About everyone has a lot of love for the reinvented, mid-engine iteration of “America’s Sports Car.” And it is for incredibly good reasons, but that does not mean the predecessors should be forgotten. So, here is a reminder with a couple of them.
Lovingly known as the ‘Vette, this General Motors sports car has been for more than 60 years of production the epitome of its segment. A two-door, two-seat car with a low-slung and elongated front hood. The latter was used to hide its (mostly) V8 wonders that made use of the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive setup.
So, there is a lifetime of history to speak of before the Corvette turned into an immensely popular mid-engine wonder. And some of the stories are still being written. We all know that fans are not going to give up on their treasured examples if there’s life in them. And the will to fight some quarter-mile battles if we are to judge them by the latest video from the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube.
Unlike other occasions, this time around there isn’t too much background information on these skirmishes. The main protagonist for these encounters that occurred at an undisclosed drag strip location is a C7 Z06 Corvette. According to the noticeably brief description, this crimson example hides a few mods under its stock appearance, chief among them being a Magnuson 2650 supercharger kit.
The first race is between the C7 and a fellow Corvette driver, the opposition in the left lane being of the C4 (1986-1996) variety. No surprises are expected here, so the C7 takes down the C4 with a massive advantage (10.3s to 12.81s ETs).
Next up on the roster from the one-minute mark is an unassuming Chevrolet S10 pickup truck (as per description). Granted, the bulging hood and the white-wall Hoosier tires might point out this is not your average S10, though. And the miracle almost happened, though a great start from the ‘Vette made sure the truck ultimately had no chance. But the gap was minuscule, hence the 10.12s to 10.28s victory for the C7.
Last, but not least, was a skirmish with a W203 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. That German sedan was built during the 2000s, so unless there was something alien hidden under the hood it would stand no chance against the ‘Vette. The C7 driver might have feared just that, as the Chevy delivered the best result of 9.89s... against a shameful 16.12s performance from its rival.
So, there is a lifetime of history to speak of before the Corvette turned into an immensely popular mid-engine wonder. And some of the stories are still being written. We all know that fans are not going to give up on their treasured examples if there’s life in them. And the will to fight some quarter-mile battles if we are to judge them by the latest video from the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube.
Unlike other occasions, this time around there isn’t too much background information on these skirmishes. The main protagonist for these encounters that occurred at an undisclosed drag strip location is a C7 Z06 Corvette. According to the noticeably brief description, this crimson example hides a few mods under its stock appearance, chief among them being a Magnuson 2650 supercharger kit.
The first race is between the C7 and a fellow Corvette driver, the opposition in the left lane being of the C4 (1986-1996) variety. No surprises are expected here, so the C7 takes down the C4 with a massive advantage (10.3s to 12.81s ETs).
Next up on the roster from the one-minute mark is an unassuming Chevrolet S10 pickup truck (as per description). Granted, the bulging hood and the white-wall Hoosier tires might point out this is not your average S10, though. And the miracle almost happened, though a great start from the ‘Vette made sure the truck ultimately had no chance. But the gap was minuscule, hence the 10.12s to 10.28s victory for the C7.
Last, but not least, was a skirmish with a W203 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. That German sedan was built during the 2000s, so unless there was something alien hidden under the hood it would stand no chance against the ‘Vette. The C7 driver might have feared just that, as the Chevy delivered the best result of 9.89s... against a shameful 16.12s performance from its rival.