Proboscis, schnoz, beak, Jimmy Durante. Whatever you want to call it, the Corvette has a big, pointy, damage prone front end. Ever since the C3 debuted in the fall of 1967, the Corvette (and Corvette owners) have grappled with the plastic Chevy’s gigantic hood and front end.

I spy with my electronic eye. Every Corvette owner has had the lovely experience of hearing CRUNCH when parking their thoroughbred. With new optional cameras, those days are over. We think it should be standard equipment.

In fact, the first thing we look for when buying any late model Vette is to look and see how much curb damage is evident around the front bumper cap and underneath the front engine cross member.

So it is with much excitement that Chevy is finally offering electronic front end surveillance for the C7. The optional system for the 2016 Vette includes two front facing parking assist cameras which will help guide owners into parking spots by showing the distance to curb, garage wall or other obstacles.

The system features two cameras mounted low on the front grille with two ways to engage the view. From a standstill, you can press a button on the Corvette’s center 8-inch display showing the view from the curb cameras.

Alternatively, if the car is in reverse and then shifted into a forward gear and you are going under 7 mph, the cameras will engage automatically and the video is shown on the 8-inch display on the center console. The display shows each camera’s view and then software takes both views and combines them into one “top down view” with guides, showing how close you are to the object in front of the Corvette. Awesome.

This will cause much consternation from body shops country wide, but for Corvette owners and insurance companies this is great news and a long time coming.

Look carefully and you can see the cameras located down low and to the left and right of air intake.