Up next in 10
CORVETTE TODAY #161 - Corvette News & Headlines, Mid-May 2023
0 views
Jul 11, 2025
CORVETTE TODAY #161 - Corvette News & Headlines, mid-May 2023 It's difficult to follow up an epic show like last week's CORVETTE TODAY episode with Harlan Charles, Tadge Juechter and Josh Holder. But the news doesn't stop - especially when it's Corvette news! Your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett, teams up again with Keith Cornett from CorvetteBlogger to keep you current and up-to-date on what's happening with America's Sports Car. Here are some of the topics covered in next week's show: 1. A new Bowling Green Assembly Plant Director is named to follow the retiring Kai Spande 2. GM tweeks the 2023 Order Guide to allow Museum Delivery and custom Z06 interiors to dealer sold orders 3. The C8 Z06 HTC will pace the 107th Indianapolis 500
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music] Welcome to Corvette Today, the podcast
0:06
that talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett, MC and DJ at one of the largest Corvette weekends
0:12
in the country, Corvette Funfest, president of the Corvette Club of Kansas City, Missouri, and radio disc jockey at
0:19
the number one radio station in Kansas City for over 40 years. Here's Steve Garrett.
0:28
Thanks for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette and the only
0:34
current podcast dedicated to Corvette. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. I appreciate you tuning in. Corvette Today
0:40
is brought to you by Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Learn
0:45
about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most
0:50
models, and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or
0:56
call 833-639-4231. You can listen to Corvette today on all
1:01
podcast platforms. You can also listen on your smart device. Just say, "Hey Google," or "Alexa, play the podcast
1:07
called Corvette today." And you're connected. Be sure and visit the updated Corvette Today website. It's
1:12
corvette.com. You can also access everything there, including the Corvette Today merchandise
1:17
store. You can also join the Corvette Today Facebook group there and sign up for Corvette Today emails,
1:23
notifications, and updates at corvette.page. And if you like YouTube, you can
1:30
subscribe to the Corvette Today YouTube channel. See all Corvette Today episodes on YouTube. And be sure and patronize
1:36
our flagship sponsors of Corvette today. Aerolari wheels, a true forge wheel with over 20 different unique styles to
1:43
choose from for your C8 and widebody versions of the C7, C6, and C5 Corvettes. It's an amazing value
1:50
starting at only 23.88 for a set of four fully forged wheels. And use the promo
1:55
code CT111 and get $100 off your purchase. Visit aerolari.com. That's a r
2:03
i.com. and use the promo code CT111 for your $100 discount. And Soul Performance
2:10
Products, developed and manufactured in the United States, the Soul Performance Products exhaust portfolio has been
2:16
tailored to elevate the experience of the world's most exciting sports cars, including the latest generation of the
2:21
Corvette. Soul Performance Products, the official exhaust of Corvette today. Also, mid-enine Corvette Forum.com, the
2:28
forum that focuses on the new mid-enine C8 Corvette. Meet a lot of Corvette enthusiasts like yourself at
2:34
mid-enginecorvetforum.com. And a shout out to Corvette Forum and Canadianc Forum.com, welcoming Corvette
2:41
enthusiasts from around the world. It's time to bring you the latest Corvette news and headlines with my pal Keith
2:47
Cornet from corvette blogger.com. Keith is here every other week to keep you current and uptodate on what's happening
2:53
with America Sports Car. Keith, it's good to have you back on the show. It's going to be a tough follow-up from last
2:58
week's show, buddy. Yeah, you know, those are some big footsteps to fill. Of course, we talking about uh last week's
3:03
podcast. You had Tad's Josh and Haron all on the show all at once. That was a lot of fun. Actually, I was in the room
3:09
as it was going on. Did a little bit of the filming there. Just so much great information to come out of there. And again, whenever you can get that
3:16
information coming directly from the Corvette team, that's the show you want to tune in. Absolutely. And I got to thank you and
3:21
also Jeremy Wellbornne for videotaping that for us. We had that video on
3:26
YouTube. Yeah, that's one of those where I went straight to the YouTube video first as opposed to the audio podcast
3:32
because obviously the three guys are there talking. Of course, we get to see you in action which is somewhat of a treat. Never seen that before. So, yeah,
3:38
that was a really good video, Steve. I've always been told, Keith, I have a great face for radio, so I keep it that way.
