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Corvette sedan
In May 2007, Bob Lutz
stated he is not at all opposed to the idea of a
Corvette sedan. This would follow in the footsteps of
the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide, and
Lamborghini Estoque.[26] In subsequent statements
however, Lutz said that this statement was made merely
as an option, as an example of the way that Chevrolet
considers all possibilities during the design process.
Awards
The Corvette was
Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year for 1984 and
1998. It has also been on Car and Driver magazine's
annual Ten Best list fifteen times: the C4 from 1985
through 1989, the C5 in 1998, 1999, and 2002 through
2004, and the C6 from 2005 through 2009. The C6 was
also nominated for the North American Car of the Year
award for 2005. The C6 Z06 was named "Most Coveted
Vehicle" in the 2006 Canadian Car of the Year contest.
Automobile Magazine ranked the 1963–1967 Sting Ray
first on their "100 Coolest Cars" list, above the
Dodge Viper GTS, the Porsche 911, and others. Sports
Car International placed it at number 5 on their list
of the Top Sports Cars of the 1960s.
The 1999 Corvette Convertible, along with the
Mercedes-Benz S500, were named "Best Engineered Car of
the 20th century" by the Society of Automotive
Engineers publication Automotive Engineering
International.
A Corvette has been selected as the pace car at the
Indianapolis 500 ten times: 1978, 1986, 1995, 1998,
2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Corvette as marque
With the move toward
rebadging Daewoo cars as budget-priced Chevrolets in
Europe, Corvette became a marque in its own right in
2005. The brand is sold separately from Korean-built
Chevrolets, usually by dealers with the premium
Cadillac range. Corvette is also marketed as a
separate marque in Japan.
Owner demographics
According to research
by Specialty Equipment Market Association and Experian
Automotive, as of 2009, there were approximately
750,000 Corvettes of all model years registered in the
United States. Corvette owners were fairly equally
distributed throughout the country, with the highest
density in Michigan (3.47 per 1000 residents) and the
lowest density in Utah, Mississippi, and Hawaii (1.66,
1.63, and 1.53 registrations per 1000 residents). 47%
of them hold college degrees (significantly above the
nationwide average of 27%), and 82% are between ages
of 40 and 69 (median age being 53).
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