Big, bold beauty and performance from the 2009 Chevy Corvette is easy to see even when the vehicle is at a standstill and covered by a tarp. Sitting alone and unchallenged in the world of 2-seat American sports car performance machines, the fiberglass-clad behemoth harkens back to a time in America when the gas was cheap and the roads were made for speed.

This newest sixth-generation ‘Vette continues to add to a stellar record of past performance, and Chevy has seen to it that the car’s fan base out there gets exactly what it wants. Delivering on that promise with various engine and suspension combinations, the car has demonstrated increasing sophistication over the years to go with its improvements in horsepower, speed and — surprisingly — fuel economy.

The C6 — as this generation of car is sometimes known — hit the market back in 2005, rolling off its Bowling Green, Kentucky line fully ready to rumble no matter the various engine size or suspension rig-out. It’s also a technological adept and joyous to drive.

Chevy’s always tended to use what it learns from the development and ongoing maturation of the 2009 Chevy Corvette to develop other engines, sound-proofing characteristics and body changes to send them down the company lineup of cars, even down to its most pedestrian subcompact offerings.

One thing’s for sure, and that’s that Corvette is never hesitant to put all it robust horsepower on display whenever possible. The vehicle offers a number of different V8 engines, including a 7 liter beast that delivers 435 screaming horses at the pavement level in normally-aspirated form. All that power gives many a 2009 Chevy Corvette the ability to go head-to-head with some truly fine exotic sports cars these days.

As if that weren’t enough, the ZR1 model has been introduced for the new model year and is, by far, the quickest and most powerful ‘Vette ever seen in factory drag. Sporting a supercharged V8 of 6. 2 liters and a 6 speed transmission to get all that power to the pavement, this particular Corvette puts out 635 horsepower that enables the 2-seater to get up to 205 miles per hour and at a cost that’s well under the price similar performance would cost in many other sports cars in the Corvette’s niche.

Today’s 2009 Chevy Corvette comes in at the top of a very large hill in even its most standard versions, though one would be hard-pressed to term anything having to do with the ‘Vette as being “standard.” There’s a level of performance baked into the 2-seater that no American car has come close to touching, and its fiberglass-clad rig-out delivers awesome looks to go with its awesome performance. The ZR1, even at around a hundred grand, is sure to draw out even more lust in the car’s fans.

Andy Zain is the admin of Corvette Forum , a place where fans and owners can get the right information for tuning, customization and general discussions on anything about Chevy Corvette. Get the information you need when you visit Chevy Truck Forums