Jeremy Clarkson Has a Crush on the Corvette C7

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has driven the C7 Corvette Stingray, and his review is in: he loves it. No, seriously, he really loves it.

If you watch the original UK version of Top Gear, you may be aware of Clarkson’s penchant for pooh-poohing American cars … even European cars built in the US. He’s especially been critical of the Corvette over the years. Back when the C6 came on the scene for model year 2005, he related the suspension to a “medieval ox cart”. Ouch.

Now that the C7 is out, Clarkson is singing a different tune. Aside from a little pouting about the manual transmission synchros in second and third gear, a stiffer-than-preferred ride, and its tendency to scrape its nose on every speed bump, Clarkson is quite taken with the newest generation of America’s sports car. “I really don’t know how to say this but, um, it’s excellent,” Clarkson writes in his review for The Sunday Times. He even says the new Corvette looks just as good as rolling luminaries like the Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari 458 Italia and the Jaguar F-TYPE, and that from some angles the ‘Vette can look better than any of those.

However, the real kicker comes when he opines, “£64,540 for a 180-mph convertible that looks this good and drives this well is still the bargain of the century. I mean, a Jaguar F-TYPE V8 is almost £16,000 more, for heaven’s sake. And I’m sorry, but it’s not as good.”

While the new Corvette fared well in Clarkson’s stress-test, when it came to Corvette owners, Clarkson’s tone became condescending:

“Do you believe that America’s involvement in Iraq was righteous and justified? Do you have an attack dog? Do you believe everyone has a right to own as many automatic weapons as they damn well please and that Obama Barrack [sic] is basically a communist? Yes? So, of course, you drive a Chevrolet Corvette.”

Does that quote make you want to release the hounds?

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