I’m deeply thankful for all these new naturally-aspirated track day cars, like the Camaro Z/28, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Mustang GT350R. They buck this trend of sticking a turbo or a blower on every damn thing to stay all motor, baby. Now the Chevrolet Corvette joins that party too by bringing back a legendary name: Grand Sport.
And yes, it does come with the stripes.
Chevy says this new Grand Sport has the supercharged Z06's chassis tuning and cooling combined with a 460 horsepower NA LT1 V8. All the goodies we love are here, like Brembo brakes and a magnetic ride suspension. It can also be had with the fantastic seven-speed manual or GM’s acceptable eight-speed automatic.
And for the first time ever, the Grand Sport can be had with the Z07 Performance Package, which adds carbon-ceramic brakes, Michelin Sport Cup 2 summer tires, and a carbon-fiber aero package.
All of that makes this Grand Sport a whole second faster than the old C6 ZR1 at GM’s Milford Proving Ground track.
I’ll take it.
The Corvette Z06 is an amazing machine, but its supercharged engine has had more than a few problems—particularly in the area of cooling. Is this Grand Sport a response to that, of sorts? I don’t know, but it’s a great way to bring back a storied nameplate that dates back to 1963 and has popped up on several Corvettes over the years.
Calling it now: this is the Corvette you want to buy. It seems very, very badass, and maybe even the most balanced Corvette in the family.
We’ll get more on this car today from the Geneva Motor Show. What, did you think the Corvette was gonna let all those high-falootin’ European cars have all the fun?
Photos credit GM
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.