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The birthday pony had shown up to the family gathering to a great deal of fanfare. Parents and children alike made a beeline from the front door to the driveway, taking pictures and posing beside it, fawning over the strikingly beautiful birthday surprise while clamoring excitedly to see who would get to take the first ride. “Lemme go first...




The birthday pony had shown up to the family gathering to a great deal of fanfare. Parents and children alike made a beeline from the front door to the driveway, taking pictures and posing beside it, fawning over the strikingly beautiful birthday surprise while clamoring excitedly to see who would get to take the first ride.

Photo by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

“Lemme go first … pleeeeease!” Tyler, 5, said tugging my sleeve.



Little did Tyler know that this “birthday pony” has a top speed of 198 miles per hour.



Uncle Will suggested I put up a sign: “Rides — $5.”



At that price it would take only 15,000 rides this afternoon to pay off the $75,000 sticker price of the 2011 Corvette Grand Coupe convertible I was test driving and was about to give a handful of eager family members the ride of their lives.



No one seemed to appreciate more the top-down thrill of rocketing through space in this iconic American road master than my niece Sasha, 38, who along an uncongested stretch of the I-12 raised both of her arms up in the air and whooped as though she were on a roller coaster.



At 58 years young, the sixth-generation Corvette still has the power to make jaws drop and arms fly with carefree abandon.



It can also ruin your makeup.



This I discovered the first evening I had the car and took my long-time automotive guinea pig and traveling companion for a quick spin. Unbeknownst to me, she was freshening her face in the flip-down, front passenger-seat mirror when I decided to squeeze a little heat from the ’Vette’s mighty 6.2-liter V8 powerplant, whose 436 horses can jet-thrust this four-wheel ICBM from 0-to-60 in 3.9 seconds.



Oops.



“I just got lipstick all over my face,” she sighed.



Corvette freak flags

If the Kennedys were this country’s royalty, the Corvette in many ways is America’s Sports Car. It has been around certainly longer than any other homegrown sports car, all the while becoming so iconic that it has earned space in more than a few museums. (FYI: Back in 1953 when the first Corvette was introduced, Lamborghini was still churning out only farm tractors.) Over the decades and successive generations of evolution, the Corvette has never lost its appeal among American muscle-car fans. Or , for that matter, those who appreciated the sleek aesthetic this two-passenger, bucket-seat spitfire brought to an automotive landscape once dotted by thuggish street rods long on overdrive but short on cool. Perhaps it’s only fitting this year as Chevrolet celebrates it 100th anniversary to find the Detroit auto maker rolling out what many say may be one of the hottest versions of the Corvette ever to hit the streets.



“The new Corvette Grand Sport,” according to BusinessWeek, “may be the best sports car bargain on the planet.”

Photo by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

A bargain … with a starting MSRP of $59,530? Well, yes. If you compare the Corvette with the price of its nearest rivals, including the Porsche Boxster ($61,200), Porsche 911 ($77,800) and Aston Martin V8 Vantage ($124,750), I’m surprised you’re not already online transferring funds from your 401(k) to your checking account. Simply put, the 2011 Corvette, available in four trim levels and in removable-roof coupe and convertible models, brings to the table a stellar menu of five-star amenities.



With a test-track top speed of 198 miles per hour, a six-speed manual or automatic transmission (with steering wheel-mounted shifter paddles) and standard Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires, you’ll be singing “My country ’tis of thee/sweet car of liberty,” whether rac

Tags: Chevrolet, is-featured

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STAR-SPANGLED HAMMER: Why America's sports-car royal is still bad to the bone was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Chevrolet. Read the full story by clicking here.