QUICK SHIFTS: Buying Vintage Vettes, 30th Anniversary of Def Leppard Crash, LA Times C8 Review, Corvette Trivia and More

Welcome to the first edition of Quick Shifts for 2020! Quick Shifts is a content feature here at CorvetteBlogger featuring links to Corvette and automotive-related stories of interest.

Check out these automotive quick shifts featuring classic Corvette buying tips, why Def Leppard is afraid of Corvettes, a history of the ‘Vette’s 0-60 times, L.A. Times Reviews the 2020 Corvette, skepticism about Hennessey’s claimed C8 power numbers, Corvette Trivia, and two throwback videos.

FIRST GEAR

We want to start off by highlighting an article from Hemmings’ January issue. It is titled “So, You Want to Buy a Vintage Corvette…” and, in it, Barry Kluczyk gives some excellent guidance on shopping for a classic ‘Vette. If you are currently in the market or hoping to finally pull the trigger on your dream car this year, this is a great read!

Check it out at Hemmings.com.

SECOND GEAR

Next, coming directly to you from the personal inbox of our founder, is the quick and captivating story about how a Corvette rollover in 1984 caused Def Leppard’s drummer, Rick Allen to lose an arm and go on to become the most famous one-armed musician in modern history.

Check it out DefLeppardUK.com

THIRD GEAR

We somehow missed this great slideshow from Car and Driver a month ago but want to share it with you now. C&D put together “A Brief History” of how fast Corvettes from each generation made/make the sprint to 60 MPH. What makes this so great is that all of the numbers are from the pages of their storied magazine and the classic photography is as interesting as the data.

Follow the ups and downs of ‘Vette performance at CarandDriver.com.

FOURTH GEAR

Is the C8 Corvette too good to be true? Interesting question considering this is written by the L.A. Times in southern California, the mid engine sports car Mecca of the world, where more ME’s are sold than everywhere else in the world. So is the C8 “too good to be true”? The Times’ Sue Callaway drives a Rapid Blue 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51 Coupe and offers up a well-rounded review of what she calls Zora’s Dream.

Read it at the L.A. Times

FIFTH GEAR:

Hagerty’s Bozi Tatarevic posed an interesting question about the Corvette’s most controversial tuner. His article “Can Hennessey Deliver on its Horsepower Promises for the 2020 C8 Corvette?” is a great read and is accented nicely by Hennessey’s rendering of what their top Stingray package could look like, we particularly like the US flag on the wing end caps and the roof-mounted intake!

Keep on questioning here at Hagarty.com.

SIXTH GEAR

Corvette Trivia! We have a good one for you this week! We made 11 lists of Corvette things including “Corvette Chief Engineers,” “Corvette Racing Drivers,” “Horsepower Numbers,” “Engine Names,” multiple “Important Corvette Dates,” and more. We then jumbled all 50 of the possible answers and it is up to you to put them all back in the correct categories. Can you complete our biggest round of trivia yet without making a mistake? Good luck!

Test your Corvette Trivia knowledge now!

REVERSE

In honor of the only cars to make two of our Best Corvettes from each Decade countdown, reverse gear takes you back to the final two years of C6 production. First up is a write-up and video featuring Road and Track putting every flavor of 2012 Corvette through its paces. All of them are looking fantastic in the special Centennial Edition Carbon Flash Metallic. Then, from 2013, is a video from R&T’s sister publication, Car and Driver. They cut straight to the chase and pit our award winners, the Z07 equipped Z06 and the ZR1 with the PDE performance package against each other. The best part of this era is how drastically different the personalities of Chevy’s two top dogs were even though they looked similar, we are hoping to see this kind of distinction between models return as the C8 portfolio continues to expand!

Read more about it at here or catch the video below:

Related:
Collector Car Values, Car of the Year Award, Brad Paisley’s Corvette Obsession and More
40 MPG C5 Corvette, Ode to the Burnout, 1963 Found on Christmas Tree Farm, Catsburg Tapped for C8.R, Corvette Trivia
MT Car of the Year Finalist, C8 Turns Hater Into Fan, Z06 Steering Wheels, Grand Sport History, Corvette Trivia