Heya kiddies! Today, we're heading back to Detroit and possibly Kentucky cuz having talked about the Camaro the previous posting, we're gonna cover the actual sports car and supercar that GM made, the Corvette.
Pic from left to right, top to bottom in a zig-zag pattern: C1 Corvette -> C2 Stingray Corvette -> C3 Corvette -> C4 Corvette Grand Sport -> C5 Corvette -> C6 ZR-1 Corvette -> C7 Z06 Corvette -> Aerovette Corvette -> C8 ZR-1 Corvette
After WWII, many GIs were returning from Europe after being stationed there and many also brought back the sports cars they bought there back home with brands like Alfa Romeo, MGs and Jaguars. America on the other hand, had no such offerings. In 1951, America finally saw its own launch and sale of its own nationally made sports car which was done by Nash Motors in partnership with a British firm, Healey to create the Nash Healey. After watching what Nash was doing, a designer in GM, Harley Earl, decided that they could do a better job and everything would be made in the US itself and thus, he got to work with him team initially naming their project the "Opel". The name would soon change to the "Corvette" to mimick its smaller but still powerful and quick like the ship it gotten its name from. By 1953, the prototype was completed and the car would be pushed onto the sales floor. The car would initially be made entirely by hand and fitted with parts found from GM's parts bin to keep manufacturing costs down. GM would also slot the 235ci (3.85L) inline-6 engine making 150hp mated to a 2spd gearbox into the C1 Corvette. The entire body was made from fibreglass making it rather revolutionary in vehicle manufacturing which in turn keeps the car light also. Despite being labelled as a sports car and the car gaining tons of traction when it was shown to the public, the initial early production C1 Corvette was rather bad. Due to the hasty launch, everything was rather cut short where a proper manual gearbox couldn't be sourced hence the 2spd gearbox being used and without proper disc brakes, the car was lacklustre in performance. Chevrolet, the main seller of the Corvette, tried to improve the Corvette by fitting a supercharger to the 1955 model of the Corvette but it didn't do much as sales continued plummetting. Looking at the sales figure dropping into oblivion, GM went into a scramble to find solutions on whether to axe the entire Corvette project or improve it. Luck was on GM and Chevrolet's side that water across their pond sent news to them that Ford had just launched their Thunderbird in 1955 and it was a total sensation, giving GM hope. To immediately combat the Thunderbird, GM would finally slot a new V8, the 265ci (4.3L) making 195hp into the chassis mated to a 3spd gearbox drastically improving the performance. 1957 would see the V8 engine's displacement increased to 283ci (4.6L) with various carburettor packs and an optional fuel injector option with hp figure for the very engine going as high as 290hp. 1958 would see the C1 Corvette facelifted with a newer loom but mechanical wise, nothing much has changed until the final year of its production year of 1962 did it see another major change. The displacement for the V8 was once again increased, this time to 327ci (5.4L) making as high as 360hp making it one of the fastest sports car on the market. Not only that, with the new engine, Chevy would even boldly claim that the engine is capable of pushing one hp per cubic inch the engine pushes which was a feat of itself. This also helped boost the notoriety and prowess of the car that it kept the name alive. The C1 Corvette would be made from 1952-1962 before Chevy would bounce to another of their most iconic Corvette of all.
Riding on the high of the C1, they decided to push for a new Corvette. With their lead engineer, Duntov leading the team and with GM's chief designer Larry Shinoda doing the work, they decided to take an old C1 prototype racer that they've built and match it with what Bill Mitchell has built with a C1 chassis which he named it the "Sting Ray". Gone was the "cute-sy" round outlook of the new Corvette but in return, it became more aggressive and sharp looking. The new Corvette would also be entirely designed to be a coupe in general and the final product was somehow smaller than the C1 but due to its aggressive styling, it didn't look any much smaller. The car would officially be launched for general sale in 1962 and it became an instant hit. The engine (not yet at least) didn't change much from the previous generation with the 327ci V8 being the only option but this time, full disc brakes comes as standard for all the C2 Corvettes. Not only was the brakes a massive improvement, the C2 also saw a massive suspension improvement where unlike the C1 where it was using a solid rear axle setup, the C2 went with full independent rear suspension setup which greatly increases handling and road stability. Both 1964 and 1965 model would see changes, both being rather large. 1964 would see the iconic rear split windows being removed as customer complaints that despite it looking good, it was always blocking the rear view thus becoming a safety concern so it would be removed and replaced as a wide glass window for the 1964 model onwards. 1965 model would see another V8 being placed into the lineup being the 396ci (6.5L) "Big Block" V8 making a whooping 425hp. Despite the 396ci being powerful as it is already, Chevy thought that wasn't enough and for the 1967 model, the Big Block V8 was once again increasing its displacement to this time, 427ci (7L). Although it did not increase its hp figure massively, its torque curve was indeed increased massively against the "old" 396ci V8. 1967 would see the C2 being refined to the ultimate and with it being its final year, Chevy decided to send it out with a massive bang. Chevy would slot the L88 engine option into the Corvette where the engine have a higher compression rate and more aggressive cams and only requiring super high octane fuel like actual racing fuel to push the engine to its fullest potential. If its using normal fuel, its said that the engine would make approx 430hp but if race fuel was used, it'll push straight up to approx 500-520hp making it one of the most powerful engine that any Detroit company makes out of the factory. Chevy would make the C2 Corvette from 1962-1967.
