This past weekend I took a trip down south to Effingham, Ill., for the annual Corvette Funfest, now in its 14th year. Almost 14,000 Corvettes united from all over the country to be a part of this special event sponsored by Mid America Motorworks.
Just to make things a little more exciting, I went down in a Venom Red 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10. With no doubt the Viper had the most stock-horsepower at the festival.
The new 8.4-liter V-10 engine produces an astounding 600 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. That’s 90 horsepower more than its predecessor. The Viper accelerates from 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds and has a top speed of 200 mph.
One thing I noticed about the Viper is that everybody loves it. Almost every person I passed on the highway and/or on the street gave looks of admiration to the Viper and always gave it the thumbs up. I never get this type of reaction from the public in any other vehicle. There is a sense of American pride in the Viper and it shares it with everyone.
At Funfest, some Corvette owners asked why I brought the Viper, and I answered: “This is a celebration of American sports cars.”
The majority of them were interested in the Viper and were joyful to see it at the festival. I am happy to see Dodge and Chevrolet building excellent sports cars. For now the Viper has the advantage with 600 horsepower, but the word on the street is that Chevrolet is planning a supercharged Super-Corvette to be called the ZR-1. Lets see what happens!
I was amazed by the infinite rows of Corvettes being displayed. It was so cool being in Effingham that weekend, and it seemed that the entire town had been invaded by Corvettes. I realized that Corvette owners customize their 'Vettes just like Harley owners customize their hogs.
This year’s theme was “Celebrating a Corvette Summer.” And celebrating they did! Featured guests included George Barris, the “King of the Kustomizers.” Three Dog Night also played a great free concert and rumor has it that the Beach Boys played there a couple of years ago.
It was a festive Corvette of a time! I brought back some images to share with you from this very exciting event.
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