’08 Corvettes road-tested in Owls Head General Motors, Corvette Quarterly put new models through their paces for review

OWLS HEAD – The Chevrolet Corvette, its fans would say, is America’s quintessential sports car – sexy lines, powerful engine and road-hugging performance.

Four 2008 models, not yet available for sale, visited Maine and were put through their paces in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island at the end of last week and on a course set up on the airport tarmac adjacent to the Owls Head Transportation Museum on Sunday.

The road trip was put together by General Motors and Corvette Quarterly, a magazine that caters to ‘Vette heads. Its editor is preparing a review of the 2008 models. The cars were filmed for segments that will be available at the magazine’s Web site.

The museum was a fitting stop for the short tour. Each year, it features a Corvette rally. This year’s event is scheduled for July 28-29. The museum also has in its collection a mint-condition 1954 Corvette. The car was introduced in 1953.

Tom Wallace, a vehicle line executive with GM who specializes in the Corvette, said the 2008 models have been improved with features such as a lever on the steering wheel on automatic transmission models that lets the driver shift up or down one gear.

One of the models has four tailpipes, two of which have valves that, when opened, bump up the power from 430 to 436 horsepower.

A two-toned, hand-stitched leather interior is a new option, as is the expanded center stack console that features a navigation system.

But other features remain tried and true, such as the fiberglass body and the V-8 engines. The cars will retail from about $50,000 up to $65,000, depending on options.

And they are plenty fast, achieving 0- to 60-mph acceleration in 3.9 seconds, and topping out at 198 mph.

The new Z06 model, with an LS3 engine, boasts 430 horsepower, up from 400 horsepower on the 2007 models. The cars are available as convertibles and coupes.

Wallace said the cars are built in a factory in Bowling Green, Ky., and GM sells between 35,000 and 40,000 each year.

The drivers zipping through the course Sunday afternoon didn’t reach anywhere near top speed, but the sharp turns the cars took were impressive, as was the growl of the engines.