Although you tipped your hat
Although you tipped your hat at the beginning of your piece you know little about Corvettes, I still must comment. You said,
"Add to that, the performance of the C3 and C4 models was not all that impressive compared to other, more accessible, cars of their time."
Huh? Maybe late era C3's and early C4s, but to intimate that the C4 wasn't a good performer is poppycock. The L98, LT1 and LT5 models spanked most cars on the road in their day, The C4 was also a track demon, and the ZR1 version smashed many speed records. You could argue VERY successfully that the C4 was the first modern Corvette, not the C5...
The ageism thing is a wee bit off too. The average age of a C7 owner is 63, the average owner of a new Porsche 911 owner is 61, and you skipped over the part that $75k sports cars are usually bought by older people...
Perception IS reality though and your comments are a good sign that younger folks are getting over their prejudices and stereotypes. Still, YOU are late to the party!! C5 came out TWENTY YEARS AGO...
That a bunch of "older gentleman" figured out how good the Corvette was waaaay sooner than you did is telling as well..
Get with it....