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Seems all of a sudden, but this has been slowly creeping up on us all. We shouldn't be surprised!

With the addition of the 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible to its stable, the Chevrolet Performance lineup grows to include 14 vehicles. These include nine variations of the Camaro, the Australian-made SS sedan and four Corvette models, with engine output ranging from a respectable 323 horsepower to the Z06’s stratospheric 625 horsepower.

The drop-top Z06 showed its face a bit early...

It was supposed to wait until the New York Auto Show this week, but, as is usually the case for vehicles this exciting, the secret can’t be kept for long, and photos have leaked online early.

But that blue, though!

Being that this C7 drop-top is still a Z06, we can suspect a metric ass load of horsepower and torque from its supercharged LT4 V8, insane brakes, equally insane suspension, and even more mental aerodynamics. All of this coupled with either the choice of a precise seven-speed manual or a super-quick eight-speed automatic transmission. This would also make the Z06 Convertible the only vehicle of its kind with this much power, and two choices of transmissions. Best of all, it will probably come in under the $100,000 mark, although that remains to be official. Historians may also enjoy the fact that there hasn’t been a Z06 convertible since 1963 (the 427 doesn’t count).

For the C5’s introductory year (1997), Chevrolet was intent on spelling everything out in plain English. This 2 page spread print ad was written by none other than David Hill, the Chief Corvette Engineer at the time. The very wordy ad touts all the new car’s attributes– from its all-new 5.7L aluminum engine (now rated at 345 hp) to its state-of-the-art hydroformed perimeter frame. Easy to see why Chevy executed this ad: they “Changed a Classic”, as they state in the ad’s second paragraph.

As of last week, seven of the eight Corvettes which fell into a sinkhole that opened up in National Corvette Museum had been recovered, but one car, the C5 Z06 Mallett Hammer, was still nowhere to be found. The car was one of the first to fall in the sinkhole, and has been buried under rocks and debris the entire time the team has been searching for it. Thankfully, after almost two months of searching, the construction crews stumbled upon the Mallett Hammer Monday evening.

Predictably, the Mallett Hammer appears to be in the worst shape of all the Corvettes which fell victim to the hole. The Corvette Museum was only able to photograph the cars underside, as the rest of the car is completely buried under rocks and dirt. Teams attempting to extract the car have been pouring water into the hole to try and make mud, which is easier to vacuum up out of the hole than dirt. The rocks on top of the car must also be removed individually to prevent the debris from shifting and re-burying the car.

With the 2015 Corvette Z06 getting the 8L90 eight-speed gearbox to compliment its seven-speed manual transmission, everyone felt it was only a matter of time before the Corvette team rolled the new transmission into the Corvette Stingray. Today, Chevrolet announced just that, and buyers can expect the 8L90 in the Corvette Stingray beginning the 2015 model year. This wasn’t expected to happen until 2016.

When it comes to an “American vehicle,” it’s a widely gray area these days. Some Toyotas are made in America. Some Volkswagens are made in America. Oppositely, some Chevrolets that are sold here are made in Korea and Mexico. It’s easy to see that  these days it goes beyond where the brand is from, and many will argue that some of the most “American” vehicles are Toyotas and Hondas due to their American-made parts content. But according to international business professor Frank DuBois and his annual “Made in America Auto Index,” American brand vehicles took this year’s top rankings. And not just any American vehicles, but iconic ones.

Remember the eight Corvettes that fell into a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum? How could anyone not remember? It was even captured on security video! A few weeks ago, GM Authority ran a story on how the excavated cars were an attraction in their own right, but there were still a few Vettes left in the hole while engineers continued their project.

Now the National Corvette Museum has announced that workers have pulled out the seventh vehicle, a 2009 Corvette convertible in white and red. Its place in Corvette history is that it’s the 1.5-millionth Vette produced since 1953. It was optioned with the 3LT Preferred Equipment Group, Z51 Performance Package, Dual Mode Performance Exhaust, Navigation, 6-Speed Automatic Transmission with Paddle Shift and, of course, the 6.2L V8 engine putting out 430 horsepower.

Imagine for a moment you have a car that almost caught fire because of a wiring issue. You stick it in the garage and, before you know it, it’s been 25 years and the car hasn’t moved—not an uncommon occurrence, right? Sometimes life gets in the way of a project.

But sometimes cancer gets in the way of life too. A Nebraska resident, former Marine staff sergeant, and Vietnam veteran, Mike Kimmons had the misfortune to be given several months to live due to liver cancer. When discussing with friends what he’d like to do before the disease takes over his life, one of the things Mike said was to take his wife for a cruise in his 1964 Corvette. One of those friends, Dave Rusk, texted another friend, George Hoellen, and asked for help. George not only responded in the affirmative, but he got the wheels (pun not intended) in motion thanks to being president and part-owner of a tire company. The folks working for him at T.O. Haas Tire rose to the occasion, secretly attending to the Corvette’s needs including a new gas tank, new brake system, a new exhaust system, radiator, and turn signal switch.

The National Corvette Museum broke ground on the Motorsports Park currently being built adjacent to the museum and GM’s Bowling Green Assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky last July and has been making steady progress on the track ever since. Most recently, construction crews began paving the first part of the track, laying asphalt down on the paddock area.

he area being paved will be used as a skidpad as well as for autocross events, according to an announcement put out on the park’s Facebook page. The next order of business will be installing guard rails on the inside of the track and performing lime stabilization for the base of the racing surface and runoff areas. With the brunt of the winter’s bad weather behind them, the park says construction is beginning to move more quickly.

JOLIET, Ill., March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- As Chicagoland performance-car enthusiasts await the arrival of the track-ready 2015 Chevy Camaro Z/28 at Bill Jacobs Joliet in the coming months, they'll be able to catch a glimpse of the muscle car in action as paces the 2014 Indy 500 on May 25.

While the 2015 Chevy Camaro Z/28 won't be fully unleashed on the track, the man behind the wheel has proven to be more than capable of getting every ounce of performance from a car. Chevy selected three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti to drive the track-ready Camaro. Although Franchitti had his racing career cut short after suffering serious injuries from a crash last October, the automotive world is thrilled to see Franchitti back behind the wheel at the Indy 500.