As always, the Corvette falls apart a little when you step inside. In itself it is quite cool but, Chev as noted, it misses the standard set by Porsche and Aston Martin. In terms of its cockpit though, a miss is as good as a mile ? still garish and old school Yankee in too many respects, the cabin is one area the Corvette ? and just about any American car for that matter ? can still make great strides.

ZR1 however, fires up to a meaningful growl and drives off causing a few butterflies in the tummy. Ride is quite composed and cosseted by a delightful NASCAR-like growl accompanied by that serpentine hiss of the supercharger belt, although the wide rubber?s roar of seems to be doing its best shout that all out.

The ride shifts a step further away as soon as you flick the Sport switch, but you must expect that ? it's a necessary compromise for the ride and handling finesse that car offers on approaching the limit. The corvette is engineered to induce a natural push, but bully it a bit and invite those fat back tyres to break traction and oh boy ? ZR1 immediately becomes a drift device sent from heaven above...

Hooligan driving is absolutely essential in this car ? prod the pedal, induce the moment and it will carry it forever. There is very little out there that can match such sideways mastery beyond a purpose-built drifter ? period.

But settle drown to drive it point-perfect and the little red corvette responds as though it were a brain surgeon's tool ? precise, predictable and oh-so poised. Steering is positive and it follows through wonderfully, but to get it right, you need to be sure with that throttle ? it'll be sideways and burning off speed like hell before you know it, so throttle control becomes an art form in this machine...

Braking is as brilliant as can be expected from those giant ceramic discs, while the chassis works well enough for you to lean on the clamps more than you would in many other cars. Another area it may be found wanting is though its sheer size ? the Corvette is a big car and that can be a compromise in really tight twists, turns, avenues and alleys.

There are indeed areas where the Corvette ZR1 falls short of its promised rivals. But that will not matter to those of you who just want to shut up and drive. Yes, its cabin is way short of the mark, it?s ride perhaps not quite Porsche perfect and its fibre body may not exactly be Aston formed alley.

But when it comes down to pure, blinding, brilliant driving, there is little that will ever come near. And absolutely nothing at the price. Its closest promised rivals are a third more expensive. And anything that can really call itself competition approaches or passes double the Corvette's list price.

The only problem is that it only comes in left-hand drive and we don't get it in SA. Not yet, anyway ? we need the economy to turn before GM even thinks of that.

There may be an alternative in the meantime though. Our Performance car of the year was a brilliant two-seater Chevrolet with that same 6.2-litre V8. All that needs is a blower, some better brakes and a bit of work on the suspension to arrive at quite a compelling compromise.