Can the 2017 Corvette C7 Grand Sport resuscitate the waning sales of Corvette?

As this blog predicted quite a while ago, there is a Grand Sport version of the latest generation of Corvette coming up for 2017 model year.  Just like with the previous generation of  +General Motors plastic fantastic, the Grand Sport is not coming to increase the performance potential of Corvette, in fact, the upcoming Grand Sport will have more drawbacks from the performance angle than its narrow bodied Stingray Z51 cousin but once again, Grand Sport is not about the performance, it is about sales.

Specifically, the Grand Sport is coming to revitalize the sagging sales of the base Corvette and its supercharged one lap wonder Z06 version.  As it stands, there are literally thousands of C7 Corvettes sitting unsold on dealer lots, a great sign of sales momentum long gone.  Of course, the unsold cars on dealers lots are not +General Motors or +Tadge Juechter 's problem, they are produced as per dealers orders.  But... there is still the matter of production line at UAW lair in Bowling Green remaining open, keeping the fine employees and their union paid.

Obviously,  improvements to the existing Stingray and Z06 and much needed fixes are not on the corporate menu, thus, here it comes, the newly appointed "ultimate track car", already bloated, Stingray further handicapped by the extra rolling resistance and air drag of Z06, with even more extra dead weight to complete the ultimate track car version 3 (version 1 is Stingray Z51, version 2 is the even more embarrasing C7 Z06).

However, does this even matter and is the upcoming GS really about creating the ultimate track car?

Of course, as already well demonstrated by the overheating and overweigh piece of shit called Corvette C7 Z06, any track "worthiness" references and credentials are only as good as quantifiable accomplishments and thus, there is no Nurburgring silhouette visible near the 2017 Grand Sport.

Instead, the car is just another poser, just like the previous generation Grand Sport (albeit that one looked better than the current reincarnation), with wider tires and Z06 like grotesque patchwork style body work.

If one should go by the bullshit spewed out by the General Motors marketing department and douchebag in charge of Corvette program, there should not be a performance based justfication for C7 GS to exist at all.  After all, the new Z06 was supposed to be the ultimate track weapon and Z51 Stingray was there to cover the rest of the track aspirations.

Will the C7 GS sell?  Of course it will since the posers want to pose and this time around, they actually have a legitimate excuse, with Z06 ongoing and never ending overheating issues.  Seems that wishing the posers more power should be not difficult but there are a few problems related to the logistics of the GS sales, preventing them from mirroring the C6 GS sales :

1.  In previous generation, posers buying C6 GS did it at the expense of the C6 Z06 sales (there were no  ZR1 sales to speak of ever), for all practical purposes, killing the C6 Z06 sales altogether.

2. Elimination of C6 Z51 option coincided with the introduction of C6 GS but this is not the case this time around.

3. Introduction of C6 GS took place in the fifth year of C6 production; this time around, it is TWO YEARS EARLIER, with not only thousands of base Stingrays unsold but hundreds of Z06 cars unsold (including 2015's) as well.  There will be a serious problem here with people owning the base Stingrays not ready to trade in their cars to buy the GS posers.

Although it is a dirty little secret of Corvette community, the majority of Corvette buyers make monthly payments on their rides and the third year into their loans is the absolutely worst point to trade in their cars.  Thus, the number of potential buyers will be reduced on this account as well.