ZR1 Slings Guns

Never let it be said that the motoring press around the world hasn’t given the Chevrolet Corvette its share of scrutiny and doubt. In fact, the report from most automobile news outlets that aren’t devoted to the world of Chevy, as well as General Motors, can give the impression that compared to other sports cars the Corvette just doesn’t measure up. To paraphrase its critics, “Sure, it costs a lot less than Ferrari, Porsche and the Lamborghini, but the price ain’t the only thing that’s cheap.” I thought we were talking sports car not luxury.

The Corvette ZR1 was on e of the most highly anticipated cars of 2008. The only car with comparable water cooler scuttlebutt more than likely exceeding that of the ZR1 was the Nissan GT-R. With multiple trips to Washington just around the corner to ask for some extra cash General Motors unleashed the most powerful ‘Vette ever and hype became reality.

A recent editorial in the car magazine Motor Trend by one of their staff Arthur St. Antoine entitled ‘Corvette ZR1: What you don’t get for almost $120,000,’ spent his allotted space bemoaning the fact that the Corvette ZR1 doesn’t have the feel of the other foreign cars, calf skin leather seats, and stitching that takes hundreds of hours like that in the Bentley Brooklands. This is the same edition where the ZR1 was pitted against three of the best super cars in the world. The competition consisted of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Porsche GT2, and the sporadically spectacular Nissan GT-R. The ZR1 beat all three of these brilliant cars not only in the straight up drag race but in the road race test as well. The Corvette opened up a gap on the competition that just got bigger. This is the typical story when it comes to automobile tests that compare any model Corvette to other cars.

Something strange has been happening throughout the car world. It is slowly coming out that Chevrolet can and has made a world class sports car that can stand toe-to-toe with the priciest and fastest cars in the world. Even Jeremy Clarkson of the BBC television show Top Gear, who has been one of the most conspicuous critics of Corvettes named it his Car of the Year. Clarkson said in a blog on TopGear.com that, “It's hard to understand how the Americans have taken so long to make a car this good…it's the sheer surprise of the 638 hp that impresses most of all.” During a recent DVD shoot Clarkson could be seen driving back to his hotel every night in a Corvette convertible because he simply enjoyed it.

Motortrend named the ZR1 top dog in its four supercar test.

A review in the UK Telegraph admitted that “GM’s ZR-1 can rival, in sheer performance and technical sophistication, supercars three times its price.”

These sort of accolades coming from domestic and foreign press are at best odd when speaking about an American car.

So what is the conclusion to be made? Is the ZR1 the best car in the World: Well, that depends on the definition of best. Is it one of the fastest production cars on the planet? Yes. Could you drive one on any given Sunday afternoon and be the fastest guy in the state? More than likely. Is the ZR1, or any Corvette for that matter, a plush, goash statement of how big your bank account is? No, if you want snob appeal with some speed slathered around, Drop $450,000 on a Pagani Zonda. It took $100,000 worth of ‘Vette for the world to finally admit that it can run with, and beat the pack.