The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette has been fully redesigned. Highlights include a new name (officially, it's the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray), more angular-looking styling, improved interior quality, more power and new technology features. For now, only the base coupe and convertible are available, with the Z06 expected for next year.

Recently, we were making small talk with a top engineer from an import luxury automaker and asked him what his personal car was. We expected him to have some sort of flawlessly crafted über-machine parked in his garage. C63. M3. 911. That kind of thing. Instead, he said he had a Corvette. He paused, perhaps noting our perplexed look. "I love all that torque," he added in his thickly accented English, using his hand to imitate his foot pressing down on a gas pedal.