[VIDEO] Chris Harris Finally Gets to Drive the C8 Corvette Stingray

Happy Fourth of July Weekend, Corvette Nation! You know how the founding fathers would want us to celebrate? By watching a small British man drift around in America’s Sports Car, of course! Like the rest of you out there in Corvetteland, we’ve had more than our fill of the less-than-qualified, undertalented, and often insincere “influencers” that have been front-and-center for all of this Corvette generation’s media rounds! Well, friends, Chris Harris is the official antidote to the no-charisma club that has taken hold of the reins recently!

Somehow, the main draw on an automotive YouTube channel with 8.71 million followers, nearly 900,000 unique Instagram followers, and the headliner of a little program called Top Gear hasn’t been able to sample the mid-engine Corvette until now. And other than cutting the whole exercise a little short, he doesn’t disappoint during his turn behind the wheel! People with influencer fatigue will appreciate Harris’ enthusiastic but no-nonsense and mostly unbiased approach. It also doesn’t hurt that the guy is as fun to watch drive as anyone out there.

He’s no longer in it just because he loves it, though. You can add Harris’ name to the long list of people attempting to cash in by mimicking the Bring a Trailer business model – Doug DeMuro’s Cars and Bids startup recently scored him a $37 million investment which he turned into a Porsche Carrera GT for himself. Harris’ take on BAT is called Collecting Cars, and it differentiates itself by catering to international customers, which should ensure its survival in the wild west of fresh imitators. All of this is to say that the new C8 video sees Harris and an Amplify Orange Stingray attacking Willow Springs courtesy of the separate CC channel.

The self-anointed “Harris Monkey” kicks off the proceedings by voicing his excitement about finally getting a go with the latest version of America’s most iconic vehicle while effortlessly power-sliding around corners. The car immediately strikes him as a competent ride with immense front-end bite and excellent balance. He sums up the experience as “European but American” in the best way possible because of the ‘Vette’s unique mix of sophisticated, old-world-like architecture and that familiar large bore shock-and-awe powerplant. He goes on to say that the LT2 is exactly what he wants out of the Plastic Fantastic.

What he keeps coming back to is the value proposition presented by the C8. It’s a good value in the UK, but he can’t believe the price available to US customers and harps on how lucky we are; “how do they do this for the money?” became the chorus of his tune! The best verse of the song, though, is one that you won’t often hear from an overseas presenter. Chris outright claims that the Corvette chassis beats that of the vaunted Porsche 911 in many ways because it is “inherently better suited to going around corners.”

Unfortunately, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Harris isn’t a fan of the steering wheel shape or how high he sits in the C8, but it’s outside where most of his gripes lie. Right away, he likens the “confusing-looking” C8 to two different cars that have been welded together in the middle. He also can’t decide if the interior is ergonomically all over the place or a bit of genius. It is very nice to have all C6-era seat complaints well in the rearview now; he says the C8’s thrones pinch perfectly, and he compliments the driver-centric nature of the interior before heading back out on the track for a brief closing where he genuinely proclaims “I really like this car!” Hit play below to see the whole thing for yourself, and be sure to follow Chris’ lead by taking a moment to be thankful to live in this great country while you hopefully carve out some time to work out your Corvette this Fourth of July!

Source:
Collecting Cars / YouTube

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