Corvette

97 Pages·2018·2.32 MB·English

by  Larry Steves

corvette

A M E R I C A N I C O N S
corvette
LARRY STEVENS
An imprint of Globe Pequot
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Copyright © 2018 The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
ISBN 978-1-4930-3298-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4930-3299-0 (e-book)
Cover and interior design by Vertigo Design NYC
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Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
The Corvette Story 7
The Logo
What’s In the Name
The Godfather of the Corvette
The Larry Shinoda & Bill Mitchell Collaboration
Burn List
Corvette’s Top Models
The 1950s 20
The 1960s 26
The 1970s 34
The 1980s 38
The 1990s 42
The 2000s 46
The 2010s 50
Corvettes by the Numbers 52
Mods, Retromods, and More 58
Corvette Racing Cars 68
Pop Culture 74
Celebrity Vettes
On the Big Screen
On the Small Screen
Odes to the Icon
The Future Corvette: What’s Next 88
The Virtual Driving Experience 90
Photo Credits 95
6
T H E C O R V E T T E S T O R Y
Executives at General Motors were inspired to create a
homegrown sports car after American GIs from WWII began
shipping home “souvenirs” from Europe like Jaguars, MGs, and
Alfa Romeos.
The idea of the Corvette was to be the American version of
European sports cars. The Corvette was built to compete with
its European rivals at a more affordable price point.
Safety wasn’t first . . . at first
FOR THE FIRST FIVE MODEL YEARS,
the Chevrolet Corvette did not
offer a restraint system. Seat belts weren’t factory installed until
the 1958 model.
THE FIRST CORVETTE WAS INTRODUCED IN 1953
and was offered with
one color option: a white convertible with red interior.
7
T H E L O G O
The original crossed-flags Corvette emblem featured a check-
ered flag on the right and the U.S. flag on the left. Four days
before the car made its debut at the 1953 Motorama, it was
redesigned to avoid the frowned-upon “use of Old Glory for
advertising purposes.”
Harley Earl, the GM
•
designer considered the Only 300 Corvettes were
released that first year back
“father” of the Corvette, in 1953.
•
couldn’t fit inside his 1,595,026 Corvettes have been
manufactured from 1953–2017.
creation. At 6´3˝ tall, his •
Corvette is the official car of the
head hovered far above state of Kentucky.
•
The first Corvette to roll out
the curved windshield.
was a convertible. Every
Earl knew the car had Corvette currently offered has a
convertible option.
to be stylish in order to •
The 2017 Z06 coupe and
grab the attention of convertible have 650 HP of pure
power under the hood.
potential buyers.
8
UNDER THE HOOD
The V8 engine in a Corvette has eight cylinders laid out in a
V-formation. It’s the power behind the engine’s roar. Although
Corvettes typically cost a lot less than their European coun-
terparts, they pack just as much power under the hood.
CORVETTE’S
KENTUCKY ROOTS
Bowling Green, Kentucky, is the
home to the Corvette assembly
plant and the National Corvette
Museum.
The museum uses Sting Ray
designer Larry Shinoda’s original
logo design that was never used on
an actual automobile.
9