Corvettes were not always the speed monsters they are famous for being now. Initially they were something stuck between luxury car and sports machine. Not quite a luxury car because Corvettes just didn’t have the features of lines like Mercedes or Ferrari, and not exactly a sports car because at first, Corvettes did not have as much muscle as they do now.
Chevrolet has changed the Corvette make and model a lot over the last 50 years with increases, then decreases in horsepower, the addition of seat belts as driving safety laws became tougher, and the inclusion of airbags and more safety features as technology improved. Even loaded down with modern contrivances like power windows, automatic transmissions and other heavy equipment, many Corvettes can break 200 mph.
The Corvette ZR1 pictured above has been tested and officially clocked at 205 miles per hour. That’s a ridiculous amount of speed and while it’s true Chevrolet built much stronger, higher horsepower engines in the past, these days there are very few Corvettes which are able to break the 200 mph mark. That is, of course, before private owners get their hands on the vehicles and get to modding the machines, making them into leaner, faster, more powerful beasts than they were ever meant to be. That’s not to say the private-owned vehicles aren’t amazing to see and watch perform.
If real, raw and unbridled power sounds more like the right stuff, you might be interested in a 1984 Chevy Corvette nicknamed the Bonneville Missile. It really was like a missile – capable of going at a sustained speed of 271 miles per hour. It is and for a time will likely remain the world’s fastest Corvette. It’s been highly modified by its owner Bobby Moore who has put enough time, effort and sweat into this vehicle to make it a legendary machine.
Moore’s unbelievable but very real Corvette has obviously been tweaked since it left factory lines. A safety cage has been installed for the driver and much of the unnecessary weight, like safety padding, seat cushions, backseats and trunk space have all but cut down or cut out completely to make the car lighter and faster. This is fine for people trying to race but driving something like this on a city street would get a guy arrested.
Getting the top speed doesn’t mean much if an engine explodes shortly after making that plateau. There’s nothing like going faster than any man in a Corvette ever has when all of a sudden the vehicle is on fire. It’s a grim picture, but take it with a grain of salt and remember most people aren’t ready to heavily modify their vehicles while keeping the cars safe.
Corvette isn’t just making fast cars for driving on land, either. Seen here is the Chevrolet Corvette Python, an amphibious vehicle capable of driving on water or land. No, it isn’t Photoshopped, and this aquatic car, capable of hitting 60 mph in under 4 seconds and staying there, is the fastest amphibious car in the world.
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