The Chevrolet Corvette A True American Classic Sportscar
The Chevrolet Corvette, a Sportscar legend and a vehicle Classic for ever, has somehow survived inflated insurance rates ; every kind of nonsensical 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 in a position to cover as many aspects of the hi-performance sport as the Corvette. The versatility of this fantastic automobile has appealed to all age groups and has kept the possession of a Corvette, a most respected thing.
The Corvette has gone thru many changes in its lifetime, including each custom and hot rod trend going. It has a miracle that the Corvette has stayed a real high-performance sports automobile 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 automobile time. In the mid 50’s folks wanted fast autos, and by 1957 the Corvette was leading the pack. Hot rodding owes a large debt to the Corvette; it was in charge of just about all higher performance parts ever to come from Chevrolet. 4 speed transmissions, dual 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 hi-performance automated transmission. Each car could be tailored into a semi competitive race car of a good day by commuter by just picking the right options. The Corvette could play either role very well.
Performance was the trend in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. One of the biggest controversies of the day was which was quicker – a Corvette with twin 4 barrel carbohydrates 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 though the suspensions system was a conglomeration of early passenger auto parts, the low center of balance 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 unavailable in a fastback version commonly referred to as a “coupe” and in the conventional roadster 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 does 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 Yankee Sportscar Classic.
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