BY JOE YOGERST
Make no mistake : The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has always looked the part
of the coolest thing on four wheels .
It started with the vehicle ’ s 1953 launch and its ongoing role in the popular TV series “ Route 66 ,” followed by a long , sleek third-generation Vette that took on Mustang and Camero in the 1970s . It was the car that Apollo astronauts drove , the official pace car for many years at the Indy 500 , and Vin Diesel ’ s tricked-out wheels in a couple of those Fast and Furious movies .
But its head-turning good looks could never make up for the fact that it lagged behind the sports cars of Italy , Germany and England — and the speedsters produced by American maestro Carroll Shelby in a hangar at LAX — when it came to performance .
But its latest iteration — the eighth generation 2020 C8 Corvette — is leaving all of that in the rearview mirror .
Motor writers have been gushing about the new Vette . “ The long wait is finally over ,” crooned Car and Driver magazine , adding that the car is “ as good as we could have imagined .” Road & Track declared it “ Without question , the most significant car of the year … a huge moment for Chevrolet .”
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