3:45
Right on. Keith, again, thank you so much for videotaping it along with Jeremy Wellbornne. And thanks to Jeremy for
3:51
putting the YouTube video together for us. Well, buddy, let's start out our show as we always do with an update on
3:56
production at the Bowling Green assembly plant. So, we're watching the 2023 Corvette Stingrays, which again, the quantities
4:03
coming out of the plant are just it seems like, you know, oh, we've been supply chain issues and, you know,
4:08
they're not building as many cars, but, you know, we're really closing in on some significant numbers. It looks like we're about 32,500 regular Stingrays
4:15
produced so far and another 3,400 70th anniversary Corvette Stingrays. We're
4:20
closing in on 36,000 Stingrays for the model year. Again, just tremendous numbers. And then we had the 2023
4:27
Corvette Z06. We had a big push right around the NCM bash. I think Kai Bandandy during his seminar pointed out
4:32
that they had built 250 in a week, which is obviously a great number. We've seen it quieted down a little bit since then.
4:38
They did a production number of 208 after that and then 147. Our last update shows 2,125
4:45
Z06s and those are the regular ones and then another 470th anniversary models. That's good for over 200 Z06es produced
4:52
for the year. And it looks like we've still got some time to go. I would say we're probably going to close in on 3,000. Hopefully, it would be a great
4:58
number for that first inaugural year. And again, the ramp up has been so slow, but they keep talking about just wanting
5:04
to get it right and moving forward that way. So hopefully we are going to see a little bit more of a production push
5:09
there. We did get some other news regarding ordering. GM did do a round of Stingray allocations in May. In fact,
5:15
they're just wrapping up that order cycle this week. Usually Tuesdays when everything is all finalized with the
5:21
constraints. We did learn that the 70th anniversary package was on partial constraint which means that it wasn't free flow. Anybody that wanted one could
5:27
get one. They only had certain quantities available. Somewhat surprising coming this late in the model run, but these things do happen. The one
5:33
last thing we heard about this is again that we're looking at May ordering and then June will most likely be the final
5:39
month to order the 2023 Stingray and the Z06. So we're kind of paying attention to that. Of course, Chevrolet is running
5:46
the 2023 model year through September 1st and then they take off the long weekend for Labor Day and come back on
5:51
Tuesday and start building the 2024s. That probably means that ordering will start sometime in July. I know we're
5:57
going to get the visualizer and the order guides are all coming in July. So, usually pricing comes right after that and then ordering. So, lots of stuff
6:04
happening this summer. And again, it's always interesting when stuff comes towards the end of the finish line for a model year.
6:10
Absolutely right. And also, we're losing two colors, aren't we? It's not losing. We lost two colors,
6:15
Steve. It was interesting because normally these colors, we knew they were coming to an end. Their replacements
6:21
were named earlier this year. We have, of course, Riptide Blue is replacing Elcart Lake Blue, which has been running
6:26
since 2019. It's a long run for that color. And then, of course, Cacti is replacing the boutique color that
6:31
caffeine for 2024. Of course, caffeine was just a one-year only color as well. Normally, GM will give dealers a heads
6:37
up when they announce the final buildout dates. They'll be like, "Yeah, you need to place your orders here because the last time we're building these colors
6:42
are there." But that didn't happen here. We found out about it on Wednesday last week and then dealers found out about it
6:49
Thursday as they were trying to submit an order. They were just getting error message saying the color was already built out. These dealers had all these
6:55
orders lined up to put in, they had their numbers, but they didn't know that Elcart Lake Blue was going away. So when
7:01
they tried to do that, oops, your color's going away. And then you go back to an owner who's been set on that certain color and then to tell him you
7:07
need to pick another one. That's tough. It's tough for everybody around. But again, these are colors that we knew that were ending. We got some production
7:14
totals from the NCM Bash. You know, there's 14 exterior colors on the 2023 Corvettes. Elcart Lake Blue is at 5% of
7:21
the Stingray production, and that was ranked ninth out of 14. And then caffeine came in ranked last with just
7:27
1%. So, if you extrapolate those numbers, we're only looking about 380 or so caffeine stingrays running around in
7:34
the wild. For the Z06, Elkart Lake Blue was at 4%, but it was ranked 13th of 14th exterior. So it was second to last
7:41
there. And of course dead last again was caffeine which accounts for just 1% of Z06 production. So again you extrapolate
7:47
that number out. There's maybe 20 21 22 caffeine Z06es out in the wild. We've
7:52
seen a couple of them. I think one of the very first ones that Mike Ferman delivered was a caffeine car. They do look pretty in the sun. So it's always
7:58
sad when the color goes away but then it's always kind of exciting when new colors come on. So we'll be watching to see what happens with Riptide, the
8:04
cacti, and of course the Seawolf gray color coming out as well. I did like that Seawolf gray. That was really cool
8:10
