"The new Corvette (model year 2005) is known by those who know such things as C6 - that is, the sixth generation of Corvette. Though the car is still raked and sloe-eyed, low and ornery, the latest redesign is the least dramatic and maybe the least compelling. The changes include shorter front and rear overhangs, a slightly longer wheelbase, underbody faring at the rear, sharper creases in the composite-fiber fenders and a general lipo-sculpture around the gluteal area.
While in the eyes of experts these changes are of cosmic significance, the general public may have trouble telling at a glance a C5 from a C6. The biggest cosmetic change - and far overdue - are the fixed high-intensity headlights under polycarbonate lenses, replacing the retractable headlamps. This is not the stuff of grand ambition.
To me, the new car looks pinched and compressed, like a C5 seen through an anamorphic lens. Since the Larry Shinoda-designed split-window coupe of 1963, one of the formal properties of Corvette has been its galling, luxuriant length, a look that suggested a steaming rocket sled laying its own tracks ahead of it. Something about the C6's foreshortened proportions don't add up.
Truth is, I like the C5 better from the outside, but from the inside, I'll take the C6 every time. Instantly comfortable and accessible, the cockpit derives much of its technical jewelry from its platform-mate, the Cadillac XLR - bits like the electronic door latches, push-button start and electro-luminescent instrument panel. Our test car - a coupe - was equipped with a DVD-based navigation system ($1,400) and the 'preferred equipment group' ($4,360), including heated sport seats and a rib-rattling seven-speaker audi"
Starship Corvette: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
