Hey guys, I am going to do a research paper on Corvettes for a class at my college. It is going to be at least a 6 page paper and the topic is suppose to be kind of broad. I will be presenting this paper in front the class in 5 weeks. So, I think I am going to write about the history of the corvette. Does anyone know any good websites that I could possibly use for references?? Thanks so Much!
~Steve~

 

you found the best one, just start with the c1 and go to the c6

 

You have ended your search for information by coming here. This is the place.

 

Here you go. It will be hard to keep it to 6 pages though. http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/1969.php

 

lol, thanks for giving me hits so soon. I've always wanted to pick this topic and now this is my chance. I believe I will write way more than 6 pages.

 

Do a search on here.Recently,somebody put a link to guess what??The history of the CORVETTE!

 

Here is my favorite site -
http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/beginning.php
You may end up with 60 pages though instead of 6.
Great car with great history.

The 1950s was an exciting and innovative decade for the American automobile industry. The country had just come out of World War II and demand for cars, which had taken a leave of absence during the war years, was exploding.
Something different began to appear on American roads: sports cars. GIs that served in Europe discovered a real affection for MGs and many other small two seaters and brought them home with them. All sorts of sports car events, from rallies to hard core races, showed a sudden burst of popularity.

The lead instigator in the birth of the Corvette was Harley Earl, the head of GM's Art and Color studio. He was a sports car aficionado, and an admirer of the Jaguar XK-120.

 

Thanks guys, I've already gotten 2 pages written. That website you guys posted has been very helpful. Thanks so much!
~Steve~

 

There are also a few great books out there too.

 

You can get production summaries and other model information here:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/

Corvette Demographics and good article from SEMA here:
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/...cs-2009-a.html

 

www.corvettemuseum.com

 

Four-star Air Force General Curtis LeMay was involved in the history of the Corvette. He encouraged participation in all aspects of running, racing, modding and fixing Corvettes to stimulate esprit de corps in his command, the Strategic Air Command. He not only allowed, but encouraged the use of base facilities to do this.

At the very least he deserves recognition for this.

 

 

I didnt know that!

Make sure to dedicate some ink to Zora, at least a page or two. Let us know how it turns out. In fact post it up.

 

A good book is called "All Corvettes Are Red" It provides a great history of the car. Any good bookstore should have it.

 

Hey guys, I just finished off my research paper. Here is the body of report.

