[VIDEO] Hot Rod Magazine Destroys a C4 Corvette

Hot Rod Magazine has a feature coming out later this year in which they take a C4 Corvette and show you how to make it outrun a new Corvette for dirt cheap. To help promote the story, they released a teaser vid on the Corvette Forum which shows the hot rod staff literally tearing and cutting apart a 1985 Corvette. Big mistake according to the C4 Corvette owners who have chimed in against the gratuitous destruction of their favorite sports car.

Despite the Hot Rod employee in the video claiming to have taken apart a “perfectly good Corvette”, follow up comments from the staff say this was a flood car with very little value. Corvette owners disagree and rightly point out that the teaser video shows very little “Hot-Rodding”.

Editor in Chief David Freiburger posted the following in response to the hubbub:

And what if I told you all that we’re going to make that thing outrun a new Corvette for dirt cheap? That was a teaser vid…not the whole story. On purpose. More to come.

None of you would have bought a single body or interior part off of that thing. Maybe the hood and lights. The top was crazed, nose cracked, rear hatch cracked and gross tinted, interior totally disgusting. It had been flooded.

I don’t see Corvette guys getting irate when street rodders buy cheap C4s, rob the suspension, and send them to the junkyard. Does that mean they hate all C4s? The difference is that we had some fun being buffoons, and we’re actually using the entire chassis? OK. We made it go faster and look better for no money. That’s hot rodding.

Have at it.

David Freiburger
Editor In Chief
Hot Rod Magazine
[email protected]

I do find it interesting that Hot Rod, who is a sponsor of the Corvette Forum, would actually think this video would be well received without the full context of the condition of the Corvette as well as telling readers what to expect in the future. When the backlash by forum readers forces Hot Rod’s Editor to try to clarify the purpose of the teaser video and then at the same time berates members for not being upset when C4 Corvettes are parted out for their suspensions, it only adds fuel to the flames. An interesting exercise in messaging for sure, but we’ll reserve judgment until we see the full feature.

And speaking of controlling the message, the wizards of smart at the Corvette Forum have closed the thread, cutting off debate between their sponsor and the people who are both critical as well as supportive of the magazine’s C4 teardown.

Source:
Hot Rod’s YouTube Channel via Jalopnik

Related:
[FAIL] Escape from Flooded Barn Goes Horribly Wrong for C4 Corvette Owner
[PIC] 1984 Corvette Crumpled by Falling Trees in Winter Storm
[VIDEO] Killing a C4 Corvette for the Cash for Clunkers Program