'I'm trying to get my miles in before the Secret Service stops me': Joe Biden revs up for the convention by taking his 1967 Corvette for a spin in latest campaign video

Joe Biden took his classic Corvette sports car out for a spin in his latest campaign video as he touted American electric cars as the future of the country.

The presumptive Democratic presidential tweeted the video on Sunday quipping: 'I’m trying to get my miles in before the Secret Service stops me.'

In the campaign ad, that was first released August 5 and is entitled Joe Biden Gets Vetted, Biden sports sunglasses and gets behind the wheel of his sleek Goodwood Green 1967 Corvette.

'I love this car. Nothing but incredible memories. Every time I get in I think about my dad and Beau. God, could my dad drive a car, oof,' he added with a smile.

The 77-year-old boasted about his love for American-made cars and shared his high hopes for the future of the automobile industry. 

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Joe Biden took his classic 1967 Corvette Stingray sports car that was a wedding gift from his father out for a spin in his latest campaign video

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'This is an iconic industry. How can American-made vehicles no longer be out there? I believe we can own the 21st century market again by moving to electric vehicles,' he said, adding that plans are underway for an electric Corvette that can go 200mph

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The presumptive Democratic presidential tweeted the video on Sunday quipping: 'I’m trying to get my miles in before the Secret Service stops me.'

'This is an iconic industry. How can American-made vehicles no longer be out there? I believe we can own the 21st century market again by moving to electric vehicles,' he said.

'And, by the way, they tell me, and I'm looking forward - if it's true - to driving one, that they're making an electric Corvette [that] can go 200 miles an hour,' he added.  

The campaign ad sent a shock in the auto industry as it may have revealed General Motors plans to make an electric Corvette.

A source confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that such plans are indeed underway but the timing and maximum-speed of the electric car, that will likely take at least two more years before it’s out, are not yet known.

Biden said in 2016 the four-speed Stingray was his father’s wedding gift to him. As a Christmas gift years ago the former Vice President’s sons had the engine rebuilt. 

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Biden pictured taking his 1967 Corvette for a spin and reminiscing about his younger days driving the sleek sports car. 'I love this car. Nothing but incredible memories. Every time I get in I think about my dad and Beau. God, could my dad drive a car, oof,' he said

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Biden said in 2016 the four-speed Stingray was his father’s wedding gift to him

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As a Christmas gift years ago the former Vice President’s sons had the engine rebuilt

On Monday the Democratic Party will begin its unprecedented virtual convention where disparate factions will put on a united front behind Biden, brought together by their common determination to defeat Donald Trump in November's election. 

'It is absolutely imperative that Donald Trump be defeated,' Bernie Sanders, a former Biden rival and a keynote speaker on the convention's opening night, told ABC's This Week. 

Biden enters the convention with poll leads of around nine or 10 points over Trump and amid signs that his history-making pick of Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate - the first woman of color on a major party presidential ticket - is widely popular in the party. 

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Joe Biden and his newly named running mate Kamala Harris will be the focus of the Democrats' virtual convention starting August 17

Adding to the drama, the four-day convention - originally planned to be held in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee but forced to go online by the COVID-19 pandemic - takes place amid a furor over Trump's efforts to limit mail-in voting.

The president, insisting without proof that mail-in voting fosters fraud, has threatened to block extra funding that Democrats say is urgently needed to allow the postal service to process millions of ballots.

In normal election years, nominating conventions draw tens of thousands of party faithful for festive events designed to shine a national spotlight on the candidates, introduce the party's rising stars, inspire its base and, hopefully, lure independents and the undecided.

Democrats had picked Milwaukee largely for its location in the important swing state of Wisconsin. The city had spent millions to prepare for the occasion.

But planners have been struggling to find virtual replacements for the usual roaring applause, silly hats, circus-like atmosphere and balloon drops.

Viewers are expected to be treated to live feeds from hundreds of Democratic 'watch parties' across the country, some even live-streamed from drive-in theaters.

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A sign advertises the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was to have hosted the quadrennial event before the coronavirus pandemic stuck

Several of the groups will be led by Democratic luminaries including other erstwhile Biden rivals Senator Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang.

The experimental format will give speakers a chance to address American voters unfiltered, largely shorn of the usual distractions, overwrought stagecraft and screaming delegates.

Or, some fear, it could make for a far more boring show.

Democrats hope keynote speakers on each of the four evenings will draw viewers to the evening time slot that networks have committed to airing.

Monday's top speakers will be Sanders, a leader of the party's most progressive wing, and widely-admired former first lady Michelle Obama; Tuesday will see former president Bill Clinton and Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

On Wednesday, former president Barack Obama will speak, and Harris will have her moment in the spotlight before the convention culminates Thursday when Biden formally accepts the party's nomination and delivers his acceptance speech - via videolink from his home state of Delaware.