2013 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Anniversary

Summary:

Great... Get the Grand Sport

Faults:

Just purchased.

General Comments:

This is my 4th Corvette. I have other family members with Corvettes as well. The choice I made was this being the final C6 year or going with a newer C7. I prefer this body style. I purchased the Grand Sport Coupe with the Anniversary Arctic White with Grey Stripes (full stripes). The Z06 has a fixed roof and it's nice having a top off or down, so I decided against that version. There were 400 made in 2013 with the 60th Anniversary Package. This is also one of the final C6 models made.

I can compare to former C3s and my C5 only as I have only owned this briefly. This has the 4LT package, which is the loaded version. When shopping for a Corvette, you will see 1LT-4LT. Which means you could buy a used C7 with 1LT and be in the price level of a 4LT C6. The Grand Sport is a great pick. The wider stance with suspension and handling. 0-60 in the 4 second range and you can rapidly exceed the national speed limits.

I chose the manual trans. My opinion is if you buy a sports car, go with the manual. Even the paddle shift doesn't do it for me. In many cases today the automatic is faster, but my true reason for selling the C5 was the boredom of an automatic.

There are so many options in my C6 that will take a while to adjust. Being I bought the car in February, the heated seats were great. The heads up display is also available in the C5, but this has more features. My other Corvettes were convertibles. I went with the coupe this time with removable metal roof.

I've heard areas to watch are very high tire costs and battery life. The battery on this car is in the rear due to the manual trans. Other Grand Sports are under the hood. This car is quicker and handles better than my C5 and C3, which was 400 HP with mods.

The C5 is likely the best bang for buck for a sports car today, other than later model V8 Mustangs as another best bang for buck. The C3 chrome bumper cars are very desirable 69-72. Harder to enter, and the ride is more primitive and you sit closer to your passenger. But they are beautiful to look at even today.

My only other comment when you buy one is to take someone experienced to check for damage, rot in the frame or birdcage. A neglected one typically costs a lot to bring up.

My last comment is to find very low miles, but one that is driven periodically. Keep a battery maintainer on all of them as most are lightly driven. Especially late models that have active computers and alarm that can drain out.

Since my ownership is so brief, I will add comments as I have it longer. My usage will be a fun weekender for many local and distance cruises and shows.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th February, 2016

12th Feb 2016, 11:45

I actually meant fiberglass roof of course. It's interesting on the convertible soft top version that the color stripes actually pass over its top as well.

25th Nov 2016, 21:51

Be careful of rust, Corvettes have steel throughout and steel rusts. It's not uncommon to deal with serious rust with frame rails, trailing arms, birdcage to frame, windshield pillars, under the radiator and door metal reinforcements. Just because it's a fiberglass body mounted to a steel structure does not eliminate this concern. Also road salts and tire kick ups through the chassis don't help at all. Bring a floor jack and inspect before your purchase. Anyone that owns Corvettes knows of this.