Speed Has Limits, Even For Powell

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is a freak for speed-the kind delivered under the hood of a Chevy Corvette.

He owns a 400 horsepower 2005 Vette and is hunting for one of the new sports cars with a pepped-up 440 horsepower engine.

But it's a compromise choice, he concedes. "You know they have this Z06 that's 500 horsepower," he says with awe. "They loaned me a Z06 for three days to see if I liked it," he tells us.

"I loved it, but I would be in jail by the end of the week because that thing was going 90 mph in second gear, and I didn't know how I was going to use the other four gears."

Afterward, he made this mental note: "Powell, you are 70 years old. Stick to 400 horsepower. You don't need 500."

By Paul Bedard