First Burger Run of 2020

After taking a few months off for all the Holiday activities and some travel, we got back on the monthly Burger Run trail this week.

Nan and I recently joined the North Coast Vettes Corvette Club -- really great people and nice cars.

 North Coast Vettes

So for this month's Burger Run it was a great mixture of our established Corvette friends and our new Corvette Friends from North Coast Vettes.

 As has become her custom, Nan's Mom, Jan, joined us and brought her friend from Australia, Julie.  The ladies enjoyed the ride in the 50th Anniversary car and the Z06, respectively.

It was a cloudy day, and rain threatened the forecast, so we chickened out and left the 56 Corvette at home.  If we had brought it, we would have had all seven Corvette generations represented (nuts!).

Our crowd was so big that we needed to use tables on two sides of the In-N-Out Burger Store in Oceanside.  Here is part of our group:

Russ Stroika, Nan, Wendy Nash, Julie Snowden, and Peggy Stroika.

Everyone else filled the front window area.

We weren't able to park all the Corvettes together.  Here is a good shot of most of them, but Barry's 2002 Coupe, and the Z06 and 50th Anniversary car had to be parked elsewhere.

After enjoying our lunch we gathered for the traditional group photo.  Pictured (L to R) are: John Elder (cutoff of the photo! My fault! Sorry, John!), Martin Hibsch,Wendy Nash, Gary Pebley,Ty Brown, Barry and Jackie Rectorovich, Lula and John Maddox, Nan, Warren Wilkinson, Yvonne Finocchiaro, Jan Paul (Nan’s Mom), Carm Finocchiaro, Julie Snowden (This is Jan’s friend who was visiting from Australia), Russ and Peggy Stroica

Next month we might have to find a larger venue! 

Thanks everyone for coming out!

The 2020 Corvette

I decided that the first Blog Post of 2020 should be dedicated to the 2020 Corvette -- the much-anticipated mid-engine 8th Generation Corvette!

Even before the formal reveal on 7/18/19 the automotive press had been speculating about this revolutionary design. And since the unveiling, reports and reviews have filled websites and magazine pages around the World with rave reviews of the first all-new Corvette.

Here are some of the accolades:

North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle Of the Year (NACTOY), “the Oscars of the Auto Industry” has chosen the 2020 Corvette as Car of the Year.

 North American Car of the Year

"The all-new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has been selected as the 2020 North American Car of the Year by a 50-member jury of independent journalists. The Stingray was selected not only for its revolutionary mid-engine design, but for its level of refinement and impressive performance.

“It’s humbling to be selected for this award by such an impressive jury of automotive journalists,” said Juechter. “Our team poured our hearts and souls into this vehicle, and to see such an overwhelmingly positive reception makes it all worthwhile. We are sure our customers will love the new Corvette as much as these jurors and we can’t wait to get them behind the wheel.”

Motor Trend

Motor Trend 2020 Car of the Year

Motor Trend says, "Sometimes, a car comes along that leaves the automotive landscape different than before. In today's Silicon Valley parlance, we'd be tempted to term such a car a "disrupter." The last car to so radically shift the car world was the Tesla Model S, our 2013 Car of the Year.

This time around, our 2020 MotorTrend Car of the Year, the Chevrolet Corvette, fully scrambles the order of things. Simply put, never before has so much four-wheeled exoticism been attainable for so little money. Or I should say, so much good exoticism."

Detroit Free Press 

Detroit Free Press Names Chevy Corvette 2020 Car of the Year

"With New Year’s just a couple of days away, it’s normal to reflect on automotive accolades of 2019. And, while the Chevy Corvette C8 has garnered quite a few awards this past year, it’s already starting to accumulate new ones for 2020. According to the Detroit Free Press, the 2020 Corvette has secured the publication’s Car of the Year title."

Car and Driver


Car and Driver Rates the 2020 Corvette one of 10 Best

"The long wait is finally over, and the new mid-engine Chevy Corvette is as good as we could have imagined. So good, in fact, that it earned a 2020 10 Best award right out of the gate. The eighth-generation Corvette (a.k.a. C8) now boasts an engine behind the passenger cabin, just like the best from Porsche, Ferrari, and McLaren but at many thousands of dollars less. Incredibly, the base C8's pricing starts at $59,995, making it a relative bargain."

The New York Times

New York Times Rates the 2020 Corvette 

"‘Everyday Supercar’: A New Corvette Puts a Target on Ferrari’s Back.  The $60,000 Stingray pushes its engine to the middle and expectations through the roof."

(and, the most shocking review to me was . . . . .) 

Consumer Reports

Midengine 2020 Corvette Impresses at the Consumer Reports Track

"The 2020 Corvette Stingray marks a bold new chapter, with the iconic sports car moving from its traditional front-engine design to a midengine configuration. 

This means a completely fresh look, with a design more akin to a Ford GT or a Ferrari than anything in Chevrolet’s production history. A large V8 engine has been placed behind the driver. And there is no more manual transmission. My, how things have changed."

I'm sure more accolades are coming.  Long live the C8 Corvette!