Say what you will about “10 Best Lists” or “Car Of The Year” brouhaha’s, but Car and Driver’s latest is a big win for GM, Chevrolet and a good indicator of the state of the US auto industry. GM grabbed 3 of the ten spots with Corvette, Camaro and Bolt EV and if you add the Mustang, 40% of the top picks were Detroit home teams. If less than half doesn’t seem very notable, factor in 13 different entities selling cars in the U.S. and almost half is damn good.

Some serious iron–and sheet molded compound–are represented here and further evidence that the golden age muscle is RIGHT NOW. The Bolt EV’s inclusion on this list is important for performance fans too. Cars like the Bolt increase GM’s CAFE numbers and allows them to keep refining big horsepower muscle cars. So before curling your lip in disgust about electric cars, know that the scrappy Bolt EV is a KEY part of the further refinement and survival of the internal combustion engine.

Speaking of great ICE motors, the 2017 Corvette Grand Sport kills with it’s naturally aspirated mill and turns in zero to 60 in just 3.9 seconds. C&D elaborates, “To keep the price semi-attainable, the Grand Sport uses the Corvette’s naturally aspirated small-block V-8. A dry-sump 6.2-liter unit with 460 horsepower, this pushrod engine spins to its 6600-rpm rev limiter with ferocity. It has gobs of power. Every stomp on the accelerator requires you to take in a lungful of air to counteract the shove of the V-8’s fierce torque and instant response. Celebrate it. Hear it transform organic molecules into motion, warmth, and smooth purrs. It’s a welcome reprieve from a world turning to narcoleptic turbo fours that refuse to redline.”

About the Camaro, they love it, and drew an interesting analogy between it and Mercedes copy-cat cars, “A curious thing happened in the late ’90s and early 2000s: Mercedes started producing the CLK430 and CLK55 AMG, chubby little coupes that hewed closely to the, by then, well-established muscle-pony template. The brief goes something like this: overpowered, hooligan-handling, de facto two-seaters.

By the time Mercedes began building Camaros in earn­est, the actual Camaro was already wearing the mullet like an albatross about its neck. This did not deter the German company, which has been building them ever since. And so now we find ourselves juxtaposing the Chevy Camaro SS 1LE with the twice-as-pricey Mercedes-AMG C63 S coupe. And the Camaro is the better Camaro of the two.”

BMW has borrowed the pony car blueprint as well with V-8 powered 6 Series Coupes and V8 powered M3’s. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

Lastly, the Bolt–and the coming EV revolution–is a god-send for petrol heads. EVs allow gas hungry performance cars–and trucks–to continue to live on as strict fuel economy standards loom. So next time you curse an alt-propulsion vehicle from behind the wheel of your muscle car, concede that these cars are crucial to the longevity of performance cars as we now know them.

Also, with the Bolt EV, GM beat snooty Silicon Valley at it’s own “disruption” game with the first, sub-$35K, 200+ mile range, pure EV. GM dishing out a heapin’ helpin’ of humble pie to its most vehement detractors is sweet, poignant revenge.

C&D called the Bolt “GM’s iPhone,” and elaborates with the following,

“The Bolt is a car that inspires respect rather than poetry. Its presence here is justified on the strength of its engineering rather than its looks or performance numbers. It advances the EV game further than anything since the launch of the Model S. Like every pure-electric vehicle, it requires compromise—you could fly from L.A. to Europe in less time than it takes to replenish the battery pack from empty using a household 110-volt socket. Yet the Bolt is irrefutably a landmark car, as sensible as you’d expect an electron-powered Chevrolet to be, and welcome proof that established auto­makers can indeed make class-leading electric vehicles.”

Sales wise, the Corvette is coming off a banner sales year selling more that 40k examples in 2016,  but currently is in a wintery sales doldrum. Camaro numbers, on the other hand, have been soft since the the sixth-gen debuted. Chevy is doing it’s best to move needle with a steady cadence of new models and performance options and with spring right around the corner, sales should get a fair weather boost.

The Bolt isn’t available in all 50 states yet, but should be by the end of the year’s end. Reception has been positive so far and sales have been good out of the gates.

For GM fans, this list reinforces what we already know, GM has gone to boot camp and is lean, mean and in-shape. If this current bevy of beauties is any indication, just think of what’s in store with upcoming C7 ZR1, Camaro Z/28 and the mysterious mid-engine supercar.