Chevrolet Corvette
The Corvette was first introduced in 1953. Chevrolet brought the Corvette into the world in the years after World War II because while the GI’s were in Europe they fell in love with the European Sports Cars there. Chevrolet saw a need for an all American Sports Car and they filled that need. There were only 300 Corvettes built in the first year. They were all Polo White with a red vinyl interior. The car caught on very quickly, however in 1954 sales were lower than Chevrolet had expected and at one point Chevy had considered killing the Vette. But when the 1955 production year rolled around the V-8 engine was added as an option to the Corvette. Another reason that Chevrolet kept the Corvette was the introduction of the Thunderbird by Ford. With this direct competition in the sports car market Chevy decided to keep the Corvette going.
The Corvette took off even more in 1956 when the car was starting to be used for racing on different circuits. This put the Corvette in the nations eyes and into its mind. The Vette steadily gained popularity over the next few years and the basic design stayed the same. One of the major changes over these years was the change form two headlights to four. However in 1963 Chevrolet drastically changed the Corvette and the Sting Ray emerged.
The Corvette Sting Ray was a totally revamped version of the popular Corvette. It first went into production in 1963 and just became the Corvette again in 1983. The Sting Ray was and still is one of the most recognizable Corvettes out there and the “Split Window Coupe” of the sixties is probably one of the most popular and well known of the Sting Rays. Even though the sixties was the second generation of the Corvettes did not last long on the production line and by 1968 the Corvette again went under the knife for another face-lift.
1968 was a big turning point for the Corvette. Design wise the Vette was made wider then the previous generation. The overall design retained many of the curves that the experimental “Mako Shark II” had. The designers did away with the spit window in the coupe and made it one pane of glass like the original Vettes were. Through the 70’s the Corvette underwent many of the safety and EPA regulations set by the government. In ’74 the Vette was equipped with energy absorbing areas that were required buy the government. However, unlike many of the other cars of the time, the Corvette maintained its style and popularity. The late 70’s was a high for the Vette, in three consecutive years alone there were about 150,000 Corvettes sold and with the third year as the 25th anniversary of the Vette. The '68-’82 generation was one of the longest running Corvette generations. It was just as popular as it was long.
The Corvette underwent its fifth makeover in 1983. GM wanted to be the design leaders of the 80’s and wanted to make the Corvette their flagship. The designers wanted to give the Vette flatter and less rounded lines, but keep the power and popularity of the car. They must have found the right combination, because the design that was founded in the 80’s lasted into the 90’s until yet another change.
The Corvette has run strong for 45 years of uninterrupted production as well as never ending support form the public. With the 50th anniversary of the Corvette coming in 2003, Corvette enthusiasts will eagerly wait to see how 50 years have changed the Corvette into what it is as well as what it will become.
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