Fifth Gear award goes to... a Corvette?
Striking us as perhaps something out of Shaun of the Dead, where bizarre news reports keep filtering in through a world-wide crises, we have a somewhat garbled missive from abroad that seems to indicate that the British TV program, Fifth Gear, has awarded the Chevrolet Corvette its Fast Car of the Year award for 2006. A British TV show naming an American car as the best in its class? Must be something amiss. Perhaps the satellite feed is a bit wonky. The show's website doesn't have a confirmation of this award yet, so we can only wonder.
Actually, Fifth Gear handed out a few awards on Monday night, with the Audi TT taking home the slab of Portland Stone for Car of the Year. In the Small Car category, the award went to the new Mini Cooper. Best Family Car was the Ford S-Max. And the previously mentioned Corvette beat out the new 997 Turbo Porsche and Ferrari's latest GTB, the 599 Fiorano in the Fast Car segment.
By the way, the photo shows the actual award, which British sculptor Rob Bowers creates out of Portland Stone for the show. The annual award goes to the car the staff picks out of every vehicle they tested over the previous twelve months.
Thanks for the tip, James!
[Source: Fifth Gear]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Um... no 2:39PM (12/19/2006)
"And the previously mentioned Corvette beat out the new 997 Turbo Porsche and Ferrari's latest GTB, the 599 Fiorano in the Fast Car segment."
That should tell you something.
I'll stick with Top Gear.
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HHK 2:48PM (12/19/2006)
Waiting for January 28th to watch a real show. The best "non-scripted entertainment" program.....in the world.
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SOhp101 2:59PM (12/19/2006)
Their new take in car news/reviews is extremely disappointing. They try to differentiate themselves by putting the discussions at some cafe, but almost everything else seems like a poor attempt to imitate the better show.
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Max 3:10PM (12/19/2006)
I don't think this is so unbelievable. Tiff loved this car. I think if the award was based strictly on the "fun to drive" factor, the Z06 certainly deserves top honor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9bByWD4Oxs
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RR 3:06PM (12/19/2006)
Fifth gear has become a joke with the current season. Every car nut I know has quit watching it. They introduced a new format this season with the presenters sitting in a cafe and flirting with each other and laughing at nothing. It's really pathetic, made even more so by the new presenter who claims at every opportunity that he knows nothing about cars. He's such a misfit in the show. Not only does he not belong on the show as a presenter, you can't even imagine he'd want to watch it as a viewer. It's no surprise that they rate the Corvette above the benchmark sports car the world tries to beat - the 997 Turbo. There's no car I'd choose above a 997 Turbo.
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Car videos & Motorcycle videos 3:15PM (12/19/2006)
They always seem to love the way the Corvette drives but what they didn't like was the quality.
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Andy 3:49PM (12/19/2006)
I love how some people criticize the awards when they don't go their way.
The Z06 should hands down win this award. Look at its power, weight, NURBURGRING Times, and oh yeah, its price.
You idiots can keep complaining, but the car is a beast, and is the best valued sports car in the world. What is your argument against the corvette z06? The interior? Well I buy a car for its performance, not its heated seats I'm sorry. I want a car that is fun to drive fast, not weighed down by useless crap.
I know some people are too thickheaded, and will always hate anything american, but to them I just laugh. Each country has +'s and -'s, so grow up.
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Baumann 4:18PM (12/19/2006)
Andy,
Your excellent grasp of LOGIC and FACTS won't sway me! Don't you know that the Big 3 can't make a good car? If it's not German or Japanese, it's crap!
Signed,
Typical Autoblog Reader
PS. Toyota's enormous recalls just point out how dedicated to quality they are.
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Mr_Oak 4:20PM (12/19/2006)
Now, shut up and bow down to the all conquering "Zed Nought Six" That's "Zee Zero Six" for you yanks.
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Chris 4:25PM (12/19/2006)
The biggest factor that led to it winning is likely that Tiff had the Z06 and could do whatever he wanted on a big track (it was Paul Ricard if I remember correctly, it was a while ago), Jason had the 997 Turbo on a small track and Tiff only drove the 599 for a few laps around Fiorano. So Tiff could have fun in a Z06 no problems, there wasn't enough room for Jason to drift the Turbo and Tiff was scolded for going too fast in the 599 so he obviously couldn't have much fun in it.