when you pair that up with some of that carbon fiber trim and the carbon fiber roof and stuff. Yeah, it does pop. It's
8:15
a battleship color, but some people really like it. We haven't really had that combination for a while, so it's going to be interesting to see how well
8:21
it does. I think it's actually going to do pretty good, especially on the Z06. I bet it does higher numbers on the Z06
8:26
than it does on the Stingray. We'll be watching, that's for sure. Also, buddy, I was glad to see this. GM has tweaked
8:32
their order guide to allow the museum RHC delivery and custom Z06 interiors to
8:37
dealer sold orders because now that's all we've got is dealer sold orders. Right. Exactly. So that was a deadline of April
8:44
5th that GM said to dealers all customer sold orders have to be in. We think that's just they don't want to get
8:50
caught out with all these orders that may not get produced and then they have to do price protection and and get those
8:56
people rolled over into the next model year. this way with the dealer stock orders there's no price protection or
9:01
anything like that. The good dealers are then ordering these cars based on the specs of their customers. But as a
9:07
dealer stock order, they could not do the museum delivery, which is a huge draw for people. There's been a lot of
9:12
Z06s going through the RHC program. So, we are glad to see that happen. And then
9:17
some of the customization that happens on the interior, they have a little bit more freedom to do that with the R6X RPO
9:24
there. They're trying to serve their customers. We think that's good. Still not sure why they went to the dealer
9:29
stock orders only in April when we have May and June allocations that are most likely going to go out. I think they're
9:35
just trying to be better safe than sorry on any orders that don't get built and then they have to make up.
9:40
Yeah, that was a head scratcher, but at least we've got orders flowing in through July and August. Yeah, with the last order cycle we saw,
9:47
there was a good number of Z07s as well. So, there's been some stories about is the Z07 Aero package, is it free flowing
9:53
again? Is it better? It seems to be improved. I don't know if it's fixed. It's no longer an issue, but it it does
9:58
seem to be readily improved. It does seem to be better, for sure. I love the NCM Bash, Keith. As you know,
10:04
you and I go every single year. We got some sad news. As of August 1st, we have a new Bowling Green assembly plant
10:10
director, don't we? Yeah. Kai Spandandy has been with the Corvette assembly plant, I believe, for about eight years. When the GM buyout
10:17
opportunity came up, he jumped on it. I think his wife also took the buyout as well, right? She also works for General Motors, so
10:23
they're going to be retiring. They've got a new guy coming. His name is Raymond Therrell, I believe is his last
10:28
name, and I think he goes by Ray as well. It's not been a public announcement yet, at least anything that we've seen, but it was shared
10:34
internally. There's a section on GM's website internally where announcements happen with people coming and going. And
10:41
so, it was announced that he would be the plant director for Bowling Green assembly and he's going to be replacing
10:46
Kai Spandandy effective June 1st. The good news is Kai's last day is July 31st. So, he'll be there for 2 months
10:53
with Kai going through everything that he needs to do to get brought up to speed in his positions. We did get a bio
10:59
of him, so I'm going to read it here. He's a currently he's a senior manager EV supplier integration and then he of
11:05
course he's being promoted. He's held various roles. He's been at GM plants internationally in China. He's also
11:12
served as a quality manager, a quality operations director, and he was the assistant plant manager at the Spring
11:18
Hill Engine Plant, which is a very big facility. We like his chops of the quality and assistant plant director.
11:23
So, he should actually just fit right in. And of course, with the EV supply integration job, it's just another indicator that GM is headed towards
11:30
electrification and this guy's obviously done it for the last few years. We are looking forward to welcoming him and
11:36
hopefully we'll be able to meet him. I guess it would be the anniversary show in September. That's right. Also, Edmunds named their
11:41
top five convertibles and I got to think our Z06 and Stingray were in there, weren't they? Yeah. This is just one of these fun
11:47
articles. I don't want to call it filler because it's always fun to see who you're kind of picked up against and not
11:53
you think about these cars for the summer. Obviously, you're wanting to put the top down, the wind in your hair. One of the reasons why Edmonds likes the
11:59
Stingray convertible because it's significantly less expensive than the Porsche 911, which was also named to
12:04
their list. Of course, they like the quote flashy exterior looks like it belongs to an exotic car costing two or
12:10
three times the price of all these other ones. They also did mention the bonkers fast Corvette Z06 and calling it the
12:18
convertible is the best way to listen to that model's thrilling V8 soundtrack. Just a nice little fun ride up. The
12:23
other five cars or the other four cars I guess in the list were the Mazda MX5 Miata, a Ford Mustang convertible, the
12:30
Ford Bronco, believe it or not, which also comes with a soft top. You can order that and go convertible in your
12:36
Bronco. And then of course the Porsche 911 Cabriolet. Those are your top five convertibles for your summer soundtrack.
