Chevrolet’s Corvette is in it’s sixth generation.
This must the golden age for Corvette fans because the base model sports a 5.7 liter 400 horsepower V-8, the Z-06 ups the ante to 505 horsepower and there is a 650 horsepower supercharged return of the Sting Ray right around the corner.
It’s hard to imagine how life on the road could get any better for those of us who believe with the fervency of a former smoker that too much horsepower is just about enough to make it through the day’s toils and tears.
My recent week in a gorgeous LT2 Corvette convertible had me pondering the convenience of the middle age crisis that for years has led so many guys to a Corvette dealer. I raced vehicles far faster than a stock Corvette in my younger days, but I have to admit this thing does make me yearn to don the Nomex and helmet again.
Corvettes have always done that, but none so well as the present model, the sixth generation of its kind since 1953. The 63 split window remains THE classic Vette design for me but there is no doubt whatsoever that the 2007 edition is elegantly and purely American in style.
Even so, the current Corvette is more than sufficiently sophisticated technologically to require Porsche, Ferrari and GT40 advocates to shell out double or more of the two-seat Chevy’s price in order to have equal performance. God bless American horsepower!
Lest you think me some kind of NASCAR-obsessed oval tracker, though, be informed that what really gets me going with the Corvette is the way it handles curves. Yes, with its massive rubber, computer-controlled vehicle stability system and slightly over-boosted steering, itfeels like a slot car in the twisties.
Still, the Corvette talks to a serious driver at elevated speeds and gs in a language that instantly makes sense to the initiated. The front end bites right now when you summon a change of direction with the steering wheel. You especially feel lateral loading through your fingers and hips. The huge disc brakes burn off speed as if you were using a tail hook and arresting wire.
It is thus insanely easy to go insanely fast in this Corvette on a public road and still be well within the car’s awesome performance capabilities long after prudence dictates remembering there are still many things you want and need to do with your life.
Claudia always laughs when I tell her that it has finally become crystal clear to me that we simply must have a Corvette sitting permanently in our driveway. It’s so hard to argue with a woman who is so smart, so beautiful … and so tough. Where’s my Nomex?
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