The History Of Corvettes Essay Research Paper

The History Of Corvettes Essay, Research Paper

“The History of the Corvette”

It all started in September of 1951, when General Motors chief stylist Harley Earl took a ride to Watkins Glen sports car race. He was impressed with the Jaguars, Ferraris and Alfas, which made him decide to begin designing a new American sports car. Later on that year he assigns Bob McLean to draw a layout for a sports car for General Motors.

1952 arrives and the first plaster model two-seater convertible goes on display in General Motors’ private viewing auditorium. At the end of April, Harley’s crew completed a full-size plaster model of his sports car project. It was designed from the back to the front. In the middle of June, the Chevrolet’s director of research and development, Maurice Olley, created a sketch for the new sports car frame, showing the locations of the radiator, wheels, and the body mount points. All it really was was a shortened Chevy Sedan frame. In July, Chevrolet’s chief engineer Ed Cole, and Harry Barr started to work on a all new Chevrolet V-8 engine. During a test run, the prototype fiberglass-bodied Chevrolet full sized convertible accidentally rolled. Since the body survived with minimal damage, they decided to keep the fiberglass for the body material for the upcoming Corvette. The year was almost over when they had to decide what name to give the new Chevrolet. The Chevrolet EX-122 is named the Corvette after a fast type of Royal Navy warship, by Myron Scott. He was an employee of Cambell-Ewald, Chevrolet’s advertising agency. Strong consideration had been given to naming the car “Corvair”, a name picked from the dictionary.

The debut of the first Corvette was on January 17 of 1953. It was displayed at the GM Motorama show at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In May the first Corvette advertisement was unleased. It was a stylish two-seat convertible, designed to show the world that GM could produce a sports car to compete with the other European cars. All three hundred of 1953 Corvettes were built by hand and appeared identical to the Motorama car. Everyone of them were Polo White with red interiors. They were powered by the existing Chevrolet 235 cubic inch 6-cylinder engine that was modified with a three-carburetor design and dual exhaust to give it a more sports car like performance. Named the Blue Flamed Special, this engine generated 150 horsepower, and was combined with a 2-speed powerglide automatic transmission with unassisted steering. It could go 0 to 60 mph in just about 11 seconds and its top speed was just slightly over 107 mph. Harley Earl’s aim was to make a sports car that was fast and cheap so anyone could own one. They were all made in a small room in a G. M. plant in Flint, Michigan. Earl didn’t want anyone to steal the design. This project was top secret. With the average of about only three a day, only three hundred were made the first year. The sticker price on all three hundred were $ 3,498 which was a bit high. The only complaint was that it had a leaky roof. In December of 1953, the Corvette production moved to a General Motors Assembly Division plant on Union Boulevard, in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the summer of 1954, the VIP-marketing policy is changed, making it available for sale to the general public. Finally in September, the V-8 engine was an option on the Corvette. At the end of December, production ends with 3265 made and 1076 unsold.

The only big change in 1955 was that a three speed transmission was available. Also the engine was increased to a 265 cubic inch V-8 that generated 195 horsepower. The single four barrel V-8 could do 0 to 60 mph below nine seconds. Although sales in 1954 were up, they fell off dramatically to just seven hundred setting off rumors that the Corvette might be a short lived automotive experiment.

The !956 production car set a new Corvette record at a little over 150 mph. The duel four barrel V-8 which at 240 horses could do 0 to 60 under seven

seconds. The first styling change happened in ‘56. Changes included an all new body with “scooped out” sides, outside door handles, roll-up windows and an optional removable hardtop. The parking break alarm, courtesy lights, windshield washer, and the hydraulic folding top mechanism were all mandatory options that were made optional that year.

The !957 Corvette got a performance boost along with its styling. The 283 cubic inch V-8 was modified with fuel injection to produce an unprecedented 283 horsepower, and a new 4-speed manual transmission was offered as a $188 option, making the Corvette one of the first cars in the world to mate a fuel injected V-8 engine with a 4-speed manual gearbox. This was the first year that vented gas tanks were used in the production of the Corvette. More model options were made available offering stiffer springs, bigger shocks, fatter front antiroll bar, faster-ration steering, and a limited-slip differential.

In 1958, the fuel-injected 283 cubic inch V-8 engine was now producing up to 290 horsepower while its body featured the four headlights. Sales reached

9,168 which was enough to turn a profit for the first time for the Corvette.

The oversized gas tank was officially offered for the 1959 Corvette, although some reportedly had been supplied to racers as early as 1957. Adding the oversized 24-gallon fuel tank meant the removable hardtop opt