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1971 Chevrolet Corvette ZR2
The Corvette was the only American sports car. It was true performance king ever since Chevrolet first released it in 1953. Over the years, Chevrolet produced some fast models that could beat anything coming from Europe. During the heyday of the muscle car era, Corvettes got big block power in the form of the mighty 396 and 427 V8 engines that ruled drag strips and boulevards all over the U.S.
As with all American cars, the early 70’s marked the last years of those powerful Corvettes before the dark ages of car performance commenced. The last hurrah was the ZR2 model with a big block 454 V8 and 425 HP. In that version, the Corvette was a true world-class sports car. It had fantastic acceleration with 0 to 60 mph taking only 5.3 seconds.
It also hit high top speeds. Due to relative lightness of the body, Corvette handled well and was successful on the race tracks, too.