Over the past 60 years, the Corvette has cemented itself as one of the greatest American sports cars of all time! We have some fun facts about the history of the Corvette that you may or may not know and a few facts about the latest Corvettes to hit the market.
The Chevrolet Corvette made it’s appearance to the world in 1953.
This new car brought some new features to the industry including a new model of Chevy’s straight-6 engine, the Blue Flame, a new Powerglide automatic transmission and of course the infamous fiberglass body that Corvette is known for.
Corvette sales did not meet Chevy’s expectations.
The first few production years did not see very good sales numbers for the Corvette. Popular Mechanics Magazine ran an article with a title “Corvette Is A Fine ‘Fun’ Car But It Has Its Limitations.” The article was based on responses from a survey that was given to Corvette owners.
1963 gives us the second generation Corvette.
1963 was also the year that the Corvette was given the iconic nameplate “Stingray”. This new nameplate would stick around for decades to come.
However, the idea for the Stingray had been around for a while…
The Mako Shark concept car from 1961 was the inspiration for many of the first design changes that Corvette saw over the next following years.
The early Stingray also had a feature that was quickly phased out.
In 1963 the Corvette was produced with a split rear windshield. While it has become a coveted item amongst collectors and corvette cult popularity, that dual windshield design has never made its way back into production.
The third generation Stingray was released in 1968.
Again this Stingray version took its design inspiration from the Mako Shark concept car. This time it was the 1965 Mako Shark II concept car that helped to guide the aggressive design of the third generation.
The Corvette has graced the track of the Indianapolis 500 as a pace car.
The 1978 C3 Stingray was dressed up with a unique silver and black paint job to become one of the first of several Corvettes to represent the Great American Race.
The best-selling Corvette of all time is the C3 Stingray model.
Even to this day, the record still stands that the 1979 C3 Corvette is the best-selling Corvette of all time. A record breaking 58,307 units were sold that year making it the most sold in a year in Corvette’s history.
A whole new look was unveiled in 1984.
This new Corvette was all about performance. With a whole new look that drifted away from the classic look of the C3, the new C4 was put in a league all its own with its new reduced drag technology and a computer-activated transmission,
Ferrari and Lamborghini now had some competition in 1989.
The all new Corvette ZR-1 was introduced in 1989. The chief engineer for Corvette, Dave McLellan, was quoted as stating “You’re going to find it’s a higher performance car than any of the production-available Ferraris, including the Testarossa. It has higher performance than the Countach, as federalized. Ranking up there with the [Porsche] 959.”
Then came the lighter, faster, stronger C5.
While the look of the C5 was not that different than the preceding C4, the real differences could be found in it’s performance. Somehow engineers were able to lengthen the overall body while making it 100 pounds lighter! In the world of sports cars, that is a significant amount of weight loss!
The first C5 models were only offered as hard tops.
Thought for years to be the ultimate in convertible design, it wasn’t until 1998 that Chevy released a C5 Corvette with a removable top.
The C6 outshines the C5 in almost every possible way.
Even though the design was very similar including the use of the same chassis, the new C6 upped the performance game with more horsepower and no longer used the concealed headlights.
The best Stingray to this day.
There may be some Corvette enthusiasts that would argue this point, but they are hard to find! The return of the Stingray nameplate brings with it an all new 21st century design, 455 horsepower in the base package, and plenty of awards to back up the claim of the best Stingray ever. It even claimed the coveted Automobile Magazine’s 2014 “Automobile of the Year” award!
It will be quite interesting to see what Corvette has up their sleeves if they are ever going to top this design! Only time will tell…