Feel free to read that headline as many times as necessary, but yes, it’s true: Clarkson-san wrote “Out of nowhere, my car of the year,” the Corvette ZR1. The man who pooped on the spearhead of electric cars has given an American high horsepower pushrod V8 the gold and glory. And this is after comparing the ZR1’s predecessors to Big Macs: “Cheap, plastic and at the right time, and in the right place, sort of just what you want.”

Not only that, but to put the ZR1 on its pedestal, Clarkson went so far as to remove the Caterham 500 he had previously placed there. On the show, he said that the Caterham was the best of the year, but in his article writes, “However, if you broaden the search engine and look simply for the best car of the year, the Caterham isn’t in with a shout because it’s ugly and geeky and I wouldn’t have one even if the option was the loss of my right testicle.”

And so the ZR1 reigns, even though “it’s not built very well.” In Clarkson’s words, it is “both docile and extraordinarily savage,” looks good, goes fast in a straight line and around corners, “most of the time bumbles about like a forgetful uncle,” and costs “lots for a Corvette” but is a bargain for the performance. His only lament about the car was this: “unless the healthcare and pensions company that makes it can be turned around, it will be the last of the breed.” The ZR1 - winning hearts and minds… Hat tip to Pdexter!

This is the first official photograph of the new Chevrolet Volt – GM’s landmark petrol-electric plug-in hybrid car, unveiled today to mark the General’s centenary. CAR Online dropped into the centenary event and has the full photographs and details of the Chevy Volt and the other announcements made today.

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Just past the curve in which Bruce McLaren bought it, and right before the corner where Niki Lauda had his face burned off, we ­realize the truth: General Motors must still be mad about our review of the 1980 Olds Omega Brougham. The company is trying to kill us.

Back in 2004, GM rolled the last steaming clod of asphalt onto its Milford Road Course (MRC), a 2.9-mile handling circuit at the company’s proving grounds an hour northwest of Detroit. The “Lutzring,” as employees have dubbed it in honor of GM’s meat-eating vice-chairman, Robert Lutz, plunges 135 feet from hilltop to trough and was pieced together like bathroom plumbing from some of the more treacherous corners in motor­sports. The 20 elbows, kinks, and blind whoop-de-dos are crowned by the 45-degree banked “Toilet Bowl,” which resembles the Nürburgring’s Karussell and which has already had its guardrails replaced at least twice. Only 16 of GM’s 266,000 employees are permitted to drive the MRC.

Naturally, a man-eating track you’ve never seen before is just the place you want to be in a 638-hp Corvette you’ve never driven before. Read more »

Here’s one more reason, besides the gas prices and congestion taxes, to be glad you don’t live in Europe: the awesome new Corvette ZR1 will sticker for twice as much there as it does in the United States.

Dutch importer Kroymans, which handles Corvette sales in Europe, said the ZR1 will have a sticker price of 136,000 euros. At current exchange rates, that equals $214,146.64. In the United States, the ZR1 will sticker for $105,000, which includes shipping charges and a gas-guzzler tax–but good look finding one for sale at that price.
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Neo-retro? Déjà new? Chevy freshens the bloodlines of an old breed.

So here it is, the third and final entry in the 21st-century pony-car-revival derby. Get your bets down early because we don’t expect to see any more resurrections of famous makes from the galloping go-go Sixties—Barracuda, Firebird, Javelin, et al.—and even gloomier, we think it likely that, given fuel prices and other concerns, this revival is likely to lack the fervor and duration of the original movement.

The first production version of the new Camaro we’ve seen and touched is this yellow car displayed in our gallery. “Touched” includes sitting in, briefly, but did not include driving. And “production” means production sheetmetal but not a showroom-ready car. That happens much later. New Camaros will appear in Chevy dealerships in March, arriving as 2010 models. Convertibles (softtops, no folding hardtop) are due about a year later.
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