Chevy would unveil the C3 Corvette to for public sale in 1969 and the change was rather drastic. Gone was the flat, straight aggressive look but instead, the front was slightly raked at the front wheel arches area to improve airflow. The designers based it upon the "Mako Shark II" concept for the C3 prototype and despite it looking like the actual concept, it still retained the "Stingray" moniker of the previous model. This time, the designers also changed the roof structure as T-tops (targa) rather than the clear cut solid-roof coupe and convertible of the C2. Despite drastic changes for its outlook, the mechanical components didn't see much changes as whatever the C2 has, the C3 had the same options from gearboxes to engines and even suspension components. 1969 would see the base 327ci being uprated to 350ci (5.7L) and hp figures didn't change but 1970 would see quite a few engine changes also with it being slightly big in changes to some technical upgrades. 1970 would see the 350ci engine fitted with more lighter forged parts or aluminium parts and coded it as the LT1. Power was rated at 370hp. The big block option would also see changes as now, there's only one option and that's an uprated 427ci to 454ci (7.4L) coded as the LS5 with power being rated at 400hp. Besides the new engine changes, traction control systems which GM would later nickname it as "Positraction" was also implemented in the 1969 C3 Corvette. 1973 would spell disaster for not only GMs but also the entire US car making industry and no other car was hit rather bad as the Corvette being that its the "sports car of America" itself due to the fuel crisis. The 1973 update of the C3 Corvette also sees alot of changes as Chevy would change it from a sports car to a GT by giving it more sound deadening and more chonkier tires for smoother ride over pure performance. The new federal ruling for crash bumpers also made the car look odd. All the engines got stifled of horsepower due to new regulation and also again, fuel crisis thus the 350ci V8 this time only pushed power from its different packages ranging from a measly 190-250hp, stark contrast of what it previously produced. Even the big-block 454ci V8 wasn't spared as now the highest hp figure it produced was 275hp. As nothing much major has changed following on, the C3 ended production in 1982.
With the economy booming and the fuel crisis ended, GM and Chevy would release the C4 Corvette out for sale by 1984. A whole new redesign from the ground up was done as now, the Corvette was shaped with a more angular body. More electronic devices were also implemented into this generation with stuff like a full digital instrument display and phasing out carburetors with electronically fuel injection systems being the only system for future engines. The C4 Corvette also switched its production method from the old generations that unlike the older models where its built using the "body-on-frame" style for its literal chassis, the C4 used the "unibody" pattern to produce the cars. Despite the fuel crisis ending already, initial horsepower figures for the engines in the early C4 Corvette didn't change much as the 350ci V8 coded as the "L98" from the C3 was "only" pushing 250hp. It wasn't until 1992 where Chevy would slot the newest small-block, the LT1, into the C4 Corvette lineup this time making 300hp. GM in 1986 had bailed Lotus out of bankruptcy and using Lotus's expertise in building sports cars, Chevy decided to rope them in to build the fastest supercar that has ever came out of the US besides the Ford GT (Might do a run on the Ford GT.. Keep your eyes out and heads on a swivel) since the 60s and nothing was better than the Corvette platform. Lotus would build the whole engine from schematics given from GM and from that, they built the LT5 engine which was a reworked LT1 but unlike the LT1 where it was iron block, the LT5 was an all-aluminium block engine with 4 overhead cams and 32 valves in total. With the LT5 being lighter and boasting 375hp, Lotus would coin this C4 Corvette with the "ZR1" moniker yet again. Performance was also exponential that its one of the few cars of its time that could even reliably break the 160mph/257kmh mark and the C4 Corvette did it comfortably with reports from magazine tests even reaching as high as 178mph/286kmh clocked. The ZR1 would be shown to the public and released for sale in 1990. Lotus would fettle with the car once again and by 1993 improve the power figure of the LT5 by messing with the exhaust system, cylinder head ports and valvetrains to boost power up to 405hp. The C4 Corvette would be produced from 1984 to 1995.
