1997 Chevrolet Corvette

The Corvette is Chevrolet's flagship sports car, a two-seat coupe that's been America's answer to the world's best for decades. It's a proper driver's car, with sharp steering and a chassis that rewards confidence on a back road. The cabin is snug, as you'd expect in a two-seater, and the interior materials feel dated by today's standards. Early C5s have a few known gremlins, like pop-up headlights that stick and electrical gremlins that can be tricky to trace. The C5's return to a fixed-roof coupe design and a more rigid chassis set the 1997 Corvette apart from its predecessor, and this base coupe is the purest expression of that new platform. Its 5.7L V8 makes 340 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual or a four-speed automatic, and it pulls hard from low revs with a deep V8 soundtrack. The coupe's removable roof panel is a nice touch for open-air driving, though it can add some creaks over bumps compared to the fixed-roof hardtop that arrived later.