Jointly elected twice with President Barrack Obama and vice prez of the U. S. of A. since 2009, Democratic Party member Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden Jr. is a man that divides opinion. On one hand, he is known to have plagiarized a law review article for a paper Biden wrote in his first year at law school. Then there’s the more recent “creepy veep” episode with Stephanie Carter, the US defence secretary’s wife. Truth be told, we don’t care about politics here at autoevolution, but all things with four wheels.
We’ll let CNBC and Fox write about the political mess-ups and better points of Joe Biden. In our story, we will focus on the VP’s love for the Corvette. Wearing his trademark “Deal with it” aviator glasses, Joe Biden gave a funny yet witty speech to graduating Yale students.
- “When President Obama asked me to be his vice president, I said I only had two conditions: One - I wouldn’t wear any funny hats, even on Class Day; Two - I wouldn’t change my brand.” - "I realize no one ever doubts I mean what I say. The problem occasionally is, I say all that I mean. I have a bad reputation for being straight, sometimes at inappropriate times.” - And our favorite: “Let’s get a couple things straight right off the bat: Corvettes are better than Porsches. They’re quicker and they corner as well. And sorry guys, a cappella is not better than rock and roll, and your pundits aren’t better than Washington pundits, although I’ve noticed that neither has any shame at all.”
Now, if you know your Corvettes well, you may remember that the first generation’s first batch of 300 vehicles were hand-built on a makeshift assembly line, in an old truck plant in Flint, Michigan. To be utterly frank, the first-gen Corvette wasn’t exactly quick nor did it corner well. No hard feelings.
Fast-forward to the present and the C7 Corvette is a far-fetched proposition compared to its grandpa. Even the entry-level Stingray gets the job done in a straight line and in the twists.
But are Corvettes better than Porsches? That depends on many aspects, with preference towering above any solid argument. We have driven the C7 with the Z51 Performance Package and it’s a blast, as well as three variants of the Porsche 911, but we're talking apples and oranges here.
Biden owns a 1967 Corvette and is an avid fan of the C7 Corvette Z06, which sort of explains his appreciation for the Kentucky-built sports car. From a gearhead’s point of view, what’s your take on veep Joe Biden’s love for the Corvette and the way he used the Nine-Eleven as an antagonism?
Skip to the 1:09.52 mark to hear Biden's pearls of wisdom.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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