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Friday, November 09, 2001

By Don Hammonds, Post-Gazette Auto Reviewer

Who's America's real sweetheart? Well, it ain't Shirley Temple, that's for sure, no matter what movie buffs tell you. Nope, America's real sweetheart has four tires, not two legs. And talk about hot!

It's Chevy's Corvette.

	The 2001 Chevrolet Corvette 2001 Corvette convertible List Price: $52,350 Fuel economy: 18 mpg in the city, 26 on the highway.

Probably from the time many Americans are weaned from the bottle and are old enough to go "vrooming" across the living room floor with a toy car, they develop this hankering for a Corvette -- preferably in red.

I have to admit having a special love for Corvettes -- heck, I practically grew up with them. After all, we were from the same home town -- St. Louis. The factory was no more than five minutes by foot from where I lived on the city's North Side, and I made it a point to tour the plant every year.

They were all parked in a little side yard for all of us to slobber over, and the day the Natural Bridge Avenue plant closed was a sad one for St. Louis. Yours truly got to watch the last one leave the line before it was all moved to Bowling Green, Ky.

Like many people, I'd never driven a Vette, so you can imagine how I felt when I got a look at this week's test car for the first time -- a red 2001 Corvette Convertible.

It had a base price of $46,805, which included just about everything. Options such as the preferred equipment group, special paint, aluminum wheels and other goodies brought the price to $52,350.

By the way, if you've got that much cash sitting around gathering dust, you'd better put in your order now. It typically takes a year or so before you can even get some models.

	Related article: America's homegrown 'dream' hot rod pours on the heat

I was absolutely stunned from the get-go. The ride was firm and comfortable and I didn't feel a bump. Acceleration was blindingly fast. And the brakes were among the best I've ever used in an American car,.

Let's go for a ride.

As you get in, the first shock is that you can actually do it. The door opening, at least for a sports car, is pretty wide, and there's plenty of room to get to the driver's seat -- no feeling like Quasimodo as you hop in.

The seats are sumptuous, with plenty of leg room out front. Visibility from the front seat is surprisingly good, in spite of the fact that you're sitting so low in the car that your hindquarters may as well be dragging on the asphalt.

The view over the hood is tremendous -- all that voluptuous metal waiting for your command. And the instrument panel is all business -- informative in a futuristic well-lit design that tells you more than you need to know.

The gearshift falls right to your hand. There are no weird angles, no reaching or straining to get to it. The gauges themselves look as though they are multilayered and three-dimensional, each seeming to be positioned slightly behind the other for an interesting effect.

There were only a couple of drawbacks to the interior -- the console has next to no room in it, and the cupholder left a lot to be desired. But who's going to worry much about drinking something or putting something away when you're driving a Corvette?

The other shocker is just how practical the Corvette really is -- no kidding. The trunk has plenty of room, and there's additional storage space hidden behind a cover.

As you look around, you will see plenty of features from Corvettes past, such as a built-in grab bar on the passenger side of the dash, a neat crossed flag insignia between the seats that Vettes have had for ages and the design of the dashboard itself, with its hood over the gauges and the passenger side of the dash.

Let's rev it up and take off. Hit the switch and the headlights open and swing into place, and the fabulous CD system kicks into play.

As powerful as the engine is, it's relatively quiet when idling. Having driven a less powerful version of this engine in the Camaro SS, I was thinking I'd hear the same thunder and rumpa-rumpa, but this version actually sounds refined.

Want some air? Let's put the top down. Though it's manually operated, it's pretty easy to lower, even for a little guy like me. There's a yellow button beneath the rear deck that you hit, which also lowers the windows.

You raise the deck, lift up on the rear of the top, and fold the front part like an accordion. The only complication is that you have to make sure the lower part of the top fits in just the right way inside the storage area or you may have to repeat the whole process.

As I open it up on the road, everything else around us becomes a blur. This car really moves, and acceleration times are 4.5 to 5 seconds to 60.

But the transmission is smooth as silk -- you don't notice any gear changes as the car picks up speed.

Now you're pressed gently back in your seat as we accelerate, and you don't have to grab for the armrest as we head around the corner. The Corvette corners like a champ, with no lean or discomfort for the passenger or driver.

And listen carefully: Do you hear any rattles or squeaks? I didn't think so. Corvettes of the past, including the last generation "C4" series, had a reputation for poor quality control, partly because of the fiberglass body design. But quality control is tight on the new ones, with not a thread or screw out of place.

If you want to know what else is happening with the car, there's an electronic driver's information center that will tell you just about anything you want to know. There's even an oil level/oil life monitoring system for you if you tend to be a bit forgetful about such things.

As I pull to a stop, the brakes respond instantly, feeling exactly like what you would get in better European models. These are the most effective brakes I've experienced on General Motors' products, and given the speed potential of the Corvette, they'd better be!

As for the ambience of the Corvette, it's successful because it carries its heritage through the years and wears it proudly. You see the same basic shape and features such as round taillights and a sculpted side cove. Nobody mucks it up with changes out of keeping with the concept. As former GM styling chief William Mitchell once said, they are one of the few cars not designed by a committee.

Corvettes are what they are: classics that get better with age.