The Corvette is an American revolution, America’s number one sports car. The first Corvette was introduced on June 30, 1953 and only 300 were produced for the year. The first Corvette’s were built by hand in a custom delivery garage in Flint, Michigan, and took 16 hour days to assemble the very first Corvette (Leffingwell, 2002). All 300 of the 1953 Corvette’s were only made in a color named “Polo white,” with red interior and a black canvas top. There were not many options you could choose from on the 1953 Corvette. The only two options offered were: a single seeking AM radio, which only costs $145.15, and a heater which costs $91.40. Even though these were the only options offered, all 300 were equipped with these two options. The base price for a 1953 Corvette was $3,498 and that included the federal excise tax and $248 for shipping and handling. When the 1953 Corvette was put into production, the only engine available was a “Blue flame” 105 horsepower six cylinder engine. The Chevrolet engineering team did not want the six cylinder engine in the Corvette, but they had no choice because General Motors (GM) was not willing to share their V8 motors for the Corvette (Leffingwell, 2002). Today, the 1953 Corvette is a popular model for car collectors, mainly because it was the first year of production and because of the limited production made. After six months of manufacturing the Corvette in Flint, GM decided to move their production line to St. Louis, Missouri. On December 24, 1953, Chevrolet ended their production in Flint, and started production four days later at the new plant in St. Louis. By the end of the year, the St. Louis factory completed its first 14 Corvettes. Chevrolet sold 1,342,480 cars in 1953, and only 183 of them were Corvettes (Leffingwell, 2002).
In 1954, the Chevrolet Corvette had a very rough year, due to a sports car crisis that could not be solved. The worst part is that the new plant had the capacity of producing 10,000 Corvettes a year, but just 3,640 1954 Corvette’s were produced and only one-third were sold at the end of the year (Leffingwell, 2002). Therefore, this made dealers sell below their cost just to get rid of their inventory. Production numbers in 1955 only reached to 700. This was the second lowest production year ever in Corvette history. Ford Motor Company introduced the Thunderbird in 1955, which became more popular than the Corvette. The reason why the Thunderbird became more popular is because it had a market for buyers, unlike the Corvette. The Thunderbird was classified as a “personal luxury car” and had many more options than the Corvette. Chevrolet’s big mistake with the Corvette is that it didn’t really have a market for anybody. According to Motor Trend’s Don MacDonald, “the basic difference between the Corvette and Thunderbird is not so much the body material, but a conflicting analysis of the American Market.” When 1958 came around, the Thunderbird headed into a different direction and things changed for the Corvette. The Corvette made a big jump in 1957, options like fuel injection were very rare at the time, but was available in the 1957 Corvette. The real high priced exotic sports cars didn’t even go with fuel injection until the 1970s or even later. Things just kept getting better for the Corvette. In 1958, a 270 horsepower V8 engine was available, which started to attract many car enthusiasts. The last first generation Corvette (C1) ended in 1962. The next body style will be called the C2.
The C2 Corvette was revealed to the world in June, 1962. There were now two models: a coupe and a convertible. The new body style was lower about three inches and narrower by about three and a half inches. One special feature that made the 1963 Corvette coupe very popular today was the split rear window. This is one distinctive way you can tell the year of the 1963 Corvette because it was the only Corvette made with a split rear window. Also, 1963 was the year the “Sting Ray” name came out for the Corvette. The waiting period for a Corvette Sting Ray was at least 60 days and the dealers were not dealing one bit on the coupe or roadster (Wright, 1963). Everything was new and different about the 1963 Corvette, besides the engine. The engine was the same as the 1962 model, which was a 327 cubic inch (ci) 360 horsepower V8. In 1965, the muscle car era was just starting to get popular. Chevrolet then offered a new motor known as the “Big Block” in the late 1965 models. This new motor was a 396ci V8 that was rated at 425 horsepower. This was the first time in Corvette history that a Corvette motor was rated over 400 horsepower. This big block motor was taken even farther in 1966. The 427ci was now the new big block. The sales for Corvettes were roaring in the years of 1963-1966, but settled down in 1967 because a new body style was coming out in 1968. The 1967 Corvette was still very unique though. On the big block models, a special hood was featured that was called a “Stinger Hood.” These hoods were painted in a different color than the body of the car.
