Chevy Corvette A real Sportscar Legend
The Chevrolet Corvette, a Sportscar legend and an automobile Classic for ever, has somehow survived inflated insurance rates; all types of inane and meaningless safety legislation and engine pollution add ons. The Chevrolet Corvette has been universally accepted as the measure of a high performance sports automobile. Vehicles are transitory, new model of vehicles appear and disappear and yet the Corvette lives on. No auto has been able to cover as many sides of the high performance sport as the Corvette. The flexibility of this superb car has appealed to all age groups and has kept the ownership of a Corvette, a most distinguished thing.
The Corvette has gone thru many changes in its lifetime, including every custom and hot rod trend going. It has a miracle the Corvette has stayed a real high performance sports vehicle and did not mature into a two plus two sedan as did Ford’s Thunderbird. The Corvette was in the on the beginnings of the fast car era. In the mid 50’s folk wanted fast autos, and by 1957 the Corvette was leading the pack. Hot rodding owes a giant debt to the Corvette; it was responsible for almost all of the higher performance parts ever to come from Chevrolet. 4 speed transmissions, twin quad intake manifolds and hot solid lifter camshafts.
One of the enormous contributions to the Corvette’s success story was the variety of options that were offered. Ever since 1956, there had been the choice of the standard of high-performance automated transmission. Each car could be tailored into a semi competitive race car of a good day to day commuter by just selecting the right options. The Corvette could play either role really well.
Performance was the trend in latter 1950’s and early 1960’s. One of the biggest controversies of the day was which was quicker – a Corvette with dual four barrel carbs or one with fuel injection.
Corvette owners were buying the high-performance versions and putting them to good use at weekend drags and the novice road events. There were metallic brake and sway bar options for the sporty set. And although the suspensions system was a conglomeration of early passenger vehicle parts, the low center of gravity and near equal weight distribution made these vehicles handle well. The 50/50 weight distribution did not hurt the drag racers one bit either, and they won more than their share.
When 1963 happened, it brought with it a real change in the Corvette. The new body style called the “Sting Ray” was not available in a fastback version commonly called a “coupe” and in the conventional racer version with a removable hardtop. The Sting Ray had much cleaner lines than its predecessors and even featured retractable headlights. With the change in body style, the suspension was vastly improved with a new independent rear suspension assembly and updated steering gear. It still had the performance of the older autos, including the Rochester fuel injected 327 cubic inch engine, rated at 360 horsepower.
The Chevrolet Corvette is definitely an American Sportscar Classic.
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