Chevrolet Corvette debuts in Big Apple

January 17, 2017 12:00 AM

When the Corvette was introduced at the 1953 Motorama, GM rushed to get it into production. It set up a temporary factory in Flint, Mich., and built 300 for the 1953 model year. The cars were put in the hands of celebrities and executives to build word-of-mouth enthusiasm.

The 1957 Corvette.

The 1960 Corvette. Styling evolved significantly during the first generation of the car but many design cues that would become synonymous with the Corvette were established, including the long dash-to-axle proportion, dual round taillamps and a dual-cockpit-style interior. All first-generation Corvettes were convertibles.

The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette. The second-generation Corvette – dubbed Sting Ray, after a concept race car that influenced its design – represented a revolution in design, engineering technology and performance. Where the first-generation Corvette was based on a modified passenger sedan platform, the second-generation was a clean-sheet redesign based on a dedicated architecture. It enabled a lower center of gravity and lower, sportier seating position, while supporting an all-new independent rear suspension that dramatically transformed the car's road-holding performance.

The 1965 Corvette

The third-generation Corvette -- beginning with the 1968 model -- was the longest and the car evolved significantly during an upheaval in the auto industry. It was introduced for 1968 as the Stingray -- one word vs. two words with the second generation. Aficionados generally call these cars “shark” models, for their aggressive styling. From a performance standpoint, the C3 generation was transitional. Big-block engines rated at 435 horsepower were initially popular but the auto industry's shift to unleaded fuel, tighter emissions standards and changing consumer attitudes affected output over time. In 1975, the standard 350 small-block was rated at only 165 horsepower -- about 20 percent less than the original 195-hp small-block from 1955.

The 1977 Chevrolet Corvette. The sports car set an annual U.S. sales record of 42,571 in 1977 that stands today.

The 1979 Corvette.

The 1984 Corvette.

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Retired General Chuck Yeager poses with the 1986 C4 Corvette Indy pace car he drove for that year's 500-mile race.

The 1990 Chevrolet Corvette

The all-new 1997 Corvette was larger overall than the outgoing C4 yet weighed nearly 100 pounds less.

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The 2003 50th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette C5 was featured as the official pace car of the Indy 500.

The 2005 Corvette featured a return to fixed headlamps.

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The Corvette vision concept was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in 2009 and previewed the character Sideswipe in the movie "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." The concept was the creation of Corvette designers at GM and heavily influenced by the original Sting Ray race car introduced in 1959.

The 2011 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport.

GM has standardized its information technology architecture at all of its plants worldwide, including the Chevrolet Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky.

The 2014 Corvette

The 2020 Corvette is equipped with Chevrolet's next-generation 6.2-liter small block V-8 LT2 engine. It is the only naturally aspirated V-8 in the segment and generates 495 hp and 470 lb.-ft. of torque when equipped with performance exhaust — the most horsepower and torque for any entry Corvette.

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The 2024 Corvette E-Ray became the first with all-wheel drive and to be electrified, heralding a new era for the famed sports car. The car's eAWD system — combining a 160 hp electric motor over the front axle and a 495 hp, 6.2-liter small-block V-8 powering the rear wheels, for combined hp of 655 — made the E-Ray the "Swiss Army knife" of Corvettes, Chevrolet officials said. It was also the quickest Corvette to date, according to Chevy, zipping from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds.

A prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car debuts at General Motors’ Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on Jan. 17, 1953.

In the early 1950s, Harley Earl, the influential head designer for GM, became interested in developing a two-seat sports car. European automakers had ruled the sports car market for years.

That first Corvette, code-named Opel, was created in almost total secrecy within GM — a tradition that continues to this day.

The first production Corvette was built at a GM plant in Flint, Mich., on June 30, 1953.

The fiberglass-bodied car was an immediate sensation.

The Corvette, named after a fast type of naval warship, became an American legend and remains in production today.

The Nomad station wagon, above, was one of three Corvette dream cars created for the 1954 Motorama.

More than a year later, when the 1954 Motorama opened in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria on Jan. 21, the crowd of 26,000 couldn't get enough of GM's three newest dream cars.

For the 1954 Motorama, GM's Styling Section created not one but several unique Corvette dream cars: a convertible coupe, the Corvair fastback coupe and the Nomad station wagon.

As it did at the Motoramas before and to come, GM -- eyeing a line of Corvettes -- turned up the glitz to showcase what the future held for car buyers.

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Huge crowds attended the annual showcase of GM vehicles.

A 27-piece orchestra and 12-voice chorus performed a musical backdrop during six daily shows. The giant crowds were entertained by fashion models, a Broadway cast and wide-screen movies. TV and radio host Arthur Godfrey and his friends made a nationwide primetime telecast from the show.

An experimental gas turbine car -- the XP-21 Firebird -- was a highlight of the 1954 show, the latest quest by GM engineers, stylists and researchers to offer the public a glimpse of the future.

But the Chevrolets drew the crowds. Nearly 2 million people would experience those cars when the GM Motorama visited New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago that year.