The eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette has landed in Europe. Available at last in official ‘export’ specification compliant with European emissions regulations, and finally on sale in the UK in factory-warranted right-hand drive form, this is a landmark version of one of the oldest, most famous and most successful sports cars in the world. And we’ve been waiting for it for a long time.

This car has been through a key technical transformation as part of which its famous and character-defining Chevy ‘small block’ V8 engine has migrated from the front of the car to the back. Now mid-engined (like an Audi R8 or Ferrari F8) rather than front-engined (like a Jaguar F-Type or BMW M4), the C8 has also adopted steel coil suspension in place of its old leaf sprung axles, and drops a manual gearbox entirely in favour of a new twin-clutch automatic. Power for European versions is slightly lower than in North America, pegged at 475bhp rather than 495-; but standard chassis specification is improved, with all official European-market cars getting Corvette’s ‘Z51’ upgrade kit as standard.

And so, after nearly seventy years of production, this car finally stands ready to compete with the greatest sports cars in Europe on their home turf; with a modern and dynamically optimised mechanical layout; and in right-hand drive form, for those that want it. But is it good enough to really threaten them? Matt Saunders went to Frankfurt to begin finding out.

New videos are uploaded to Autocar each week. Don’t miss a single one. Subscribe now: http://smarturl.it/autocar

Visit our website at http://www.autocar.co.uk

Autocar, the world’s leading motoring magazine and website, delivers industry-leading news, the most in-depth car reviews and opinion from our team of experts. Our presenters include some of the world’s top motoring journalists who have unrivalled access to the world’s fastest, rarest, most exotic and most exciting cars on some of the world’s best roads and race tracks.

Follow AUTOCAR here:
LIKE Autocar on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Jzyvh1
FOLLOW Autocar on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2JzABgT
FOLLOW Autocar on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2TIgvFI

Check out our full video catalog: https://bit.ly/1UfAOCH

For car reviews you can trust, subscribe to Autocar: http://smarturl.it/autocar