BimmerFan
Seasoned Member
Apologies in advance for the long story and the eventual cross-post to another forum.
In 1980 I was visiting some friends at their apartment complex, and I saw a really pretty burgundy Corvette in the parking lot. The license plate surround said "My Other Car is a Cadillac". How stupid, I thought. Then, parked nearby, I saw a beautiful burgundy Cadillac, and the license plate surround said "My Other Car is a Corvette". Well, LOL as we say now.
Now of course, this was back in the day when Corvettes were kind of underpowered, all looks and no go. The Caddy, on the other hand, was still a premium luxury brand and although with similarly restrained performance, no one really expected it out of a Cadillac.
Last year I bought the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, which as we all know, is an absolute performance monster. Last month I bought a slightly used C6 Corvette. Unintended, as it was more a matter of condition and miles than color, it is black like my CT5V. I still haven't and probably never will get license plate surrounds like I described above, but I thought at least a picture would be worthwhile.
Both cars are correctly equipped with a manual transmission, and it's quite interesting how much different they are to drive. Aside from the old technology, the Corvette is lighter, with a much lighter clutch and sits very low, and has a lot of road noise albeit with a quiet (stock) exhaust and has a lazy throttle. The Cadillac is of course heavier, and has a very heavy clutch and sits just about perfect for a senior citizen to get in and out of. The exhaust is raucous and the throttle response is nearly instantaneous.
The Corvette (this is a base model) has a surprisingly supple suspension for a sports car, but still can't hold a candle to the Cadillac's Magnaride (which was an option on the Corvette). The hydraulic steering on the Chevrolet is much better than the Blackwing's electrically assisted rack, but the drive-by-wire brakes on the Caddy are mind blowing compared to the Corvette. Both have quite notchy transmissions, the shifter on the Cadillac is a bit more precise with a slightly shorter throw; they are both quite difficult when cold but work great once they warm up. The naturally aspirated LS3 in the Corvette was rated at 430 horsepower and the supercharged LT4 in the Cadillac is rated at 668, so there is no fair comparison there.
I really am a lucky boy.
In 1980 I was visiting some friends at their apartment complex, and I saw a really pretty burgundy Corvette in the parking lot. The license plate surround said "My Other Car is a Cadillac". How stupid, I thought. Then, parked nearby, I saw a beautiful burgundy Cadillac, and the license plate surround said "My Other Car is a Corvette". Well, LOL as we say now.
Now of course, this was back in the day when Corvettes were kind of underpowered, all looks and no go. The Caddy, on the other hand, was still a premium luxury brand and although with similarly restrained performance, no one really expected it out of a Cadillac.
Last year I bought the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, which as we all know, is an absolute performance monster. Last month I bought a slightly used C6 Corvette. Unintended, as it was more a matter of condition and miles than color, it is black like my CT5V. I still haven't and probably never will get license plate surrounds like I described above, but I thought at least a picture would be worthwhile.
Both cars are correctly equipped with a manual transmission, and it's quite interesting how much different they are to drive. Aside from the old technology, the Corvette is lighter, with a much lighter clutch and sits very low, and has a lot of road noise albeit with a quiet (stock) exhaust and has a lazy throttle. The Cadillac is of course heavier, and has a very heavy clutch and sits just about perfect for a senior citizen to get in and out of. The exhaust is raucous and the throttle response is nearly instantaneous.
The Corvette (this is a base model) has a surprisingly supple suspension for a sports car, but still can't hold a candle to the Cadillac's Magnaride (which was an option on the Corvette). The hydraulic steering on the Chevrolet is much better than the Blackwing's electrically assisted rack, but the drive-by-wire brakes on the Caddy are mind blowing compared to the Corvette. Both have quite notchy transmissions, the shifter on the Cadillac is a bit more precise with a slightly shorter throw; they are both quite difficult when cold but work great once they warm up. The naturally aspirated LS3 in the Corvette was rated at 430 horsepower and the supercharged LT4 in the Cadillac is rated at 668, so there is no fair comparison there.
I really am a lucky boy.
