone like Callaway could buy the rights to the Corvette and make the jump to a auto manufacturer. Given the huge aftermaket for smallblock parts (including block castings) it seems conceivable that a small maker could continue making the car. The question mark would be development dollars to continue to evolve it and keep it up to date.

- Another scenerio is an emerging automaker looking to capitalize on the significant brand equity and heritage in the Corvette name. For example, India's Tata has shown an willingness to pick up heritage names if the price is right (Jaguar and Land Rover). Perhaps they'd be willing to do the same with the Corvette.

Even in bankrupcy, I'm not sure GM would give up the Covette, though. I'm not sure it would raise enough money to be worth it and they'd be giving up a low volume, high margin car that brings customers that probably wouldn't consider GM otherwise.

The other possibility is to "outsource" -- sell the Bowling Green plant and other assets to someone like Callaway and agree to contract with them to build the car and share engineering/development costs. That might get GM some cash, preserve the car within their lineup and allow an organization that is passionate about the car to continue to deal with manufacturing/engineering.