Back in 1993, GM had already tasked Chevy to change the Corvette with a newer model but due to some internal job shuffling and manufacturing defects, Chevy delayed the release of the new C5 Corvette in 1997. The C5 switched its production method where instead of using conventional methods, it'll be using the hydroform method (Think of it as super high quality stamped metal) and instead of putting the gearbox in the normal position like its previous generations or typical cars where its behind the engine in the front, the C5 has its gearbox placed in the rear giving it a near-to-perfect 50/50 weight distribution, greatly increasing cornering performance once again. Not only was those departments improved, the engine also saw changes. Gone was the LT engine series and in return, the LS saw a comeback and would be the engine of choice for the Corvettes for almost 3 decades and for the C5, the 5.7L LS1 V8 was introduced. Initial power output of the LS1 would be 345hp and would see a slight increase to 350hp in 2001. Also, unlike the previous generations where there's multiple packages for engine options, the C5 only offers one engine choice and packages with the LS1. GM would push the C5 to race and in return, they employed Pratt & Miller Engineering to take a road car and build it for racing which, they did and churned out the C5.R. The body panels of the C5.R were wider than the normal road cars and have its length slightly lengthened but to compensate for that, the base 5.7L LS1 V8 was bored out to 7L and with that, the C5.R would win ALMS (American LeMans Series) class champ multiple times and even winning class wins at the 24Hrs of LeMans outright, even beating Prodrive's Ferrari 550 making it the other American company who have beaten a Ferrari on the lauded Curcuit de la Sarthe since the Ford GT40 (Again, will do a series about it soon). To commemorate the wins they got in racing, Chevy would build and revive the Z06 nameplate once again for the C5. The LS1 would get a power upgrade to 385hp and renamed as the "LS6" just for the Z06 model and tons of lightening steps to make the car super competitive. 2002 would see the LS6's power being bumped up to 405hp with tougher valve springs, more aggressive cam timings and cams and a larger air intake. The C5 would be built and sold from 1997-2004.
GM and Chevy would launch the C6 for public sale and this time, there's no delays to its launch and once again, tons of changes was done. The geometry of the car was changed and the engine also saw a massive upgrade. The LS1 got revised to the LS2 variant where its displacement was increased from the 5.7L to 6L and making 400hp. In 2008, Chevy would once again increase the displacement of the LS2 to 6.2L to form the LS3 and this time pumping out 430hp. The gearbox also saw an improvement from the previous Tremec T56 to increase shifting speed and feel. Chevy would also toss two performance variants with the C5, one being the Z06. Chevy would homologate the model in 2006 to prep it for racing and once again to boast the performance of the model, Chevy would push the LSx engine to its maximum by pushing its displacement to 7L making it the LS7 and pushing 505hp. This would make it the most powerful NA engine GM made at that time and to help with the handling of the car, the Z06's frame was made of aluminium against the steel frames of the C5 making the Z06 very light. Right after releasing the Z06 for sale, Chevy was still not happy and thus they started to tinker with it to make it even sportier. After months of testing, they churned out the superb ZR1 and released to the public for purchase in 2008. Multiple bodyparts of the ZR1 used carbon fibre parts like the boot, roof, hood and front splitter making it even lighter than the Z06 and not only that, Chevy also gave it the largest wheels ever used on any Corvettes which increases contact patch on the roads with the effect of more grip. Carbon ceramic brakes were also standard for the ZR1 which cannot be found in the other models. To combine all the upgrades, the engine definitely had to be messed with also but this time, Chevy went crazy. Instead of using the LS7 in the Z06, they took the normal LS3 and slapped a supercharger on it making the LS9 and pushing 640hp. With that combo of immense power and lightness, it was super powerful both on track and street. GM would, not surprisingly, like the previous model would push the C6 for racing thus making the C6.R and once again, not surprisingly, dominated ALMS and actual LeMans for a long time. Chevy would produce the C6 from 2004 to 2013.
Chevy had planned to update the Corvette in 2007 already and after years of drawing and replanning, the new model was finally released to the public in 2014 as the C7. Chevy would take design cues from the C3 and revise it to fit it into the modern age and make it more aggressive to boot. Not only that, they revived the name, "Stingray", back into the fold also. The LSx engines was dropped and in return, GM would push the all-new small-block V8, the 6.1L LT1 as the standard engine of choice for the base C7s and with the base engine, it pushed out 460hp. 2015 would see Chevy rerelease the Z06 and like the C6 version, its performance figures were upgraded. The engine's displacement would increase to 6.2L and a supercharger and intercooler setup would be added to it also turning it into the LT4 and pushing 650hp. Carbon fibre was used again in the roof that can be removable, front splitter and its ironic rear ducktail spoiler/wing. 2019 was the last year that the C7 would be made and to send it off with a bang, Chevy would release the ZR1 the very same year and the changes was drastic. Like the C6 ZR1, the Z06 was used as its basis and the supercharger was pushed even further that it was straight up placing a bigger one than what the Z06 was using and in return making the LT5 pushing 755hp. It was also given an even more aggressive aero pack with things like a chassis-mounted carbon wing, carbon hood and even more air ducts to cool various parts of the car. The C7 Corvette would be produced from 2014 to 2019.
