Which Is The Best Corvette Ever Made?
We drive every generation of Chevrolet Corvette and tell you which one is definitely the best of all time
Imthishan Giado
What a feast for senses. Seven generations of Corvette, all lined up in front of me. Seven cars that brought sportscar elation to the masses, raced Europe’s finest, and told the world America could make a damned fine automobile.
And now I can sample them all, back to back. OK, we’re only really allowed to drive them in a large circle and not a race speeds. But still. I’m a very lucky boy.
Let’s get stuck in.
Chevrolet C1 (1953 -1962)
The car the started it all. In an era when the average car you saw on the street was a big husky saloon or a woody wagon and SUVs didn’t exist yet, what an shock it must have been to behold this first-generation ‘Vette,
With its gorgeous flowing lines, drop-top come-hither presence and 50s Americana confidence married to a European footprint it’s still the car that draws the most takers today, even more than the leg-tremblingly good C2 that followed. It’s the one we all want to drive, the one we all imagine ourselves driving down the Pacific Coast to our date with destiny.
Pity it’s such a dog to drive. Even though the C1’s groundbreaking fibreglass construction means it weighs a fairly light 1309kg, the ‘Blue Flame’ six under the hood is no sportscar motor. Nor is it helped by a lethargic three speed auto with an extraordinarily finicky shifter that demands surgeon-like precision to find cogs.
More than the others, the C1 feels like a vintage car. Acceleration is tepid at best, the handling is sloppy and the steering wheel would be better suited to a yacht, not to mention, the all-four-corners disc brakes on our well-cared-for GM example were already packing up after a day of extremely gentle driving.
Best to treat the C1 as a romantic cruiser, rather than a hard charging sportscar. Legendary Zora Arkus Duntov would eventually take the C1 and give it the small-block V8 and the manual gearbox it deserves. Short of a restomod though, I don’t think you could ever make the C1 a genuine sportcar. That ‘Vette was yet to come.
Chevrolet C2 (1962 -1967)
Now this is more like it. Forget the C1, this is the Corvette I want to drive. Magnificent, perfect Bill Mitchell styling based on the Mako Shark concept of 1961, it is quite simply, one of the beautiful cars of all time. I’m so happy, I could hug myself.
To make things even more perfect, this one’s got a 427 – a 7-litre 425bhp V8, the biggest one you could ever get! – and a four speed manual. What’s it worth? Anywhere between $100,000 and $150,000. Better not break it.
Even in UAE-issue white, it’s an intimidating car. Not helped by the fact that all the other journos seem to be struggling to drive it. But when my time comes, the C2 proves its bark to be worse than its bite. The seating position is good, visibility is excellent, instruments tiny and while the clutch is truck-heavy, the gearbox is clicky and precise.
See, the thing with the C2 is, it’s unbelievably analog. No filters, just you and 425bhp of raw ‘60s Detroit muscle. Which incidentally is what you need – don’t be dainty or halfhearted, grab this car by the scruff of the neck and give it a good kick, because that’s what it wants, like a girlfriend who sleeps with an icepick.
Initially, it’s tricky to get off the line but once you’re moving it’s an absolute sweetheart. By today’s standard the power is not immense but the delivery is barrel-chested and the car’s certainly quick. The steering wheel is huge and overboosted feel but it’s tremendous fun to fang about. A Golf GTI would obliterate it in the bends but who cares? The C2 motors hard and cruises effortlessly. I never wanted to get out.
Chevrolet C3 (1967 -1982)
You may think you’re being clever in wanting this one. You see the ads on used car sites and think it’ll be cheap style, cheap V8 muscle. Let’s not forget, also still a slinky ‘70s stunner. You’ll be a cool ‘70s private detective if you own this car, all battered leather coats and worn hip flasks, while you cruise the streets looking for trouble.
But it’s not any of those things. What the C3 is, is an old car, and boy does it feel it, a lazy cruiser for an era of malaise. Unlike the C2 where you sit high and grasp a bus-like-wheel, in the C3 you’re dropped down low, real low and the belt line is high, so it feels claustrophobic, as a convertible.
Nothing really works in the C3. The looks scream sportcar but the handling is still ‘60s soft and roly-poly, the steering vague, the gearbox more so and the vinyl seat hard and uncomfortable. This wasn’t one of Detroit’s better V8s, either; the exhaust is loud but the power delivery limp and unsatisfying, the engine utterly reluctant to drive.
