I am suffering from coronavirus fatigue, like I suspect millions or tens of millions of other people are. I am not trying to minimize the significance of what has happened, the millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Remember, though, that unless the situation takes a horrendous turn for the worse, the vast majority of the world’s population will not become infected and the vast majority of those who do become infected will recover.

I am tired of washing my hands 20 or 30 times a day (or more) and since I have OCD, that behavior will probably continue for the rest of my life. I am tired of disinfecting the groceries and letting them sit on the kitchen island for two days before I will put them away, not including perishables, of course. I am very tired of having to wear a mask in public, although I always do it. (Has anyone invented a clear face mask, yet?)

I am not a young man with the promise of a long future. I hear the clock ticking and just want to go back to as normal a life as I can have while I can still enjoy it. Of course, my wishing will not change the situation one iota.

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Does anyone else besides me loathe “Auto-Correct?” Before I disabled it on my iPhone years ago, the damn thing would drive me crazy, granting that’s a short drive. NOT ONCE did the system ever actually give me the right word for my text or email. I would like to read your thoughts on the scourge of Auto-Correct.

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On the most recent Corvette Today podcast hosted by Steve Garrett (wish I could find the specific link and show it here, this is the link for the Corvette Today podcast in general), John Kraman of Mecum Auctions and the NBCSN telecasts of those auctions was the guest. As always, John was entertaining and displayed his immense knowledge of automobiles. I do have one bone to pick, though.

At one point John talked about the increasing percentage of Corvettes sold with automatic transmissions as the reason the new C8 is only available with an automatic, although it’s really a dual-clutch automated manual. He said that in the first model year of the C7, 2014, about half of the cars were equipped with a manual. According to The Genuine Corvette Black Book, only about 35% of 2014 Corvettes were equipped with a manual transmission. More Corvettes have been sold with an automatic than a manual every model year since 1972 although the split was close to 50-50 in 2009: 50.5% automatic, 49.5% manual.

Chevrolet/General Motors wasted an opportunity for revenue, in my opinion, by not recognizing the trend sooner. They did not charge extra for an automatic transmission until 2006, the second year of the C6 and the first year for the new 6-speed automatic that was available through the first year of the C7 in 2014. I haven’t shown any charts for awhile. Anyone miss them? <end sarcasm>

 

YEAR	TOTAL	W/AUTO	PCT	ADD REV
2006	34,021	19,094	56.1%	$           23,867,500
2007	40,561	22,422	55.3%	$           28,027,500
2008	35,310	19,136	54.2%	$           23,920,000
2009	16,956	8,560	50.5%	$           10,700,000
2010	12,194	6,913	56.7%	$              8,641,250
2011	13,596	8,516	62.6%	$           10,645,000
2012	11,647	7,586	65.1%	$              9,482,500
2013	13,466	7,229	53.7%	$              9,036,250
2014	37,288	24,088	64.6%	$           30,110,000
2015	34,240	23,232	67.9%	$           40,075,200
TOTALS	249,279	146,776	58.9%	$         194,505,200

 

Note that the cost of the “optional” automatic transmission increased from $1,250 to $1,725 with the introduction of the 8L90E eight-speed in 2015. The sales figures for Corvettes were depressed beginning in 2009 because of the “Great Recession.” The C7 introduction in 2014 boosted sales, which reached 40,000 in 2016. I just wanted to show the first ten years that the automatic transmission was an “extra,” how much revenue that brought to Chevrolet/GM, and how charging for the automatic didn’t seem to affect the percentage of people who ordered them.

From 2011 through 2015, 64% of Corvette customers ordered their cars with automatics. In 2016, the model year for my Z06, that number jumped to 77% AND 76% for the Z06. I have an older copy of the “Black Book” so I don’t have any more recent data. Based on what Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer, said during the C8 reveal last July, that number reached 85% by the end of the C7 in 2019.

Of course, since the only available transmission for the C8 is an automatic, Chevrolet/GM can’t earn additional revenue by charging for one. Note that the automatic brought almost $200 million in additional revenue from 2006-2015.

Anyway…waxing nostalgic here is a picture of my 2007 Corvette for which I gladly paid the additional $1,250 for an automatic:

 

 

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