Bud2

A stupid question but I can't find the answer. I've looked at a lot of history on Corvettes but I can't find the answer to the question of what does the 'C' stand for? The guys on the C2 forum suggested that it may stand for Corvette while others think it stands for chassis - when the chassis changed, the numeral changed. ie, C1 - box, C2 - ladder and so on. I don't think I've got the answer yet so maybe you can help me out. It must have had a factual beginning but what?

Bud.

Brcmpbl

It just designates the generations of Corvettes. Not related to the chassis per se (C2 and C3 Corvettes have, by and large, the same chassis...if by chassis you mean frame, etc.).

So really, you could say it just means Corvette.

kanvasman

Really aren't any stupid questions. I learn something new in just about any thread on this board.

Bud2

It had to mean SOMETHING when it started!

Bud.

Brcmpbl

It means Corvette. GM started using the designation with the C5.

0Willcox Corvette

LOL... I get confused by it from time to time.. When I started.. you had Straight Axle and Mid-Years, and late models...

53-62 Straight Axle
63-67 Mid Years.. Now you know why they call them mid year... huh..
68-73 Late Model. (which by the way, were not allowed in NCRS)...

Just another tidbit of info to chew on.

Mike Ward

Can somebody show a reference from GM indicating C = Corvette and not something else?

Chassis?
Chevrolet?
Car?

0Willcox Corvette

Mike.. I can't.. To my knowledge I can remember customers coming in when the 84 was made.. saying C4... I thought the place was going to blow up.

I've never seen any reference to it this way from GM. Not to say there isn't, or that the slang was carried in the door to them either.

Never heard anyone from GM (except maybe John H.) refer to a 63-67 as a mid year either.. lol

2MFFZo6

It started with the c5.......its in the book, "All Corvettes are Red" by James Shefter. After that everyone went "C" CRAZY

pacecar620

The only stupid question is the one that's not asked. So - as far as I know, the C you inquire about is no more than an unofficial moniker originated presumably by a bunch of Corvette afficionados to designate the different generations of Corvettes. C1 being the solid rear axle cars from 1953-62, C2 the first IRS Stingrays from 1963-67, C3 from 1968-82 also referred to as "sharks" because they became the production version of the Mako Shark prototype. So the C can be presumed to mean Corvette followed by its generation number. It's just that simple.

qwank

I don't think GM ever used the C designation for ANY Corvette. it's a enthusiast started thing that just caught on.

Bud2

Ok, if we agree it started with the C5s, what started it? Was it initiated by Corvette lovers and just carried on by GM? As a marketing tool, it's great. It still doesn't explain what the 'C' actually means. In all honesty, the C=Corvette doesn't sound right. It doesn't really roll off the tongue does it? Corvette 1, Corvette 2, Corvette 3............Maybe its a shortened form from "Corvette - 1st Generation"

It's still strange there isn't a source that says what the 'C' stands for.

I can see it now, at the next show, I'll have a kid come up to me and ask "This a C2?" "Yep" I'll say with conviction. Then he'll ask what's the 'C' stand for. I'll have to reply sheepishly, "I, er, nobody seems to know." "Big expert" he'll say to his buddy.

Bud.

0Willcox Corvette

humm

Easy Mike

GM usually used Y to designate Corvette.

The "C" thing originated in the media. In the early hoopla, the new car to be introduced in 1983 became known as the C4 (Corvette - 4th generation - 100% a media tag). Prior to that, there was no actual C designation and the common terms were Classics (53-62), mid-years (63-67), and "new" (68-82). Once the media settled on C4 for the new cars, then it was easy to work backwards on the generations.

qwank

Correct, the Corvette is a Y Chassis. and GM still never uses C to describe a Corvette. They call the new ones 2014 Corvette Stingrays. a C chassis is a 2wd full size truck.

Vettes n Rocks

It really doesn't stand for anything. It's a slang term coined by "Vette" fans used to describe the block of model year configurations between major redesigns. It's a term that was never uttered by the manufacturer until some marketing person noticed that it had become part of the Corvette BUYERS lexicon. Then in some meeting, I can imagine, part of a conversation may have gone something like this: "I've got a what if" "lets run this up the flag pole and see who bites" - "Hey dudes, here is the new nifty C5 it's the cat's pajamas, it's b**chn', you should buy one, word".

It's kind of like the dictionary these days. It used to be a list of words with definitions, now it seems to have become an attempt to define whatever word someone made up or redefined. Axe me why I think that.

7t9l82

it is a synthetic name or designation. and just about every thing about these cars is stupid on some level so stupid questions abound.

loup68

I agree with Easy Mike and Qwank, Gm called the new Corvette parts that my company was making the dies and parts for ... Y 83. Camaro's are F body cars. Lou.

oldschoolvette

v2racing

It's the same thing that happened in the Harley world. The riders called them "Hog's", Nuckleheads, Panheads, Shovelheads, etc... Harley copy righted all the public used slang and protects it viciously to this day.