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DRIVEN: Corvette Still Rocks The House
Written by: Tom Jensen   
06/03/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
If you grew up a baby boomer as I did, the Corvette was as iconic a part of American culture as drive-in movies, rock ‘n’ roll and baseball.

Sleeker, faster and more hospitable Corvette shows evolutionary improvements. (Photo: Chevrolet) » More Photos
In the early 1960s, George Maharis and Martin Milner burned an indelible message into the minds of who-knows-how-many impressionable young boys through the hit television series “Route 66,” which ran from 1960 to 1964: All you need is a Corvette and your best friend, and the world will become your own personal endless highway, filled with remarkable adventures, beautiful women and high speeds.

Back then, the Corvette was the American Dream immortalized in four knockoff wheels and a sexy fiberglass body, the ultimate aspirational toy for young men intoxicated by the almost-irresistible combination of testosterone and the guttural roar of a small-block Chevrolet.

Chevy stylists hit the spot with the latest Corvette, trimming its size and boosting its sporty style. (Photo: Chevrolet) » More Photos
What followed throughout the 1960s and early ’70s were a slew of high-performance Corvettes, code-named by acronyms that even today are spoken of in deeply reverential tones: Z06, L-88, L-89, ZR-1, LT-1. The Corvette was the ultimate expression of what was possible when American automotive know-how was applied to the pursuit of balls-out performance.

And more recently, the sixth-generation Corvette is far and away the best ever, delivering a stunning combination of exotic-car performance, reasonable comfort, acceptable economy and the kind of sex appeal
Corvettes have always been known for.

Alas, the 2009 Corvette, for all its undeniable virtues, is a bittersweet experience — not for any shortcomings in the car itself, but more for the knowledge that a bankrupt and nationalized General Motors is a mere shadow of itself, with all of its brands save Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC bound to be sold off or shuttered.

But rather than bemoan GM’s sad demise, or worse yet, endlessly rehash the mistakes, let’s simply choose to celebrate the 2009 Corvette for what it is: A two-seat sports car designed to be wicked quick, hug the road tenaciously and look great doing it.


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