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Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring and It's Quite Fun

Just the other day, the Mercedes-AMG ONE managed to set a new record for being the fastest production vehicle around the Nürburgring. Naturally, that opened up our appetite for even more laps, as difficult as they may be when playing on a keyboard. But seeing that this is Corvette Month on autoevolution, we aren't going to show you a German sports car going around the track today.
Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite Fun 24 photos
Photo: Autoevolution
Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite FunCorvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite Fun
Last weekend, we tested two of the fastest Corvettes ever built on the virtual layout of the Green Hell. The ZR1 has a lot of potential with its supercharged-V8 monster of an engine under the hood. But it's slightly too heavy and somewhat clumsy for the task at hand.

With plenty of room for improvement, we set a fast lap of seven minutes and 37 seconds after several attempts. By comparison, the race-ready C8.R was a lot easier to drive and also a lot faster. Even with less horsepower at hand, we stopped the watch at seven minutes and 20 seconds.

That lap time might remind you of Paul Löhmer and his Suzuki GSX-R1000. But we won't be talking about bikes today either. Instead, we decided to move on to the next Corvette mod we could find for Assetto Corsa. Needless to say, we currently have 19 different versions installed on our PC right now.

But we decided to choose an older model for today's test. And why not pick the one that started the whole Corvette craze? The Corvette C1 was introduced in 1953, and 300 cars were built that year. Back then, the C1 would set you back about $3,500, which is about $35,000 in today's money.

Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite Fun
Photo: Autoevolution
Production numbers would increase up to 14,531 for 1962, which was also the last year for the C1. There were several engines available, ranging from the smallest 235 ci (3.8-liters) inline-six unit up to the 327 ci (5.4-liters) V8. Clients could choose one of three different gearboxes: a 2-speed Powerglide automatic, a 3-speed manual, and a 4-speed manual.

Now, the mod we came across for Assetto Corsa is described as being a 1959 Corvette with 352 horsepower and 393 lb-ft (533 Nm) of torque. This vehicle uses a 4-speed manual gearbox and weighs 3,306 lbs (1,500 kg). With a top speed of 143 mph (230 kph), we weren't expecting to set any record in it.

You can choose between 16 different liveries, including the one that was used on the C1 at the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring race. With drivers Bill Fritts and Chuck Hall, this particular car finished the race in P16 overall.

Still, for our fast lap, we opted for a Panama Yellow/White combo as we're moving on with the yellow theme of our Nordschleife runs. The one thing we were concerned about going into this lap was whether we would be able to go from start to finish in less than 10 minutes.

Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite Fun
Photo: Autoevolution
Once you enter the game, you can't help but marvel at how beautifully executed this mod is. The car is on Indiana plates, and there are plenty of details to gawk at before flooring it.

You've got quite a classy character behind the wheel, and we've taken some shots of him for you to see how much work has gone into the development. If there's one thing we realized Corvette purists would not appreciate, it is the fact that the sound file for this vehicle is the same one used on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. That didn't bother us, though.

With Stability Control set at 50% and all other driving aids turned off, we set out for the first lap. Acceleration isn't half bad, at least not once you reach 4,000 rpm. This isn't the fastest car you'll ever drive in Assetto Corsa, but it still feels rather fun even after a few turns.

One thing you should pay attention to is its tendency to oversteer when you're not gentle enough with the brakes. But it's the kind of pleasant oversteering, as you can correct it without crashing. At least that's what it feels like with the stability control setting activated.

Corvette C1 Goes for a Virtual Fast Lap of the Nurburgring, It's Quite Fun
Photo: Autoevolution
We completed the first lap in 9:36.797, but we knew that there was room for improvement. So we kept going for another one. Be sure to pay attention to your braking point before going into Aremberg, as that is where you'll most likely go off track in the C1. Topping out at about 128 mph (207 kph) at the bottom of the Fuchrohre (Foxhole) corner felt quite impressive for the classic car, but we imagine it would be quite scary doing that in real life.

We went off track six or seven times on the second lap, and we even tapped the walls twice. Going down the main straight, we were doing just a bit over 124 mph (200 kph), and we managed to finish the lap in 9:29.199. By comparison, we've found a few other online videos of people dipping below the nine-minute marker in this car.

It would be interesting to see how it would fare in a race against other classic cars, such as the Porsche 356 for instance. Until then, you can look at the replay of our fast lap below. Perhaps we'll give it another go towards the end of the month.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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