Great Esquire Article: An Adult’s First Driving Experience Takes Place in a ZR1, What Better Way to Get Them Excited About Driving?
The article itself is only slightly about Corvettes, but it was such a fun read and such an interesting thought that it had to be shared. I'll give you a quick synopsis and a link, so that you can read it yourself and enjoy what it has to offer as much as I did. The idea behind it is this: You have a 25 year old adult male, who, because of his growing up in New York City, has never been behind the wheel of a car before. He's been in cars before, that's kind of impossible to avoid, but he's just now learning to drive. After getting his learner's permit from the DMV he's headed to the Corvette performance racing lessons in Phoenix, where GM sends people purchasing a ZR1 to find out just how much potential the vehicle on the track, and it's there, at the race track and under the tutelage of a professional racer, that he will get his first taste of driving. At first, it's a bit painful to read. He goes through the awkwardness that all of us inevitably felt as teenagers, first learning to drive a stick-shift. You know the moment: you've stalled it out 4 or 5 times, you're making awkward jokes to try and diffuse the situation, and what little confidence you had going in has quickly dissipated. Imagine this though: after finally getting over that hump, you now have 638 HP of raw, ZR1 power beneath your feet.
It's a fun thought experience that, in actuality, makes for a great article and a great read. Check it out at Esquire, and try to think of how the experience would've felt for you had it been your first time behind a wheel.