Automotives: 6th generation Corvette
Automotives: 6th generation Corvette proves good things come in small packages
John Gilbert
Budgeteer News
Last Updated: Thursday, December 30th, 2004 11:48:16 AM
This is the time of year when Upper Midwesterners think a lot about wind-chill factors and lake-effect snow, and when their thoughts drift to their cars, it generally centers on snow tires and tank-heaters. But it’s also getting close to International Car of the Year time, and this year will be unique because it will be the traditional United States “Big Three” going down to the finish in an icon against icon against icon struggle.
For 2005, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler 300 won the preliminary nod as the three finalists. That, alone, is an honor. Having road-tested the Mustang and the 300C, the final entry on the icon list is the first model of the sixth-generation Corvette.
Chevrolet is making a bold change with the 2005 C6 Corvette, and it comes right when competition is the most ferocious in the Corvette’s 51-year history. With 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque packed into a lighter, tighter frame, it appears safe to assume the new car will meet or exceed the expectations of Corvette loyalists everywhere.
The new car has even made a bid for international notice, with a lot of testing done at Nurburgring race track in Germany, and officials say they hope to make Corvettes more than a novelty among the sustained-high-speed regulars on the autobahns. That remains to be seen, but Chevrolet, and General Motors, would obviously settle for continued success as the American sports car.
