We bought our brand new 2002 Corvette last September at John Keating Chevrolet just east of Houston, Texas. The metallic red with oak colored interior/top automatic equipped vehicle was showing 62 miles on the odometer when we bought it. We got the zero percent financing for 60 months and rolled tax, title and license into the purchase and put nothing down on it. The final tally was right at $55K.

This car had the (for 2002) optional heads up display, sport power seats driver and passenger side, multiple disc CD changer in the rear end, dual climate controls,and the highly polished aluminum wheels. The car does NOT have the real time variable damping shock option which I DID have on my 1998 Corvette Coupe. I found it performed as promised on the older 'Vette and could actually soften or stiffen the road feel of the car at a touch, but I cannot comment on this particular model equipped with this option.

Since everyone knows the specs on these cars, I will refrain from quoting the displacement, torque, bhp, etc. We have about 6200 miles on this car at the time of this writing, and have really enjoyed it. My wife and I drive the car in a local Corvette club's sponsored events throughout the year, and occasionally we take it on overnight road trips to northeast Texas. To date, we have nothing to report in the way of malfunctions or problems, and have not had to take the car back to the dealer for any recalls. The car is an eye catcher admittedly, and we have refined the aesthetics with the addition of some subtle modifications.

The car is comfortable and well laid out on the inside. My wife and I are both rather tall and we have noted to our delight that we have plenty of legroom. The power telescoping steering wheel helps in the selection of a nice driving position, and is a recommended option. The heads up display (HUD) is now standard on all Corvettes and is a nice, but not necessarily a "must have" feature in my humble opinion. My wife likes the HUD and uses it as she drives, but I prefer to switch it off as I find it generally annoying. The optics are very good, and the display is readable at all times.

As for the convertible model, with the top up, visibility is rather limited and takes some getting used to. The manual top, usually maligned by a national consumer's group as "cumbersome and awkward" is actually neither. I can singlehandedly raise or lower the roof in short order with little fuss or muss as can my wife. The trunk is the roomiest yet for a Corvette, and easily accommodates two full sized golf bags and extra equipment as well.

The car has terrific road manners and eliminates a lot of the jittery feeling on rough roads previous generation Corvettes were saddled with. The brutally quick standard issue LS1 rockets the car forward with gusto. Watch the long, low, soft nose of your 'Vette when pulling into parking spaces with concrete bars. The brakes are the best yet on a Corvette, and feel firm and precise. Brake fade is almost impossible to commit in normal driving. Expect to feed the animal premium fuel (90+ octane) and, if driven carefully, it will give you about 29-30 mpg on the highway at normal speeds of 65-70 mph. (No kidding!) Around town, ours musters about 17-19 mpg most of the time.

As stated earlier, the interior is mostly non appealing, with an expanse of ho hum black plastic trim on the dash and console. The cup holder is actually more like a shallow depression with a flip down lid. Our BOSE premium system with the optional 12 CD changer mounted in the rear compartment has performed beautifully thus far. We have noted the seatbelts tend to lock while being extended and this really annoys my wife. Overall, however, the car makes up for the interior doldrums with an ample dose of wind-in-your-hair pure driving pleasure.

POST NOTE: I sold this Corvette in late August 2006 with 10,700 miles on it. We never had to take the car to the shop and except for a battery we never replaced or repaired anything on it. The car was absolutely trouble free during our ownership. No leaks, no wind noise, no rattles, no nothing. The car sold for about 30K.
Amount Paid (US$): 52,000.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: Convertible AT equipped