Gallery: The new Corvette ZR1's impressive ancestors in action at Daytona

To assume this is the beginning and the end of the American fast car story would do a vast and varied history of sportscars and racing machinery a gross disservice – not to mention a good few weathered nameplates that most definitely aren’t forecourt-filling muscle cars. Ford GT, anyone? Chevrolet Corvette?

On our visit to Daytona last week for the fantastic HSR Classic 24, the latter appeared in as much abundance and variation of spec’ and age as you would expect of Porsche 911s at the Nürburgring. From the snarling mid-engined Daytona Prototypes to a big-bodied big attitude Greenwood IMSA car, from open-cockpit C2 Roadster to the 2015 Rolex 24 class-winning C7 R – near-on all shapes, sizes and ages were represented. What a fine canvas of Corvette racing history they paint! 

The newly-revealed 745bhp C7 ZR1 finds itself at the head of quite an impressive bloodline. For us, seeing all these flavours of Corvette in action at Daytona was made all-the-sweeter by the fact they’re pretty much forbidden fruit back in sunny Blighty. What’s your pick of the Vettes from the gallery above?

Photography by Chuck Andersen