How Chevy Corvettes of all trim levels compare

The convertible Corvette Stingray.Matthew DeBord/Business Insider

• Chevrolet now produces four different versions of the seventh-generation Corvette, as well as hardtop, targa, and convertible options.
• I’ve driven ’em all: the Stingray, the Grand Sport, the Z06, and the ZR1.
• My personal favorite is the Grand Sport.

The Chevrolet Corvette has been in production since 1953. Now on its seventh generation, I like to remind myself that it was the first truly stunning car I ever got a ride in.

It was back in the 1970s, at my grandparents’ farm in Ohio. A car-nut friend of the theirs paid a visit — in his 1967 Vette. “Want a ride?” he asked me. He didn’t have to ask twice. I still sometimes dream about the thick rumble of the engine and the heavy click of the gearshift.

Thusly influenced, I’ve made Corvette-driving something of a distinct sub-genre of my car-reviewing here at Business Insider. If we ge a shot as testing a Vette, I don’t have to be asked twice. 

The seventh-generation of the Corvette is likely the last of its kind: massive V8 engine up front, sending power to the rear wheels. Chevy is expected to make gen eight a mid-engine machine, similar to what Ferrari and McLaren offer in their supercars.

With that in mind, I thought I round up the current Vette stable and run through the lineup’s virtues. The bottom line is that Corvette combines insane performance with a great price better than anybody in the car business.