As the month of June passes each year, the success story of Chevrolet Corvette is re-written in the history of automobiles. Corvette headed for its first production batch on the 30th of June in the year 1953. With the end of June 2013, Corvette has completed 60 glorious years of existence and Chevrolet is all set to give its beloved 4 wheeler a grand 60th anniversary celebration. In spite of 60 long years into the market, the car is far from taking any retirement.
Chevrolet Corvette is an iconic, luxurious American sports car which is built by Chevrolet, a brand completely owned by General Motors. With the year 2013, 7 generations of Corvette have been launched and each gen car is denoted using a the alphabet C followed by the generation number. for example first gen Corvette is C1, second gen Corvette is C2 etc. The latest in the lineup is the C7 car, Corvette Stingray. This is a limited edition car that was launched by Chevrolet as a part of 60th anniversary celebration, earlier in June 2013. The actual celebration of this iconic car begins now at the National Corvette Museum located at Bowling Green in Kentucky.
Here are a few facts about the legendary Corvette
- Corvette in the longest running and continuously produced passenger car in the world. Talking about longest running vehicle from any segment, then it is the Chevrolet Suburban.
- Corvette was launched as a concept car at the event of General Motors Autorama held in New York City on the 17th of January 1953. Looking at the overwhelming response it received, GM launched a limited edition of only 300 Corvette units by June 1953.
- All the models manufactured in 1953 had the same colour scheme. The cars were Polo White housing a red interior. The car was offered at a price of $3498. In the year 2006, third 1953 Corvette was auctioned for a whopping $ 1.06 million.
- From its launch in 1953 till the year 1955, Corvette was equipped with an in-line 6 cylinder engine. Then in the year 1956, Chevrolet introduced an option of getting a V8 engine for Corvette. Since a V8 engine was much desired, 90% of Corvette buyers went for the V8 option. Therefore the company started producing Corvette with a V8 engine only.
- In the first 10 years after its launch, Corvette was seen only as a convertible. In the year 1963, a coupe version of Corvette, C2 – Sting Ray, was launched. This had a fixed roof with a split rear window. This 2nd gen car doubled the Corvette sales as it gained popularity in colder regions as well.
- Since the year 1953, 1.56 million units of Corvette have been manufactured by Chevrolet. The company produced its 500,000 th Corvette in 1977 while the 1 millionth Corvette was rolled out in 1992. The 1.5 millionth Corvette made it to the market in the year 2009.
- Talking about the manufacturing plants, the 1953 production was carried out at Flint in Michigan. Then the production unit was shifted to St. Louis in Missouri between 1954 and 1981. Corvette is being manufactured at the present manufacturing facility, Bowling Green in Kentucky, since 1981. The production for the year 1981 commenced at St. Louis but finished at Bowling Green.
- In the year 1983, no Corvette made it to the public. This production year was halted to prepare for the 4th gen Corvette. Only 44 prototypes were made in this year with the last one still at the National Corvette Museum.
Vice president of Chevrolet Marketing, Chris Perry said that “During the past six decades, the Corvette has been woven into the fabric of American culture, as the sports car of choice for movie stars, musicians and astronauts. The very best Corvettes represent the state-of-the-art for their eras in terms of design, technology and performance.”