Clearly, the C2’s mystique had worn off by the ‘70s. The C3 was an uncertain car, for an uncertain era.
Chevrolet C4 (1984 -1996)
A white Corvette C4. Who isn’t thinking of Faceman from the A-team, with its iconic red stripe down the side? We had left the disco-era Vette behind, now we would get the car of the future. The ‘80s future, that its.
Boy oh boy, is this car 80s, too. No analog gauges here, just a arcing bar tachometer and a ton of electroluminescent gauges. In many ways, the interior feels more dated than any car here bar the C1, and that includes the angular exterior .
But it’s a comfortable car to sit in, and here’s the real surprise – it finally feels like a modern car to drive. A much tighter chassis, steering with some actual feel, brakes that stop – this is an actual sportscar, if not yet quite a world class one. The only real drawback is the engine; it’s got the engine note, but the performance. And the automatic is a joke, a reminder that GM could still cost-cut like the best.
Pity it’s wrapped in such a dated package, and basically forgotten today. Nevertheless, the C4 was an important step on Corvette’s road to one-day world domination.
Chevrolet C5 (1996 -2004)
Here we go. GM brought out a Z06 for this event and it’s the first to feel like a fast car. Also, it’s the last Corvette to feature pop-up headlights and that’s why the C5, with its teardrop nose, will always be one of the prettiest ‘Vettes to me.
The engine’s a real peach: a 5.7-litre LS6, mated solely to a six-speed manual. OK, the seats are crap and the plastics for the dash could have come from a garbage bin, the gearlever is shaped for Lego people hands, but these are petty trifles.
With the C5, Chevy feels like they finally got the Corvette right. It drives super right, the engine always to go, the gearbox shifts beautifully and the car feels nimble and precise. But unlike the old cars, it boasts a supple yet taut ride. You could drive one every day, bumble through the commute, and then rip up the racetrack on the weekends.
Magnificent car, this C5 Z06. For US$30k, it’s the best performance car money can buy.
Chevrolet C6 (2004-2013)
You’re expecting me to wax lyrical about the C6, one of the finest driving ‘Vettes of the modern era, aren’t you?
Somehow, not quite. While the C6 is undoubtedly a great car in its own right, it feels an evolutionary step towards the C7. The looks are purposeful but not lust-worthy (unless you get the axe-murderer Z06, that is), the interior features so-so ergonomics, flat seats that are useless in high-speed driving and a lethargic auto. Once again, the engine is too quick for our super-short test course but that’s Corvettes in general these days; they have so much performance in their first and second gears that you loaf around on torque most of the time.
Maybe it would have been different if GM had supplied one of the mighty Z06s, but this bone-stock C6 just didn’t do it for me.
Like an iPhone 4S, you could use one everyday. But given the choice to own a gleaming 6 Plus, would you really want to?
Chevrolet C7 (2013-present)
It’s been a long road but here we are at last, with the latest and mightiest Corvette, the super-high tech C7. Built to tick every tech wish list and kick 911s in the teeth, this is the very best car GM can make today. But is it any good?
You bet your ass it is. OK, this little loop is no way to drive a C7, a 455bhp beast. Only takes a few meters to realise that this is a no-questions-asked masterpiece, one shift from the perfectly-positive gearbox, one braap from the dual-mode exhaust to know that C7 is the real deal.
Finally, a proper interior. Finally, an engine that can both waft and roar down the straight, perfectly matched to an infinitely adjustable chassis and electronics that flatter rather than frustrate. Finally, seats that work! I can’t give you any more hyperbole – you simply must go and drive a C7. A manual C7, of course, because you deserve nothing less.
This is what greatness feels like. It’s all the Vette promised to be.
Verdict
So, which one would I have? It’s a question of what you want to do with your ‘Vette.
Let’s dispense with the duff ones. Nice as it is to behold, the C1 is of historical interest only. The C3 drives like an asthmatic supertanker, the C4 drives better but feels ancient and the C6 is a great bargain but still too new to be a legend in its own right.
Starting from the bottom: if you’re looking for the perfect weekend car, take the C2. Gorgeous, challenging to drive yet immensely satisfying. Looking for the perfect cheap fast car? C5 Z06 will do burnouts in your heart, all day long.
But if you’re looking for the best-ever ‘Vette, it’s the newest one, C7. I’ve hugely enjoyed this trip down memory lane but time stands still for no one and the C7 is the apex predator of a truly incredible series of automobiles. It’s the best car I’ve ever driven, and that’s the God Honest Truth.