12:43
So get out there and put that top down and have some fun. That sounds good to me. And finally, Keith, segment number one, the National
12:49
Corvette Museum officially opened the Mcichael Family Education Gallery. I really like this idea. So the idea is
12:57
to create a space where they can bring in students and group tours and field trips, people interested in STEM.
13:03
There's all kinds of stuff in there about hands-on activities with engineering and some other things. And
13:08
so when I was a kid, some of the best museums we went to, I grew up in Indiana, so we went to the Indie 500
13:14
museum, which again was just a great experience for I think I was in fifth grade when we did that and just always
13:20
stuck with me seeing all those old cars in there in that museum. And then we went to the Chicago Museum of Industry
13:26
and Science or Science and Industry is what it is. Just again another fantastic hands-on museum where people can do
13:32
things and be interact with these exhibits. So, the idea is that the museum there actually have a fundraiser
13:38
right now where you can sponsor like a class field trip. I think it's like $500 to bring a class in. You think that, you
13:44
know, maybe of those students that come through, there's going to be one of those kids that just sees that Corvette for the first time and says, "I got to
13:50
have one when I grow up." And it's just another way to get students, these younger kids, hands on the Corvette and
13:56
make an impression while they're younger so that when they do turn driving age and older, they'll always remember that experience with the Corvette. So kudos
14:03
to the Mcichels family and to the NCM for putting this together. That's great. Keith, let's take our first break. When we come back, it's
14:09
Corvette racing and Corvette rumors coming up next on Corvette today. We all know that wheels make the car.
14:15
Wheelcraft will help you take your Corvette to new levels. Wheelcraft offers the world's best PVD chrome finish available on the market.
14:22
Available in bright chrome and black chrome. Wheelcraft nails it in both appearance and durability. And it comes
14:27
with a 5-year warranty against brake dust burns, pitting, peeling, and color delimination. Wheelcraft is also ISO
14:33
certified. Whether you're having your wheels refinished or an exchange transaction, there is no core fee, no deposit, and you don't pay for the
14:40
finished wheels until they are installed on your car. Wheelcraft insists on complete satisfaction before you pay.
14:46
Hear from one of our customers. I picked up a brochure at the National Corvette Museum. We took delivery of our new C8.
14:51
I called Wheelcraft and in 15 minutes, I ordered the new bright ice chrome wheels. Wheelcraft's followup and
14:57
followthrough is superb. The wheels arrived on Sunday, installed on Monday, and cores were returned same day. Wheels
15:04
are the highest quality I've ever seen, and they look awesome. Great prices, great customer service from initial
15:09
contact to installation. Thanks, Dennis from Nashville. In many cases, Wheelcraft offers finished wheels
15:15
on exchange, or we'll apply this new finish to your wheels. Either way, Wheelcraft treats your wheels as their
15:20
own. Visit our website at wheelcraft.com or call us at 833845334.
15:25
Arrive in style with Wheelcraft. The Radiator Grill Store offers C8 Corvette
15:31
A-pillar wind diffusers in beautiful carbon fiber or OEM gloss black that
15:36
help reduce wind buffeting when a window is open. Easy installation and OEM fitment. Plus, get 10% off your total
15:42
purchase with the promo code CT10 at radiator grillilstore.com.
15:49
When you want to buy a Corvette or any Chevrolet for that matter, get yours from Hendrickk Chevrolet Shauny Mission
15:55
located in Kansas City. Hendrickk Chevrolet is the largest Corvette dealership and showroom in the Midwest.
16:00
With a knowledgeable sales staff and Corvette sales specialists on hand, they'll help you build the Corvette of
16:05
your dreams, and they ship nationwide. With Corvette certified master mechanics on site and a huge parts department with
16:11
over $24,000 parts and $2 million in inventory, Hendrickk Chevrolet is well equipped to take care of your every
16:17
need. From sales to service to collision repair, Hendrickk Chevrolet has you covered. Visit chevusa.com or call
16:24
913841550. Are you ready to take your Corvette to
16:30
the next level? Look no further than Classic Trim Customs. As the number one supplier for American hydrocarbon, we've
16:36
manufactured some of the most impressive Corvette parts on the market. From engine bay panels to splitters and side
16:42
skirts. With over 30 years of experience in hydrographics, we've perfected the technique and use only state-of-the-art
16:47
materials and equipment to ensure the highest quality and precision. Visit our website at classiccrimcustoms.com
16:54
or give us a call at 305-2583090 to learn more about our products and
16:59
services. Whether you want to create a showstoppping ride or just add a touch of personalization, the sky is the limit
17:05
with classic trim customs. Let us help you create the Corvette of your dreams.
