1998 Chevrolet Corvette Price, Review & Road Test

Rebirth of an American automotive icon isn't always the cause for celebration, but the exceptional fifth-generation Chevrolet Corvette garnered our highest accolades, earning Motor Trend's '98 Car of the Year award. Long in development, the new Corvette set a new sports car benchmark for performance, technology, comfort, ergonomics, storage capacity, and value. We had to order a long-termer. No, make that two.

Initially offered as a coupe and convertible, we ordered one of each Corvette variant. The Torch Red coupe was our all-business speed machine with few options added to the well-equipped $37,495 base model. Ordering a six-speed manual transmission ($815), Z51 performance handling package ($350), floormats ($25), cargo cover and net ($50), foglamps ($69), CD player ($100), obligatory California emissions ($170), and destination fee ($565), we still squeaked in under $40,000. The convertible was destined to be our grand tourer, optioned up with dual-zone climate controls ($365), six-way power passenger seat ($305), sport buckets ($625), and variable Real-Time Damping suspension ($1695). We stuck with the four-speed automatic, but chose a performance axle ($100), pushing the total to $48,444.

From a pure packaging standpoint, the Corvette is a masterpiece. Vastly improved ingress/egress, comfortable seats, easy-to-read instruments, and well-placed controls establish a sports car interior benchmark. And both the coupe and convertible sport a relatively large cargo area capable of swallowing golf club bags or a week's luggage. The convertible's wind buffeting at cruising speed is minimal, allowing for comfortable conversation and enjoyable music listening. One logbook entry read, "Above 130 mph, the buffeting and wind noise is too much to handle for long periods, but duh."