Before we talk about the elephant in the room which is the C8, let's roll time back... WAY back, back to the period of the C2 and C3. During the 60s, Lamborghini, in an attempt to beat Ferrari did the unthinkable by taking race car technology of slotting an engine and gearbox to the middle of the car and creating the Miura which became an industry legend and how supercars were to be built. Chevy tried copying what Lamborghini did by making multiple prototypes across the period with the CERV I and II but it went nowhere and worse still, the then-GM (General Manager, not Motors) of Chevy decided to can the project due to extremely high costs but upon hearing that Ford was pushing the DeTomaso Pantera into the US markets, he hastily lifted the cancellation of the project and reinstated it in 1970 as the Aerovette. First production of the prototype in 1972 saw the engineers sticking two 2-rotor engines from the Chevrolet Vega together and placing it in the middle of the car. They would split the engine again in 1973 and just use the 2-rotor in the chassis but as the fuel crisis hits in 1974, Chevy cancelled all of its development with the rotary engine but somehow just shelved the Arrovette project aside. In 1976, the project got taken out and worked upon again but this time, Chevy stuffed a 400ci 6L V8 into the chassis and tried making it work and after passing testings, it was supposed to launched for full production and sale to the public by 1980. However, with the retirement of the old guards like Duntov and Bill Mitchell etc from GM, the "new guards" like David R. McLellan decided to can the project once again and this time for good as he calculated that the project was costing way too much and not only that, mid-engined vehicle sales was rather poor in the US and using the extremely large sale figures of the Datsun/Nissan Z cars and even the Ford Mustang, he decided the Aerovette wasn't needed at all and continued pushing the Corvette to be front-engine RWD.
Fast forward 40 years, GM would finally see the light and allow Chevy to change the Corvette to be produced in mid-engined platform and that became the C8 in 2019. This would also coincidentally mean that this would be the next mid-engine product GM made after the demise of the Pontiac Fiero. The "Stingray" name would be the base model for the C8 and the base engine of the C7 Corvette would see a small upgrade in the C8 turning it into the LT2 and also see a power figure improvement of 40hp to a total of 490hp. The C8 would also be, for the 1st time and possibly the last time that a Corvette wasn't built with a manual box as the only gearbox option is the 8spd dual clutch gearbox. Also for the 1st time since the C1, the C8 would also be made in RHD variants to cater to foreign markets like the Australian and UK markets. Chevy would launch the performance version of the C8, the Z06 in 2021 and it would be massively improved. Gone was the old-style LSx/LT2 V8 which uses typical overhead camvalve technology across American manufacturers and instead, GM would slot their new V8 technology copied from the likes of Europe, especially Ferrari and ironically its Detroit competitor, Ford with the Ford Voodoo V8 by creating a flatplane V8 themselves with the 5.5L LT6 V8. Despite a massive drop in displacement, the new flatplane technology gave it an immense performance improvement that even without power adders like superchargers or turbos, it pumped out 670hp. It would be the world's most powerful NA V8 ever created. It was also given way more aggressive aero and larger wheels to compliment the performance. To cater to the masses who wants better fuel economy but not sacrifice performance, Chevy would placate to that and create a hybrid Corvette with the E-Ray in 2023. Chevy would use the body pinnings of the Z06 as base but the engine of the normal 6.2L LT2 V8 but instead slapped a 1.9 kw battery pack to go together with the petrol engine to produce 655hp in total. Like both the C6 & C7, Chevy thought the Z06 was not "sporty" enough and instead released the ZR1 model for sale in 2023 and this time, once again, massive changes was made. Gone was the conventional style of adding superchargers to the engine but this time, Chevy went the other path by slapping twin turbos to the LT6 and pushing a whooping 1064hp. Even more aggressive aero was also placed on the ZR1 against what the Z06 has with this time a permanent big wing and with all the upgrades, the Corvette could push 233mph/375kmh making it one of the fastest vehicle to be made in America from the "Big Three". Despite the ZR1 already being stupid, Chevy thought they could be even wilder and having seen Ford smashing the Nurburgring record with the Mustang GTD, Chevy was having none of it and instead took the ZR1 and went ham. They took the E-Ray's hybrid system and slam it into the ZR1 turning it into AWD and once again push the power figure to 1250hp and this time calling it the ZR1X. With that, Chevy did in fact grab the Nurburgring record off Ford with a 6:49. Like the other racing version of the Corvette since the C5, Chevy would make the C8.R with the flatplane V8 from the Z06 and.. Surprise surprise, dominate the races it joined in its class. As of now in 2026, the C8 Corvette is still in production.
The Corvette went thru hurdles, objections, obstinate officers in charge and finally it truly became a supercar that it should have been and with no signs of stopping.
