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At least on paper, both the Viper GTS and Corvette ZR1 are nearly identical. The Corvette ZR1 boasts
638 horsepower and 604 ft-lbs of torque to the Viper’s 640 horsepower and 600 ft-lbs of torque. Both cars
posted identical 0-60 times and 0-100 times (3.4 and 7.3 seconds respectively) and have similar power-toweight
ratios.
Yet somehow, the Corvette ZR1 beat out the Viper GTS by more than 2 seconds around Laguna Seca.
While the Viper posted a 1:35.77 around Laguna, the ZR1 managed to complete the same lap in 1:33.6.
With two-time Daytona 24 Hour winner Randy Pobst at
the wheel both times, it is hard to make the case that
Motor Trend flubbed the numbers.
Still, Gilles took to Twitter, declaring that many drivers
“needlessly fear” the Viper, even though the SRT boss
says the new snake is a much tamer beast. Suffice to say,
we think a few more laps, perhaps with a few different
drivers, might be required to settle this issue once and
for all. What say you readers? Is this a case of sour
apples, or is the ZR1 simply a superior car?
A Collection of Vintage Corvettes Visits Jay Leno’s Garage
We can all take a trip down Memory Lane with “car
guy” Jay Leno of The Tonight Show and Ed Welburn,
vice president of design for General Motors, during an
episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
With Corvettes definitely in the news these days
because of the impending unveiling of the C7, GM
decided to throw a little fuel on the fire and send four
of their most important cars in the General Motors
Heritage Center collection to Leno’s garage for The
Tonight Show host to drool over.
And drool he does.
“I wish you could leave them!” Leno tells Welburn.
First up on the video is a 1953 Corvette, one of just 300 ever built. Though primitive in many ways
compared to future Corvettes, Leno and Welburn both agree that the fiberglass car was a trendsetter
and that its styling has aged well. Welburn even says in some he likes the car’s design better now than 15
or 20 years ago. “There’s something that’s very pure and very clean,” he says.
While the ’53 was a pet project of Harley Earl’s, Welburn wonders if he could have even fit in the small
Corvette since he was such a big man.
Next, we see a special 1958 model, which is actually the boss’s car – for now. GM Chairman Dan Akerson
will be auctioning it off at Barrett-Jackson in January to raise money for the Habitat for Humanity
chapter in Detroit.