Video: A Corvette ZR1 Chases a Lamborghini LP670-SV

Check out this video of a Corvette ZR1 attempting to keep pace with the new Lamborghini LP670-SV. This really is an unbelievable video. First of all, you got two of the hottest cars in the world. Second, the Lambo should be a bit quicker than the ZR1, right? It has around 30 more horsepower, weighs about 60 pounds less and has AWD, allowing it to exit corners more quickly. Plus, the Lamborghini has a factory driver at the helm while the Corvette is being piloted by (gulp) an auto journalist. Only thing is, well... watch for yourself, after the jump. One more thing – not counting the "joke's on you, rich people!" Reventon, the LP670-4 SV is Lambo's most expensive vehicle and the ZR1 is (obviously) Chevy's. Can you imagine a race between the two brands' cheapest vehicles? Aveo vs. Gallardo LP560-4 strikes us as very funny.

REPORT: Corvette C7 Coming in 2012 as a 2013 model

If you like Corvettes, this is going to make you smile. Fresh out of bankruptcy court, General Motors announced its two-year product plans for Chevy, Caddy, Buick and GMC. Included are go codes for the new C7 Corvette. The plan is to introduce the C7 in April of 2012 as a 2013 model -- a big improvement over the old plan to not reinvent the Corvette until 2014. Let's just state this up front -- almost nothing at all is known about the new Corvette. It appears as if plans for a mid-engine Corvette have been put aside. Like all Corvettes before it, the C7 will feature an engine up front driving the wheels out back. Other than that...

The rumors are that the C7 will be smaller and lighter than the current welterweight C6. There's talk of using more advanced materials like carbon fiber, aluminum and magnesium as well as smaller engines. Calm down, calm down -- as the ZR1 showed us, less displacement doesn't always mean less power. Especially when a positive-displacement Roots-type supercharger's in the mix. There's chatter that the C7's design might be based on the Stingray Concept from the 2009 Chicago Auto Show, but we're hoping it's not. More details as they become available.

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SV Motors 9 Competizione gets real

Italian style and American power -- it's a match made in heaven. The Iso Grifo of the '60s and '70s was birthed from this blissful union, along with more recent collaborations including the Giugiaro Mustang andBertone Mantide. Upstart San Francisco coachbuilder SV Motor Company believes in the formula and and has officially released details of its upcoming 9 Competizione sports car. We previously reported on the car last month, but this is our first look of the Real McCoy. Based on a Corvette C6 and utilizing the LS3 powertrain, the 9 Competizione features Italian-designed carbon fiber bodywork that lowers the curb weight to just 3085 lbs. Performance figures are scarce, but SV claims the car can pull 1.03g and brake from 60-0 mph in 107 ft.

In typical coachbuilt style, the 9 Competizione offers a wide range of personalized options including 25 exterior color choices, multiple wheel options, and several interior colors and materials to choose from. Customers can even pick five different brake caliper finishes. SV has boldly capped production at 1,000 units, and while pricing has not been announced, the company claims the 9 C will cost no more than $100,000.

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Italian-American Pride: Corvette-based SV 9 Competizione

Imagine a cross between an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione – from which this creation clearly draws its inspiration (as well as its name) – and a contemporary Corvette and you're well on your way towards summing up the SV 9 Competizione's design. And while we have some reservations over the front-end styling with its protruding snout, overall, the design strikes an intriguing balance between American muscle and Italian style. And when you consider the price of many contemporary coachbuilt customs, the $99,995 sticker price – including the donor Vette – doesn't seem all that outlandish.

Along with the carbon fiber bodywork, SV has tweaked the interior, fitted a new intake and exhaust for a 14-horsepower boost to 450 and fitted a new set of wheels with Pirelli Pzero Rosso tires, giving the SV 9 Competizione a claimed 0-60 time of four seconds flat, a 12-second quarter-mile sprint, a braking distance from 60 of 107 feet and 1.03g of lateral grip. Not too shabby by any standard. And with configurations based on 25 exterior colors, five interior trims and four wheel choices, SV figures there's no reason any two of the 1,000 units to which production is limited will ever need to turn out the same. We wouldn't mind seeing one up close ourselves; the first example is set to debut in San Francisco this weekend ahead of its unveiling at the local Concorso Italiano next month, but in the meantime you can check out the computer renderings.

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The Most Beautiful (and Fastest) Corvette Ever?

Some coachbuilt custom supercars are all show. But the owner of a Bertone Mantide is eager to prove that his has got the go to back up his show. Dan Watkins, the British gentleman-racer who bought the first Mantide, is so eager, in fact, that he's pondering personally financing a run at the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1's Nürburgring lap record. And there's every reason to believe his car could reach that goal.

At 7 minutes, 26.4 seconds, the 2009 ZR1 holds the current lap record for a stock, street-legal, series production automobiles (excluding such track-focused machinery as the Viper ACR and Radical SR8). Nissan has its eyes on the ZR1 and is closing in fast, but as delicate and fragile as it may look, the Mantide arguably stands the best chance of besting the supercharged Vette's time - mostly because it's based on the ZR1. Only it's 80kg (176 pounds) lighter and 30% more aerodynamic, thanks to the improvements made to the body by Jason Castriota and his team at Stile Bertone.

To test the theory, Watkins is mulling renting out the 'Ring for three days, hiring an expert Nordschleife driver, and of course, donating the use of his $2 million supercar. All in pursuit of the ultimate bragging rights. If it happens, well, be watching.

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