The Lambo In Winter

More than the T-Bird, more than the Camaro, even more, perhaps, than the Mustang, the Chevy Corvette has been synonymous with muscle car virility ever since Jan, Dean and a generation of Boomers first rounded “Dead Man’s Curve.” It came as little surprise, then, that when engineers unveiled the Vette’s fifth major redesign (the so-called C5, way back in 1997), the car contained certain concessions—larger dials, seats that were easier to slide into and out of, and a trunk space large enough to fit a set golf clubs--to its aging (but still vigorous!) clientele base. After all, with boomers starting to plan for retirement, their bodies were not only beginning to struggle in youth-focused sports cars, but they also had a lifetime of accumulated wealth behind them, making them a prime demographic for new car purchases. Nearly twelve years later, we learn that the engineers at Nissan have gone one better, employing a so-called “aging suit” to help them better understand the needs of elderly drivers. You can learn about it this week, as the world’s greatest auto critic dons the old suit to do battle with the unapologetically youthful (and with a price tag of $380,000, a 632-horsepower engine and a paltry 8 miles per gallon in the city, unapologetically decadent) Lamborghini Murcielago. -Malcolm Gay