Bowling Green loooong tour closure!!

From Bowling Green:
"The GM Corvette Assembly Plant will not be offering tours ... December 1, 2003 through April 23, 2004. Please make note of the closing dates to assist you in planning for upcoming visits."

AH HA!!!! I have speculated all along that the '04 would be a short run. Hill has said that the '04 & '05 will be built side by side. During the closure, I think the '04 orders will be finished up and the '05 production phased in. Question: Anyone know if Chevy dealers have been told not to take '04 orders after a certain date? ...probably not yet, it will come out of the blue in Nov or Dec. Unless they decide to let the '04 die a natural death sometime after the showing of the C6 in Jan. I suspect that not many will place C5 orders when they see the performance leap of the C6.

Of course, I could be completely wrong, again, and this could be a run more testers and I will be once more.

Didn't Ross give us a heads up on this earlier?

MORE FROM ANOTHER SOURCE...

Dave Hill was at Corvettes at Carlisle 2003 and offered some info on the C6 during a seminar he gave.

The timeline for rollout is:
1. Revealing-Jan 04 at Detroit Auto Show.
2. Coupes for sale in March 2004.
3. Verts for sale in August 2004.
4. Z06 for sale in 2005.

Also, someone asked a question about brakes. Dave said: "they have extended the technology...", and no, the C6 brakes will not retrofit onto the C5.

[CFour]

Indeed, As I said 6 months ago the plant tours will close after Thanksgiving for C6 pilot builds. There will also be a C6 assembly line validation process taking place.

[reubenmc]

Why would they continue not offereing tours after Jan. 4 when the C6 is revealed??

[JBsC5]

I personally believe the C6 brakes will not retrofit to a C5 because the wheels are not big enough.

I am betting if you put on the same size wheels as the c6 (18 fronts & 19 backs) the C6 brakes will fit.

If the Z06 C6 comes with 19's and 20's out back..then following this logic if you put 19's and 20s on..you might be able to bolt on C6 brakes..

BTw..theres a rumor C6 Z06's will have 20's all around so its best to wait and see.

I'm just guessing but since its based off C5 it might just turn out to be true.

We'll see soon enough..

[CFour]

Oooooh you might see some GM secret like the Vette Vert that they are not going to show yet at Detroit. But has been all over the mags. Go Figure its GM.

[Rain]

Just so I know that I have this right in my head,
Susan and I will be up that way the first weekend in October. Will the plant be touring?

Thanks
Rain

[CFour]

Yes Rain, indeed the plant tours should still be open at that time. Call me at 630 673 1007 or E mail at RLK227@AOL.COM. and I will give you a "Special Person" to contact there. Ross

Originally posted by reubenmc
Why would they continue not offereing tours after Jan. 4 when the C6 is revealed??

Good question. Hill says they will run side by side for awhile. Perhaps its a matter of safety / space for the tours as they set up the line changes.

[Senna1994]

Ross, how much later will the Convertible be out? Also since you seem to have seen the car, have you seen the Z-06 Version? Will it be Coupe with a fixed top or Convertible Hardtop look as the existing car? Thanks.

[Hib Halverson]

You can speculate all you want, but the timeline reposted above is not correct.

I haven't posted to this thread until now because I had to research this issue. During that research, I interviewed David Caldwell, my engineering contact at General Motors for Corvette and a spokesperson for Dave Hill. He said that either Hill was misquoted or the interviewer did not know the definition of the word "launch," misunderstanding it to mean "on-sale".

The real time line for C6 is: Public introduction at the Detroit Auto Show in Jan 04. Dealer shipments of the C6 Targa will begin in mid-to-late summer 2004 with the very first cars on sale perhaps as early as late summer.

It is unlikely that 04 will be the short model year for the C5...at least not in the manner which "LongTimer" speculates. My guess is that BG Tours are being suspended 12/03 to 4/04 because too much C6 hardware in the plant during pilot production would be viewed by the public.

I suspect that the production changeover will occur about when it usually does, in early July of 04.

To date, no specific roll-out dates for any of the three body styles have been announced.

My guess is we'll see the Convertible early in calendar year 2005. The 06, Z06? Maybe at the end of 05...maybe.

I should add that Caldwell made the following comments about the word "launch".

Folks tend to ask "when will C6 launch?" or a question like that. People have a tendency to equate (launch) with vehicle availability -- Dave (Hill) should have specified that that date is merely the start of a long process. The start of production & the start of distribution are two different things. And, major new vehicle launches like this one occur over a period of time with lots of analysis and care, rather than a single day, week or month. We intend to produce small numbers of cars early next year, slowly accelerating thru the Spring. Many of these cars are simply for our own testing and quality assurance. If all goes well, dealer shipments could start in mid-Summer. These are just estimates, but they do reflect our plan.

[msiska]

Nice you did some research Hib. However, standing behind Rob in the GM Engineering tent at Carlisle, not 10 feet away from Mr. Hill, I know for a fact what I heard Mr. Hill say. Jan.04...intro. Coupes to be "available" (not a misquote and no "launching" either) in March (maybe for ordering, I suspect). Vert in late August, C6Z06 in 2005. So...you may have done some research and talked with a spokesperson, but the enthusiast's that were in that tent at Dave Hill's seminar got that from the Main Man's mouth. Would he lie? is the question I put to you.

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Hib,

With Chevrolet's track record on the previous model changes, I am not sure that the C6 will begin shipping in mid to late summer 2004.

Remember the 1968 "shark" model was planned as a 1967.

Remember the 1983 model was pushed back as a 1984.

Remember the 1997 C5 - its shipments were delayed and built cars were embargoed due to faulty components.

I would like to see the C6 on schedule - but I am leery of quality and reliability issues when a model is "rushed" to market (like the C5 was).

I hope you are right - and Chevrolet "gets it right" this time with quality and reliability issues.

Hib,

Thankyou for posting creditable information. Though I am VERY disappointed, the last thing I want for myself and those here is to be misled and crushed when my "Wish Schedule" didn't happen.

Sorry Guys, this is what happens when we are forced to speculate about so much about the C6.

[Runge_Kutta]

The motivations of most people on this forum are simply to find
out everything they can about C6. They have no inside access. The
motivations of GM are different. They are to sell cars and part of that
is trying to control/manipulate information so as to modify perceptions.
Then there is a gray area for internet/print providers that cozy up
to some manufacturer in a symbiotic relationship. They have unusually
good access to the manufacturer and make their living, in part, because
of this relationship. So, when it comes to the future endeavors
of the manufacturer, does the media person become a sort of spin room
for the manufacturer or do they give the their best guess. At this
point, I would think GM's goal is to keep expectations relatively low.
I honestly have no idea how to interpret Hib's comments. I am biased
by his Z06 and LS6 articles which were very informative but whose
level of hype was completely over the top.