I completely get what Eric Peters is saying here, as I have similar impulses in almost all matters too. But in nearly my entire lifetime-- I was born in 1981-- the Corvette was America's sports car, whereas models like the Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger were what Peters is describing in the post: huge engine, poor handling but over-the-top brutishness, and so forth.

In making the Corvette mid-engined, that nearly forty year-old paradigm is simply being maintained: those pony car options are still out there en masse for Eric Peters. The only terrible thing will be if the C8 doesn't come with a manual transmission option. Even if I could afford one, I would never buy one as a result. But maybe I'm talking out both sides of my mouth: why not do the Euro-exotic all the way?

Which leads me to the conclusion that what the world is really missing is an affordable sports car that isn't slow. The Corvette used to sort of be that car, in base model trims-- but no longer. When brand new, the cheapest trim of my 2003 350z was quicker in the quarter mile than a Porsche 911 Carerra or Mustang GT, and got better skidpad numbers too than even the Porsche-- and it was available for under $30k! Where is that equivalent today?

Nissan still sells brand new 370z's, but the model has fallen hopelessly behind in terms of power. The modern-day equivalent would be a V8-powered Z car-- or something else-- with 400+ bhp. But due to the government, the only way to generate that power without going afoul of fleet-averaged "CAFE" mandates is with a turbo-- or twin turbo-- V6. Which means, forget being affordable.

A friend of mine at work recently bought a Kia Stinger-- totally different class of car, mind you-- and it has a twin turbo V6. MSRP was something like $50k! So I've essentially given up on any prospect of ever owning a car in a performance class above what I've already got, between my 350z and wifey's WRX. As for the ham-fisted, forced "emergence" of electric cars, they are quick, but handle like rubbish due to having hundreds of pounds of batteries strapped to them. Take a look at the Tesla Roadster handling, versus the Lotus Elise.