The History of America's Sports Car - Corvette
By Michael
Russell
The Chevrolet Corvette is often known as "America's Sports Car" due to the fact that
it is the first all-American sports car built by the American manufacturing company General
Motors. The Corvette has maintained its reputation as a very powerful yet affordable
car for more than 50 years now. The car first came out in 1953 and was manufactured in
a GM assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. What sets the Corvette apart from
its European counterparts is its emphasis on simplicity. Most competing brands depend
on smaller displacement and a complex engine. The Corvette on the contrary, uses a larger
displacement and a simpler overhead valve that often resulted in a lighter, cheaper and
physically smaller engine. This same philosophy is also reflected in the type of suspension
used by the Corvette where GM opted to use the transverse leaf springs.
The name for Chevrolet's entry-level sports car back in 1953 comes from a highly maneuverable
frigate class warship of the same name. The person responsible for choosing the name
of GM's sports car was Myron E. Scott, who happens to be the creator of the Soap Box
Derby. The early Corvettes have fiberglass for their outer body due to the steel quotas
left over from the war. The engine used back then was the "Blue Flame" inline 6-cylinder
truck engine with two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission and drum brakes that are
similar to any Chevrolet car line of that time. Compared with its European counterparts,
the Corvette was an underpowered vehicle. It was only in 1954 that a Paxton supercharger
became available as a dealer-installed option. This significantly improved the performance
of the Corvette but was still behind its counterparts.
The Corvette underwent major changes by 1963 and marked the start
of the second generation of Corvettes that was also known by the acronym
C2. There
were several body designs made by Larry Shinoda, which were released
from 1963 till 1968. The development of the Corvette Stingray sporting
split-rear windows and fake hood vents also started in 1968. A 6.5
L big-block engine option also became available and an even larger
7L big-block engine came by 1966.The Third generation (C3) Corvette's
design made by Larry Shinoda was inspired by a Mako Shark. The C3 lasted
until 1982 and in each passing year, various improvements were added
to the Corvette especially on its engine. In 1973, Urethane-compound
bumpers replaced the chrome bumpers of the Corvette.
There are several notable variants of the C4 model of the Corvette namely the B2K Callaway
Twin Turbo (1987), ZR-1 also known as King of the Hill (1990) and the Grand Sport Corvette
(1996). They paved the way for the development of the C5, C5 Z06, C5-R (1997 to 2004)
Corvettes. The major changes to these models are the hydrofoamed box frame; transmission
was placed at the rear of the car and the LS1 small-block engine with a rated horsepower
of 345 hp. The Z06 model is the successor of the ZR-1 and inherited most of its good
traits. The Z06 comes with the LS6 engine and a lighter frame that makes it quicker than
the ZR-1 but has a lower power output than the double-overhead cam engine of the ZR-1,
which makes it slower than its predecessor.
Michael Russell Your Independent Sports Car guide.
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