2014 Chevy Corvette... The return of Stingray

Corvette stingray (C7) is finally out on the street. 

The all-new LT1 small-block V8 holds on to the same 6.2-liter displacement as the C6, here producing 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque backed by either a seven-speed manual or a six-speed paddleshift automatic. And although GM has yet to release the car's weight (we only know it won't be under 3,000 pounds as previously rumored), it's promising a better power-to-weight ratio than the Porsche 911 Carrera and Audi R8. In fact, Chevy pledges the C7 will run from 0-60 in less than four seconds and Z51 Performance Package examples will achieve cornering grip of over one g right out of the box. Further, 60-0 braking distances are said to be consistent with that of the outgoing Grand Sport and so are its lap times – impressive for a standard model.

It's clearly the vette. This may be the best design Chevy ever created yet.

“Iconic.” It’s possibly the word most overused in the last decade. Randomly applied to everything from ’70s television has-beens to retail establishments, and from shoes to athletes, it’s been rendered practically meaningless. But in the case of the Corvette, the word still carries the weight of a blacksmith’s anvil.

Love it or hate it, for more than 50 years, the Vette has unapologetically stood as a universal symbol for homegrown American performance. So when Chevrolet announces it has a new one in the pipe, people get weird. Rumors of mid-mounted engines, piles of carbon fiber, and turbocharging swirl. But now that the drapes have finally sloughed off the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray—yes, the famed name returns on the base car—we have only truth.