Dan Trent: Want An Old‑School Sportscar With Modern Manners?

The 911, like many others, has become more technically advanced, faster and more accommodating than it ever was before. But a vocal minority feel abandoned, left cold by the technological fluffers in modern sports and supercars. This unicorn 911 was meant to be the answer. But nobody can apparently buy one.

There is hope. And it resides on the other side of the Atlantic in the shape of the Corvette C7 Stingray. You're probably already dusting off the 'yeah but' reasons it shouldn't be considered a viable alternative. This will probably include acceptance it's cheap and has a big V8 but comes with an image that basically shouts four-wheeled codpiece, a reputation for wobbly fibreglass bodies, wonkier leaf-sprung dynamics and the mechanical sophistication of a Peterbilt truck.

A couple of years ago at the New York Auto Show I was lucky enough to have a sit-down with Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter. Whose name probably conjures up images of the kind of Stetson-wearing, Budweiser-chugging Yank we snobby Europeans imagine develops such cars. Nothing could be further from the truth. Juechter was steely, calmly spoken, focused and very, very on the ball of what today's purist drivers want.

As an opening gambit 'his' Corvette uses an aluminium structure 57 per cent stiffer but 45kg lighter than its predecessor's. Don't like the 911's move to downsized turbo engines? The C7 has a racy 460bhp 6.2-litre V8 that revs quickly and eagerly and drives through a transaxle-mounted seven-speed manual for excellent weight distribution. It sounds magnificent. The Z51 pack optional in the US is standard on European cars and adds an active locking differential, dry sump lubrication with additional coolers for extended track use, plus fancier Bilstein dampers. It's got modes and configurability galore to match any European rival but at heart is fundamentally light, stiff, balanced and powered by a hugely charismatic V8 motor with no character-sucking turbos to spoil its response. It is, basically, all the stuff purists moan is being stripped out of cars like the 911, wrapped up in brilliantly menacing styling and at half the price.

This one brooding in black – is a 2014 Euro-spec car with just 7,000 miles and is up for just shy of £55K. In your Porsche dealership that would get you a Cayman S of equivalent age and mileage. A nice car. But a .22 training rifle to the Corvette's pump-action shotgun.

Left-hand drive may put off a few but opens up the whole of Europe to fuss-free road trips the gigantic boot will happily accommodate. Seven gears mean it'll burble away at 1,500rpm in Eco mode for the boring motorway bits. And on a proper road or track readily prove itself a genuine driver's tool, the technological and dynamic equal of any European rival but far, far more engaging and entertaining to be around. Lost in soul searching about the future of the true driver's sports car? You just need to call the cavalry. And then pocket the change.

Images courtesy of Corvette and PistonHeads