The Chevrolet CorvetteThese pages: Chevrolet Corvette history and pictures. The curvy Chevy Corvette has been an American icon for 50 years with dream bodies and muscle car performance. It was the first post-war sports car by a major American manufacturer, and while other American sports cars came and went or turned into bloated sedans, the Corvette remained true to its roots, getting better and better as the years went on. The Early CorvetteProduction of the Chevrolet Corvette started in 1953. The car wasn’t a sales success right away, in fact Chevrolet lost money on it for years. The Corvette looked the part of a classic sports car but that was it. But performance and handling weren’t good enough and the enthusiasts ignored it.It looked more like a traditional British sports car than any other American sports car apart from the AC Cobra (or Shelby Cobra) which was actually based on a British sports car. But the engine that the Chevrolet Corvette entered production with was only a six cylinder with direct lineage back to Chev’s 1929 “Cast Iron Wonder”.
While the Chevy Corvette had a dream body the poor performance and handling meant that it was a loser on the showroom floor. The Corvette wasn’t without technical innovation though, it was the first fibreglass bodied car by a major American manufacturer. And ironically, the cars that were rejected by the enthusiasts when they were new are now highly collectable. GM would have canned the Corvette, but it was saved by two things – the new small-block 265 cu in V-8 that gave it more power and better sales in 1955, and Ford’s Thunderbird. GM management wouldn’t leave Ford to have the sports car field to itself so it kept producing the Corvette even though it was still losing money. In 1957 the Corvette V-8 got 283 cubic inches (4.6 liters) and fuel injection that gave one horsepower for every cubic inch. The Corvette was now the fastest real production car in the world. The Corvette Sting RayThe Corvette got its first major restyle in 1963 and was called the Corvette Sting Ray (two words). It gained pop-up headlights and independent rear suspension with disc brakes arriving the next year. The Corvette could now be bought as a coupe. The new car was an instant winner. The coupe was styled with a split rear window that was unpopular because it spoiled the rear vision and it was only used on the 1963 models. Once again these are now highly collectable.
The Chevrolet Corvette was restyled again in 1968 and gained a new chassis at the same time. Chevrolet was in a cost cutting exercise in order to return to profitability and so the Corvette was to stay largely unchanged until 1984. The name changed though. Sting Ray turned into Stingray (one word) in 1969. Development was continued behind the scenes. The idea of a mid-engined Corvette had been raised years before and it was looked at again. Tooling costs for the transaxle had killed the idea the first time around and the same thing happened again. The rotary engine was also looked at but problems with emissions killed that idea. The Corvette stayed the same. The New Generation CorvetteThe Corvette has continued to be America’s supercar. The new generation ‘Vette was introduced in 1983 as an 84 model. It was still recognisably a Corvette and the body was still glassfibre. It had a coupe body with a removable roof top, similar to Porsche’s targa-top. A convertible came out in 1986, giving Corvette’s first true open-topped motoring for ten years.The engine was still the small-block V-8. The car had a new chassis with aluminium used in the suspension and a plastic transverse spring. Technical innovation was still a Corvette feature and more innovations were to come including a six speed transmission and a three-position selective Ride Control with adjustable shock damping in 1989. The most potent Corvettes went from muscle car to super car. The 1990 ZR1 had a 375 bhp engine and it could go from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds! Top speed was 180 mph. Corvette was America’s longest lived sports car. It stuck to its sporting roots and refused to compromise. It has always superbly looked the part and for most of its life its performance has matched its looks. It truly deserves the title of America’s greatest sports car. Return from Chevrolet Corvette History to Chevrolet Pictures and Articles |
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