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First Test: 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

Now here's a Corvette after Martha Stewart's heart. The domestic diva is forever transforming things found around the house into lovelier new things that sit around the house. In these rather tough times, the Corvette team has taken a page from her book, ripped it out, and headed to the garage. By scrounging up some of their best performance hardware, they've managed to cobble up a new car that just might be cool enough to warrant resurrection of the storied Grand Sport moniker.

Underneath all the shiny/pretty it's a base steel-frame LS3-powered 'Vette, to which are fitted a mix of Z51 performance package parts (spring rates, closer ratio manual transmission gearing and shorter axle ratio on the automatic), and Z06 bits (front and rear fascias, hood, anti-roll bars, brake rotors and calipers, wider tires and the bodywork to cover them). The dry-sump oiling system from the Z06 and ZR1 is also fitted to manual Grand Sports, which means these special motors will now be hand assembled alongside their big-brother stablemates, the LS7 and LS9 engines, in Wixom Michigan, each by a single technician who will sign his or her work. The only major parts they had to tool up were the front fenders, which feature double-gill cove styling and are made of RIM plastic like the base car's, the rear quarter panels, unique new wheels, and the actual springs and dampers, which are tailored to the GS's unique weight and characteristics (they ride almost exactly like the old Z51's).

click here to read more at motortrend.com