When we talk about America, we instinctively talk about cars. Well… at least I do. Maybe it has something to do with me being a huge car enthusiast? I definitely think so. In this article I will dig into the American car culture and find my all-time American dream car.
No! It will not be a mighty Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby from 1967 nor the fantastic Dodge Viper and not even the special Saleen S7, which is so special it doesn’t even seems to be able to fit a regular person in it. There is really so many great American cars to choose from, but sadly I can only choose one.
To find my American dream car we will have to go down South, more specifically Kentucky. You might wonder what a European would do so far away from New York. There is a very good reason for that. I know this great country and Kentucky is no exception. This is where they make and build my American dream car… Corvette. But it is no regular Corvette I’m thinking of.
We’re talking about the maddest, most wild Corvette model out there. The Corvette C7 ZR1. This was the all new 2019 “super Corvette.” It came with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine producing an astonishing 755 horsepower, delivering a top speed of well over 200 mph, and a 0-60 mph in just 2.8 seconds! That is colossal!
These numbers make it the most-powerful road-going Corvette ever. Believe me, it is like nothing you ever tried before, unless you’ve been driving an Indy car at the very limit, or inside a space shuttle on its way to space.
Now you might wonder whether Southern blood runs in my family? I guarantee you I’m hundred percent Danish, even though It sounds like I could be from the South. There is quite a long distance from Denmark to Kentucky, unfortunately. In Denmark, we mostly drive smaller and more practical vehicles. Boring!
That is what I love about America. The cars! They are powerful, simple and everything a car should be about. Then to see all this combined into the Corvette C7 ZR1 is why It is without a doubt my American dream car.
That 755 horsepower with a manual gearbox is beyond every normal thought. That is what impresses me so much. It also comes with a refined automatic gearbox distributing the power very well.
But wait… you’ll always been a fan of the manual gearboxes right? You bet I am. That is why I would definitely go with the lovelier manual choice. It’s like wrestling a bear, controlling the power through the manual gearbox is very hard and a rough experience sometimes. That’s what makes it so great! Thank you, Corvette, for that!
To give a car such immense level of control requires a large rear wing. You’re not in doubt when you see it. It really makes the car look even more mad and cool. This is a part of a performance package you can purchase. There is no way around this package and it really provides the necessary downforce when tackling high speed corners on the track or going straight at high speed. It is undeniably worth the extra money.
The sound as well tops It off! The insane roaring noise from the V8 that comes out through the four massive exhaust is almost enough to get complaints from people in the neighbor city. It is wonderful and delivers to the driving experiences and the feeling of the car. It delivers in almost every aspect and is also the reason why I chose it as my American dream car.
Of course, it also has some flaws like every other car. One of the major things when it comes to the Corvette C7 ZR1 is the finish of the interior. It could be better, with some cheap plastic and an older infotainment system. With a starting price of $123,000, it should not be like that. But it has a lot of physical buttons. We really need that in European cars. Ugly tendency making screens everywhere, unfortunately.
But these are all minor problems and you don’t even think about that when pulling away from almost every other car while smiling like a criminal on the loose.
When it comes to American car culture there is no looking past Corvette. But my choice was in close competition with another and possibly even crazier car. We have to move up north here. Up to motor city: Detroit. You might be familiar with the car or the Demon should I say? Yes, it is the one, The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Madness on wheels, simply.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon would unquestionably be my second pick. It is a monster in a straight line and really gives the Corvette ZR1 close competition. But when it comes to cornering, the Demon loses massively to the Corvette. That is partly due to the sheer weight difference of the two cars, with the Corvette being a lot lighter and center of gravity a lot lower.
The lack of downforce on the SRT Demon is also something that affects cornering in a let’s say not so positive way. But again, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon was never meant to be a track car. It is a pure drag racer and with 808 horsepower on race fuel it really gets going. Rumors says that Dodge might be working on a 1,000 bhp version! That would be completely madness, to say the least. Only time can tell about this, but it would be so cool.
I think the future looks great for American cars. One day I might replace what I still think is the most-cool car to come out of this cool country, with an even cooler one. I’m confident that good American cars will come and give upright competition to the other car manufactures around the world.
So for a European guy admiring cars and everything it brings, America is really doing a solid job. After traveling around over there for some times now, it brings me so much joy every time to watch the cars and people’s passion for them. I’ve had a guy who spoke if I could write about another great car from America. So I did! It was the Pontiac G8 GXP, and I wrote a little story on my blog about it. You can read it here.
Along with the development of cool projects there is almost no limits for what can be achieved from Corvette, Dodge and all the other car manufactures. Hopefully, they will capitalize on this as I think Corvette has done with my all-time American dream car, the Corvette C7 ZR1.