17:10
You're enjoying the only current podcast on Corvettes. Corvette Today. Hey, thanks for listening and watching
17:17
Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette, brought to you by Wheelcraft. Spring is here and
17:23
you want your Corvette looking its best. Dress it up with bright chrome or black chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and
17:29
learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange and you get a
17:36
5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com or call 833-639-4231.
17:43
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is Keith Cornet from corvette blogger.com. Every other week, we keep you current
17:48
and uptodate on what's happening with America's sports car. In segment number two, we always cover Corvette racing and
17:54
Corvette rumors. Keith, Corvette Racing has been busy at Spa and then Monterey is coming up this weekend, aren't they?
18:00
Yeah, it's by splitting the schedule, we get twice as much racing and it's even better when one of these teams is just doing fantastic. Of course, we're
18:06
talking about the number 33 Corvette C8R that's running in the World Endurance Championship, they had two straight wins
18:12
coming into Spa, the six hours of Spa, and despite the fact that they were handed 45 kg of, they call it victory
18:19
ballast. So, if you win a race, you got to be heavier for the next race. So, that's their BOP penalty. They still
18:24
managed to come in second place. And again, it was Nikki Katzburg holding off another competitor in those final laps
18:30
to get the second place win. All three drivers, Nikki Katzburg, Ben Keading, and Nico Veron, they are really firing
18:36
on all cylinders right now, working well together, and they're really set themselves up for a great 24 hours
18:42
lemons coming up in June. The Corvette is leading the class in the GT Amateur over there. With that second place
18:48
finish, we actually extended our lead. So, we've had three podiums in a row and things are really, really looking good
18:53
for the number 33 car. Of course, this weekend we've got the number three Corvette C8 in Monterey at Laguna Seca.
19:00
Of course, we're recording this before the race results. So, we'll actually be talking about it during our next headlines edition, but this was a
19:07
special race for Antonio Garcia as he is making his 100th start in IMSA since the
19:12
merger between the ALMS and the Grand Dam. kind of a fun little piece of news there, you know, and he talks about
19:18
racing in America is fun because of the tracks, but it's hard because his family's back in Spain, right? Yet
19:23
Corvette racing is sort of his second family. It's a good race for him hopefully. I'm looking forward to seeing
19:28
many more with him. Absolutely. Congratulations to Antonio for sure. And speaking of Corvette drivers, Jordan Taylor is still looking
19:35
for oval races, isn't he? Yeah. You know, and he just got picked up to run his first oval. So, there's a
19:40
NASCAR weekend coming up. Well, he's racing Wednesday, May 17th, and are going to be at North Wilsboro Speedway.
19:46
He's making his first pro late model start with E33 Motorsports. They are
19:52
like a development company or development team that brings on promising young drivers and gets them rides. We did see Jordan was doing some
19:59
testing maybe a couple weeks back in a plain white NASCAR racer. He's running the oval, so it's going to be pretty
20:05
fun. Now, actually, what's really kind of fun about this story, of course, everything's always fun with Jordan when he's doing stuff on social media, but
20:11
this kind of being built is Rodney Sandstorm getting his ride. I mean, it is Rodney's name on the car, and the car
20:18
is actually got a throwback paint job to make it look like the old Jeff Gordon rainbow livery. Of course, Rodney's
20:23
always wearing that Jeff Gordon coat everywhere. So, it's going to be fun. Again, this is a support race happening
20:28
for the NASCAR weekend, and we're going to have NASCAR racers Dale Nhard Jr. and Kevin Harvick will also be driving in
20:34
that same race with Jordan. So, it's going to be fun to watch. I'm wondering if it will be on television or if it'll be streamed somewhere, but we're gonna
20:40
have to look into that because it's his first oval. I guess you're used to turning left and right. What if you only turn left?
20:46
I was going to say Jordan's going to have to perfect his left-hand turn. That's for sure. Yeah, it's going to be fun to watch, I
20:51
think. Absolutely. This was something I was really excited and proud of. The C8 Z06
20:56
hardtop convertible is going to be the pace car for the 107th Indianapolis 500.
