Auto News 5

What if you declared war and your top general immediately defected to the enemy? That's the dilemma Goodyear faced when it challenged Firestone, the racer's tire of choice ever since winning the Indy 500 in 1925.

The Corvette is steeped in heritage. The car's iconic status is so pervasive in Americana, racing, and automotive culture that the Corvette almost seems to have more history than Chevrolet itself. For 2010, Chevrolet is reaching into the Corvette's rich past to introduce a new trim level under the Grand Sport moniker. The Grand Sport name traces back to 1962 when chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov began developing a Corvette to beat Carroll Shelby's Cobras on the racetrack. That program was halted after just a handful of cars were built, but in 1996, Chevrolet turned out 1000 Grand Sport Corvettes. The limited-edition coupes and convertibles were built to commemorate the end of fourth-generation Corvette production with 330-horsepower V-8 engines, black ZR-1 wheels, and a unique paint scheme.

It started with a letter. In February 1963, a letter arrived at Ford's German headquarters saying that a small but prestigious Italian sports-car maker was for sale. Enzo Ferrari had made the overture. He chose Ford, he said, because he had always been an admirer of Henry Ford. What he did not say was that he was being vilified in the Italian press over the bloodshed among Ferrari drivers, particularly after the 1961 Grand Prix at Monza. At that race, Ferrari's Phil Hill clinched the Formula 1 championship, but his teammate Count Wolfgang Von Trips crashed, killing himself and fourteen spectators. The race was televised, so millions saw the carnage.

A giddy air of defiance pervaded ceremonies before the United States 500 on Memorial Day weekend in 1996, a race that challenged open-wheel racing's doctrine of papal infallibility. Tony George had formed the Indy Racing League and excluded the unfaithful, who rejected his new formula, from participating in the sacred ritual of the Indianapolis 500. The disfellowshipped directors of Championship Auto Racing Teams sent their star drivers to the U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway and revived the Vanderbilt Cup as a simulacrum of Indy's Borg-Warner. For his "Greatest Spectacle in Racing," George was left with a scab workforce.

Rivalries fuel our passion for motorsports. A race is a zero-sum proposition, after all, and for one to win, another must lose. Intellectually, we can appreciate the many skills showcased in racing - strategy, driving technique, engineering excellence, and so on. But emotionally, what energizes us most is drama, and drama demands competition, and competition is the by-product of rivalries. Rivalries between nations. Rivalries between manufacturers. Rivalries between teams. And most dramatic of all, rivalries between drivers.

The Audi A4 Avant may not turn heads like a chiseled Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon and, at least in this test car's configuration, won't win any races against a grocery-toting BMW 3-series. But make no mistake, this is a handsome, pleasant-to-drive vehicle.