2005 Chevrolet Corvette - Review

When 50,000 Corvette fans gathered inNashville, last year, to celebrate the legendary marque’s 50th anniversary, there was a palpable sense something was missing. Spread around the grounds of Titans Stadium, you could spot just about every possible permutation, from lovingly-restored first-generation 'Vettes to one-off Le Mans racers.

What you couldn’t find was the C6, shorthand for the sixth-generation Corvette, that was originally  supposed to be unveiled at the Nashvillebash. The project was pushed back a year by GM’s “car czar,” Bob Lutz, who wanted to ensure the C6 would not only be better than the vehicle it replaced, but that it would be a truly world-class sports car. Corvette fans — and there are many better described as fanatics — might take exception, but for much of its 51-year history, Corvette has had more in common with the classic American muscle car than with true sports cars like the Porsche 911.

That began to change with the debut of the fifth-generation Corvette, in 1997, which had lots more to offer than just a badass V-8. And you knew it, just by looking at the C5, clearly a car transformed, the dramatic changes in its appearance underscoring what had been done under the skin. While the C5 came temptingly close, it had not quite chinned the bar. And so, despite his disappointment at the delay, Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill relished the opportunity to put a little more effort into the C6. The Corvette team pored over virtually every detail of the car, addressing everything from interior refinement to off-the-line acceleration.