I do know that Chevrolet are often seen as flaky, and probably some of their cars have earned them this reputation fairly, but the Corvette is a fab car, very reliable and every bit as fun and speedy as the rivals in the market. In fairness I haven't driven the competitors, but my partner has driven a few and he says our Chevrolet Corvette is the business, at least for the money we paid.
We got a coupe not a soft top, mostly cos we were concerned about crime, but I'm glad we did now because it's a bit noisy so I'm sure the soft top would have been much worse.
I do kinda wish we got a manual though. It's more fun and just more involving to be able to change the gears. The auto box works ok though, but the manual has six gears! That just makes me laugh really, it would be fun to be changing up to sixth!
The good thing about the automatic is that it gets better fuel consumption in town driving, which is what it's mostly doing, or at least stop start type stuff if on motorway or in town, and it gets high 20s MPG, which isn't so great really. I mean it's good for a big engine sports car like this, but on a grand scale the pressure is on to buy something a bit more economical.
We've only had our Chevvy Corvette a year or so second hand, but haven't had any trouble so far. The driver seat doesn't always secure into place first time, but that's about it. And the engine check warning comes on if it's taken a little too fast, but to be expected I suppose. We hardly ever do that anyway so it's not a real problem, although if that's what you're buying it for then it might be worth test driving it at speed first.
The Chevrolet Corvette is such a classic American car; the very name conjures up images of bald eagles and apple pies, but it's actually quite un-American in design. Personally I can't stand American cars - they're brutish, boxy, vulgar and inefficient, but the Chevvy Corvette is a real sports car, and that's why I bought mine.
I dislike the early models (the pre-V8 marks are a joke), but Chevrolet have managed to gradually refine the car throughout the decades and I considered the 1998 version the first one worthy of its pretty massive price tag. It looks sleek in the way that only a sports car can and it performs as well as many of its European counterparts. The interesting thing about the Corvette is how fast it can stay running. It sustains high speeds very well (if you can handle the wind noise).
I am not one of the Cult of Chevvy nutters who think that this is the greatest car ever created, but what Chevrolet have finally produced is a respectable, good-looking sports car with some appealing assets, which is definitely worth a look.