21:02
That's right. Just another reason to tune in to the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 28th. This is the 20th time
21:08
Corvette has led the field. Of course, it's a record. It's a agreement that's going back for some time with Chevrolet
21:13
providing the official pace cards. And of course, it just makes sense to have the Corvette up there. This one's real pretty. I think a redness metallic with
21:19
two-tone jet black and sky cool gray interior. Of course, it's got its own custom graphics package with the Indy500
21:26
graphics on the doors. This one's also got tech bronze, the forged aluminum wheels, the accessory wheel, and of
21:32
course, it's got the carbon flash black and roof. Really cool. And the way they do that with the emergency track lights
21:38
is you have some strobe lights that are put into the front grills. And then on the rear, looks like they're attached or
21:43
integrated into the rear NL. We're not really quite sure if this is a Z07 or not. They didn't really say in the
21:49
announcement, but the car is wearing that full arrow kit with the high wing, the front die planes, and splitter rockers. My guess it might be, but if
21:56
it's got all that arrow, it just looks so pretty. We're still going to wait and see who the official driver is going to
22:01
be. Usually that announcement will come in a week or two. Although they've recently been doing them right before like, you know, the week of or right
22:07
before the race. So, it's going to be an interest to see who they're going to find to drive that for the opening. Who's going to lead the pack for the
22:13
Indianapolis 500? I know who the driver is. You do? Who's that? Me.
22:19
There's always a couple people that have actually petitioned and wanted to be there, but you got to be pretty special. You got to get up there. Like Chuck
22:26
Jagger drove the Corvettes. You know who drove one? I think one of the pace car drivers or at least he rode along in it
22:31
was Will Cookie. Yes. Back in the day. Yeah. Yep. Well, just let them know that I'm available. Okay.
22:36
Okay. Yep. There you go. Okay. Also, we had a fun race with the Z06 against a 488 Pista Ferrari.
22:43
Yeah. So, this is I think the Drag Times YouTube channel. This same Z06 had already taken down a Ferrari 812
22:49
Superfast, and I think that one was just under 800 horsepower. In this race, it went up against not just a Ferrari 488
22:56
Vista, but a modded one as well. What was good about this video is that the Z06 just launches out of the gate
23:02
superior every time, but the Ferrari with the more power just reels it in before the finish line. It's a lot of
23:08
fun to watch. And of course, both cars are fun to listen to. There's always multiple camera angles on these drag time videos, so definitely check it out.
23:15
It's a fun video. I will for sure. Also, in the rumor section, Keith, did some of the Corvettes go out of the Bowling Green
23:20
assembly plant with the wrong suspension calibrations? Yeah. You know, back in the day, there's always the jokes about, "Boy, I hope
23:26
your car didn't get built on a Friday because the workers are looking forward to the weekend and may let something go there." But it also could just be
23:32
someone doing an incorrect job or maybe there's a programming issue within the plant that caused this to happen. But
23:37
this news comes from GM authority. We actually do not have any official word from General Motors, like in their GM
23:43
tech links or anything like that that they put out there, but supposedly what's happened is some Corvettes have left the assembly plant with incorrect
23:50
suspension calibrations that were programmed into the electronic suspension control modules. We don't know if they're Stingrays or Z06s or
23:56
both cars. We also don't know if GM's going to be reaching out to individual owners saying, "Hey, your car was one of
24:02
these that was identified. You know, bring it into service." It's one of these things right now where your service advisor can do a check and see
24:07
if you've got the right calibrations. Probably this is a low number. I doubt this is a huge number of cars that are
24:13
affected, right? But if you do have a 2023 and you're feeling like just something's not quite right with the ride, take it into the
24:19
dealership and have them double check that because it could be your car and if it's so, it just takes about 30 minutes
24:24
or so to reflash and you'll be on your way. More notifications going out so that individual owners do know that
24:29
their car was one of those that are identified. Yeah, that sounds good. All right, buddy. Time for our last break. When we
24:34
come back, the lighter side of Corvette is on deck next at Corvette today.
24:40
Are you ready for a better insurance policy without the Corvette tax? With agreed value protection, the value of
24:46
your collector vehicle will never change. Plus, you'll save money. Get a quick quote at ncm insurance.com.
24:53
Car Capsule brings you the official multi-awwardwinning Corvette SC1 showcase. It's the ultimate form of
25:00
protection, preservation, and presentation for your Corvette. No dust, mold, or mildew. This officially
25:06
licensed GM product features all eight Corvette flag logos, Corvette branding on the panels, a carbon fiber look and
25:12
feel, and interior chip onboard lighting, plus the Intella Charge battery charger with the fan backup
25:17
system. It takes only 5 minutes to inflate, and it won't collapse when you open the doors or during a power loss.
25:23
It's a freestanding drive-in, driveout operation. See it at carcapsule.com or
25:28
call 2199-9459493. Hey honey, are you awake?
25:34
I am now. I can't sleep. Since turning 50, I keep dreaming of a red door and a blue door.
25:39
Somehow knowing there are only choices for retirement. Okay. Through the red door, we outlive our
25:45
money. We have to rely on our kids. We're stuck on a fixed income. It's terrifying. Yeah, that would suck.
