The Background of the Chevy Corvette

The Background of the Chevy Corvette
By Jerry Strong

If ever there was a muscle car that developed a tremendously devoted following, it is the Corvette. It is a car that seems to be popular and sexy year in and year out.

It is the muscle vehicle that stands out for the car owner who wants to make a statement. Whether the goal is to get the attention of the opposite sex or to have some fun with your midlife crisis and do it in style, the “Vette” is the way to get there.

To this day, owning this car is a status statement and a serious lifestyle statement. While it always seems up to date and “in”, few know that the history of the car dates back as far as 1953 and that it did not come off of the production line to the tremendous popularity that it has enjoyed in the last 3-4 decades.

A fun piece of trivia to have when around rabid Corvette fans, or if you are a rapid fan, is that the car was originally named the Corvair. It is also interesting that the automobile was not an overnight sensation by any stretch of the imagination. In 1953, while Chevrolet sold over a million cars, only 183 of those were from this model line.

Still in all, the design of the automobile was shocking and almost futuristic looking by 1953 standards. Many innovations that are common now that people saw in the Corvette drew gasps at the time.

The body was built close to the ground and streamlined and that turned heads when the car hit the streets. The fiberglass body and the wrap around windshield combined with that trademark sexy front grill. These were breakthrough design innovations that the Chevrolet brought out for the muscle car world to enjoy when the Corvette premiered.

Chevrolet showed a commitment to its bold entry in the muscle car market by making changes and fixing problems in each new model of the car. Such problems as a leaky cockpit, removable windows and hard to read gauges were corrected which began to win over more and more fans.

Despite flaws in the original design, the popularity of the Corvette has grown from decade to decade. People who invest in a the car display a passion for their car that could only be described as love. Clubs and magazines enjoy a strong and constant membership and subscription base that shows that even people that do not take the bold step of buying a Corvette wish they could.
About the Author
When you think of classic Corvettes think of American Muscle Cars.