I don't see why it's crazy that a British show can give an award to an American car though. It'd be far more crazy if it was the other way around however.
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g 5:01PM (12/19/2006)
Fifth Gear has better facts and reviews on cars. Top Gear is too opinionated and is good to watch for good slapstick humor. Funny how Anti-American Clarkson rants and raves about how good the British and European cars are. While the irony of it is that most of the British Car makes are owned by the US manufacturers. lol And for those who want quality, don't get a Ferrari, they have their share of problems too.
Autoblog readers can bitch and whine all they want, there is nothing out there on the market today that can touch the Corvette Z06 for the money.
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Mark 5:38PM (12/19/2006)
the only problem with the z06 is it looks very...american. i'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, it's just not to my taste or to the taste of many british or european buyers, plus after paying the cost of shipping then import duty and various other taxes, including road tax which i imagine is ridiculously high due to emissions, it's not such a bargain to us on the other side of the atlantic, so it is a very odd choice indeed
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Mark 5:50PM (12/19/2006)
just to reiterate my point, i found a z06 on froogle for $68,800USD, which works out as £34,933.58GBP, on the UK froogle i found a z06, same spec (more or less, the US one seemed to have a better stereo so was maybe slightly higher trim level) for £57,614GBP, which works out as $113,474.37USD! if the sticker price in america was $113,474.37 i'm pretty sure some of these comments would be different
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Bill Maher is an Idiot 12:46AM (12/20/2006)
About damn time. The 599 is fugly and the 911 too damn butt heavy.
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snutz 7:19PM (12/19/2006)
Mark, your point is irrelevant because that kind of markup happens for every car, vehicles are just more expensive in the UK. In the US, a new Porsche 911 Turbo costs $122,900, while in the UK the same exact car is £97,840, or about $192,000. So comparatively, the Corvette is still much cheaper than the other cars it was competing with.
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Steve2 7:51PM (12/19/2006)
I don't find this so unbelievable.
Part of the Top Gear shtick is to crap on American cars. Remember the Top Gear guys pushing on the rear bumper cap and then crapping on the Vette?
And then you read Clarkson's real opinions on it...
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1235587,00.html
He loves it. He says it is eye-poppingly pretty. He said he'd buy one himself if his wife would let him.
Top Gear is first and foremost entertainment. And it's very entertaining. Accuracy is important, but not as important as entertainment, so you have to take their conclusions with a grain of salt. Remember Clarkson saying "I can honestly say British cars are the finest in the world." almost back to back with a review of some awful Rover car. It's partly just pandering to his audience.
So, it's a good car and even the British understand that. Even Clarkson understands that. So if indeed it wins this award, it's quite understandable and well earned. And if it doesn't, well, there's a lot of other great cars out there in this segment.
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jon 8:27PM (12/19/2006)
I agree with andy, the porsche is nice, but not for twice the price, Z06 is a world beater on bang for buck and should win the award.
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JETSOLVER 1:29AM (12/20/2006)
Old SVT COBRA guy here. The Z06 is the best car for the dollar on the planet. Period. The rest of them can just suck it, and try and chase from behind.
Good job GM, I'm now on your potential sales list...
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Eleventeen 9:17AM (12/20/2006)
"2. Waiting for January 28th to watch a real show."
Right!! Already on the calendar...
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Shane 3:10PM (12/20/2006)
If you're looking at the criteria as strictly what works best on the track, especially from a cost standpoint, then I can see the Z06 getting the award (and upon thinking about it, that's probably how they judged it).
In any other environment (GT, daily driver, etc) not a chance it would win:
- too wide
- too cheap feeling
- tire roar (and holy moly it's loud.)
- The tranny: i've driven trucks that are smoother and require less effort than the 6-speed in the Z06)
- The ride (anything but a smooth surface and there may as well be no suspension, it's that stiff)
- Too cramped (the C6 is easily the best for internal vette ergos, but it's still way low and way cozy for anyone over 5'7")
- reliability (there's a reason why the resale drops like a stone after only 1 or 2 years)
If you take a 'total car' approach and not just track performance, I'm with Plato. It'd go to the 911.
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