25:51
But through the blue door, our money outlives us. We retire on our terms. Our kids stay our kids, not our caretakers.
25:58
We make work optional. Yes, that's much better. That's what I want, too. But what do we do?
26:04
We call True Wealth and Company at 9136538783. They specialize in helping successful
26:10
people make work optional. They're our fiduciary blue door personal wealth managers. Hey, where are you going? It's 3:00 a.m.
26:17
I can't sleep. I'm going to check out True Wealth & Company online at retirewithtr.com. That blue door is
26:23
going to be our retirement. 9136538783. Visit us online at retirewithtr.com.
26:28
Investment advice offered through True Wealth and Company LLC, a registered investment adviser in the state of Kansas. Welcome to the world famous Auto Direct
26:35
Corvettes. America's best pre-owned Corvette destination. Familyowned for 70 years and three generations. The number
26:41
one Mid-Atlantic regional dealer of the year for 15 years in a row. Corvette enthusiasts nationwide all say we have
26:48
the best Corvettes in the USA with 125 Corvettes and exotics in stock. We are
26:54
C8 and C7 Corvette heaven and proud to say 50year Corvette specialists.
27:00
Autirectcettes.com 85646199. You're going to love our Corvettes as
27:06
much as we do. We guarantee it. Vetfinders.com is the internet's original Corvette classified ads website
27:13
with classified ads starting at just $25. And every ad runs until your
27:18
Corvette is sold. If you're in the market for a Corvette, vetfinders.com has over 500 Corvettes for sale from all
27:25
around the USA and Canada and covering all eight generations. Visit vetfinders.com, the internet's
27:31
destination for buying and selling Corvettes. That's vefinders.com.
27:39
[Music] And now back to Corvette Today with your host and my husband, Steve Garrett.
27:47
Thanks once again for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette, brought
27:52
to you by Wheelcraft. Spring is here. You want your Corvette looking its best. Dress it up with bright chrome or black
27:59
chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels
28:05
or do a wheel exchange. and you get a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or call them 833-639-4231.
28:15
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me every other week is Keith Cornet. Don't forget, if you want a deeper dive into any of these stories Keith and I cover,
28:22
you can always go to corvette blogger.com. In this third and final segment, we always go with the lighter
28:27
side of Corvette. We're going to lead with our feel-good story of the week. Keith, I was just flabbergasted. A
28:33
Stingray owner received a replacement car. He had kind of a lemon C8. They gave him a Z06. Oh my god. Yeah. You
28:41
know, this is a story that comes from one of the Facebook groups and the Stingray owner had just these issues with his hardtop convertible that just
28:48
went on and on and on and he was without the car more than he was with the car. So, what he did was he filed a complaint
28:53
with GM saying his car was a lemon. And GM investigated the issues and then they finally agreed, yes, it is a lemon.
28:59
We'll do the buyback on it. Normally, you'd think that this would be an apples to apples trade, right? Stingray for a Stingray. But apparently some state
29:07
lemon laws allow that the car can be replaced with any car from the manufacturer. Supposedly the Stingray
29:13
owner pressed the company on it. Maybe they didn't want to do it, but the lemon laws being what they are, they had to.
29:19
So the guy only had to pay the difference between the two vehicles. He didn't even have to do the tax title and tag fees and stuff like that. It is a
29:26
good story. It is something that if you are having consistent issues with your car, a lot of the states, you take it to
29:32
the dealer three times, they can't solve the problem that qualifies it as a lemon. It just might make sense to look
29:37
into those lemon laws in your state to see what the remedy is because like this guy fully took advantage of it, was able
29:43
to get a Z06. Kudos to him. And again, thanks to GM for at least giving him something and then making this a feelood
29:49
story. That was pretty cool. They worked with him and he cashed in. That's for sure. Yes, he did. Also, the first C8 Z06 in
29:56
Australia went back and visited Carbon Revolution where its wheels were made. That was a cool story, too.
30:02
Yeah. You know, the moral of this story is that you can in fact go home again. At least the carbon fiber wheels can go
30:08
home. So, the Z06's visible carbon fiber wheels are made in Australia by Carbon Revolution. And last month, the first
30:15
right-hand drive Z06 in Australia stopped by the facility and took some pictures with the employees. According
30:20
to the CEO of Carbon Revolution, they began working with GM on these wheels back in 2016. Wow. So that was a long
30:27
time finally to see them on the car, you know, 2023. So again, fun story there. You can go home. Kudos to Carbon
30:34
Revolution for putting out some great wheels. That's great. Also, this was a cool story as well. I love this. A C8
30:40
Stingray was really stretching out its legs on the German autobond. You know, if only we had roads like this
30:45
in the United States. It was a six-inute video posted on top speed by this guy. I guess he's a professional driver. He
30:51
does kind of a once around to walk around a rapid blue stingray that's in a little rest area off the highway. So, he
30:58
gets in the car. He uses actually launch control to merge into traffic and then he goes right over to that left lane and
31:03
he's going as fast as 266 km an hour, which is 165 miles for you and me. It
31:09
was actually some traffic on there. So, he went down the road, did like a little turn around and then came back again.
31:15
really good to hear the car stretching its legs out and getting those RPMs up and doing what it was made to do. And
31:20
yet, it was in a fairly safe environment. Again, there was a little bit more traffic than I was may have been comfortable going that fast with,
31:26
but still German drivers, they don't just hang out in the left lanes. They know what they're doing over there. Trying to think of where can you go that
31:33
fast here? Well, I know some western states have some higher speed limits. I think 80s in some of the places. Maybe
31:39
one of the events where they actually close down the roads and then allow people to go wide open for like the sun
31:44
state. I think was one of them in Idaho. They do one of these. Boy, we could use some highways like that, though.
31:49
Absolutely. I'd love to have something like that available here in the United States. That'd be a lot of fun. Just got to go to the track, I guess.
31:55
Got to go to Spring Mountain. Exactly. Right. Also, the Sky Dome at the National Corvette Museum is getting
32:00
a little bit of a seal and an update, aren't they? Yeah. So, it was funny cuz on their Facebook and Twitter pages, the Sky Dome
32:06
is usually gold and here it was painted gray. So, it was a very surprising look to it. They are resealing it and then
32:12
it's going to be returned back to its original gold color. But I was thinking about this. You know, the Sky Dome is 30 years old next year. Wow. They're
32:19
actually doing a number of things also. One of the things that they announced at the NCM Bash is they're going to have these giant, I think 8 foot tall LED
32:27
video screens that'll completely circle the inside of the Sky Dome. So, they can show videos in there. One of the examples was like racing where the cars
32:33
are going around and around the sky dome. That should be a really cool display there. A fresh coat of paint and
32:39
doing a little work in advance of any kind of problems happening is always a good thing. Absolutely. A coat of paint never hurts
32:44
anything. That's for sure. Uhu. Also, the National Corvette Museum has all the videos now up from the bash,
32:50
don't they? Yeah. So, you know, they do these professional recordings. They allow us to record, although they've asked that
32:55
they want to be the ones that post the videos. So, we've always kind of acquiesed to them. Now, they're all up. So, you've got all the major videos from
33:02
the bash, including the Corvette team's annual seminar with all the options and the new 2024.
33:08
We've got the final assembly plan update from Kai Spandandy, the NCM Corvette Hall of Fame announcement, and our
33:13
favorite video from the seminars was Corvette engineer Cody Bulley on performing the Cyclone Spin at the
33:19
Rockefeller Center in the 2024 Corvette -ay. If you haven't seen that video, go pull that one up now on Corvette
33:24
Blogger, the Corvette Museum's YouTube channel, because that one was a lot of fun. It really was. And Cody did a phenomenal
33:30
job with his seminar. Go watch that. That cyclone move is really outstanding. Really cool. Yeah. He always talks about
33:37
too is like where he sees a parking lot. He's like, "Hm." Yeah.
33:42
And then he would say, "Oh, they got to keep Cody on a chain." You know, that was a fun seminar. I hope people do
33:48
watch that one. Definitely. Well, Keith, thanks for being back on Corvette today. Have a good two weeks. We'll see you in a
33:54
couple, buddy. Sounds great, Steve. We see you out there. Keep waving and enjoy the Corvette lifestyle, everyone. Thanks for listening to Corvette Today
34:00
and please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other Corvette enthusiasts about the Corvette Today podcast. And
34:06
thanks to our sponsors, Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Visit
34:11
wheelcraft.com to learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel
34:17
exchange for most models, and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or call
34:22
833-840-5334. Soul Performance Products at
34:27
soulppp.com. The official exhaust of Corvette today. True wealth and company at
34:32
retirewithtr.com. Also, Aerolari wheels. Get $100 off your purchase with the new promo code CT111
34:40
at aolari.com. And Hendrickk Chevrolet in Kansas City at cheviusa.com.
34:47
You've been listening to Corvette Today with Steve Garrett. If you'd like to contact Steve with any thoughts on the
34:53
podcast or ideas for guests on Corvette today, you can email him at stevegared
34:58
djgmail.com. That's Steve Garrett DJ@gmail.com.
35:04
Garrett has two Rs and two T's. Or connect with Steve on social media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using
35:12
Steve Garrett DJ. Thanks again for listening to Corvette today.