When the third generation 1968 Corvette came out, it became knows as the “Coke bottle shape” (Leffingwell, 2002). This new body style was much more aerodynamic than the previous C2 Corvette. Many racers reported that the front end would lift up at high speeds (Leffingwell, 2002). The coupe model was the first Corvette to feature t-tops, which many Corvette enthusiasts raved about. It was a good feature because it gives you the best of both worlds. You can experience the coupe look and feel, but also experience the convertible feel by taking the t-tops off. The Corvette kept on becoming more popular as time went on. In November of 1969, the 250,000th Corvette was built. As the muscle car era was at its peak, Chevrolet boosted the horsepower in the 427ci to 435 horsepower and dropped the 327ci and replaced it with a 350ci motor. These high performance engines were not around very long. The 1970 model was the last year these high compression high horsepower engines were available. The 427ci was replaced with a 454ci in 1970, but the horsepower was reduced to 390, which was not as fast or powerful. It just kept on getting worse for the Corvette and the muscle car era. In 1971, the horsepower was reduced again to now only 365, due to unleaded gasoline and the lower octane ratings. The government was regulating and cracking down on the emissions of these high performance sports cars, which would eventually end the muscle car era. The only original feature the 1972 Corvette had was the front chrome bumper, which was never put back on a Corvette again. By 1974, the rear bumper was no longer in chrome as well. From there on the Corvette and all the other high performance muscle cars took a toll. A lot of people gave up on the performance cars completely, but surprisingly the Corvettes were still selling during this rough period for high performance cars. Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, who was the “godfather” of the Corvette wanted to design a mid engine Corvette because he thought it was what GM needed during this fuel crisis. He believed even if GM prohibited the performance engines, “the Corvette had always been an image car, the halo bathing other Chevrolets in its glow” (West, 2007). The Corvette assembly moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1981 because the St. Louis plant was only intended to build 10,000 Corvettes a year. Ever since 1976, Corvette production had been over 40,000. So a new plant was needed to keep up with the demand. The new plant started production on June 1, 1981; meanwhile the St. Louis plant still produced Corvettes until August 1, 1981. So there was two months where the Corvette was built at two different plants. The last year for the C3 Corvette was in 1982.
There were no Corvettes sold in 1983 because of the quality and production problems. There were only 44 1983 Corvettes made, but 43 of them were destroyed, while number 23 is the only one remaining. Today, that one and only 1983 Corvette is still located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it is on display and owned by GM. The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is the only museum in the world to show the history of a single vehicle line (Ritter, 2002). The first C4 Corvette was built on January 3, 1983, and then was delivered to customers in March 1983 as a 1984 model. In the new C4 Corvette, there was no longer a t-top feature. The t-tops were replaced with a targa roof, which is one whole piece that comes off and is stored in the hatchback. There was no convertible model in the C4 until the late 1986 Corvette. This was big news, especially since there was no convertible model for ten years. This made many Corvette enthusiasts happy that the convertible had returned. A super Corvette was suppose to come out for the 1989 model year, but wasn’t released until 1990. This new super Corvette was named the “ZR-1,” and was a very fast and sophisticated Corvette that was only available in a six-speed manual transmission. The idea of this new super Corvette was to compete with the more exotic sports cars, such as the Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, and Porsche’s, but didn’t carry the real high price tag that these exotics had. Although the ZR-1 was less expensive than these exotic sports cars, it still had a high sticker price. The base 1990 Corvette was priced at $31,979, while the ZR-1 was priced at $60,610. The option alone for the ZR-1 was $27,016. Even though the ZR-1 had a high sticker price, Corvette enthusiasts still paid it. The ZR-1 was in production for six years (1990-1996) and only 6,939 were manufactured (Leffingwell, 2002). The early to mid 1990s were good years for the Corvette and production reached to 1,000,000 in late 1992. The C4 body style lasted 13 years (1983-1996). The last year for the C4 Corvette (1996) offered a special version Corvette called the “Grand Sport.” It was only available in one color that was a unique blue with a white stripe in the middle of the car. Only 190 of the 1,000 Grand Sport Corvettes were convertibles (National Corvette Museum, 2009).
The new 1997 C5 Corvette was new and exciting for everyone to like. This new Corvette was by far the most comfortable Corvette to drive. When the road testers tested it, they used the word “refined” to describe the car (Van Tune & Keebler, 1997). The engine was still a small block, but the horsepower was increased to 345, compared to 300 horsepower in the previous C4 model. This new motor was an all aluminum block with cast-in cylinder lines that was designed to go 100,000 miles before servicing. Not only was the engine improved, but the transmission and differential were now placed in the rear of the car. This helped balance the weight distribution to 51% in the front, and 49% in the rear. Also, by replacing the transmission in the rear, it gave more interior space as well. A convertible model was not offered until 1998, the same year Motor Trend magazine awarded the Corvette coupe and convertible the car of the year. In 1999, Chevrolet came out with a hardtop Corvette model. Now there was three Corvettes to choose from; a coupe, convertible, and hardtop. The new hardtop cost less, and since it was lighter, it was also faster. This was the first hardtop Corvette since 1967. The hardtop model had some drastic changes in 2001. Chevrolet added performance upgrades that raised the horsepower to 385. It was named the “Z06” and was dedicated to engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov. The horsepower was raised from 385 to 405 in 2002. In 2003, Corvette owners celebrated its 50th anniversary in Bowling Green. No other vehicle in automotive history has a heritage as rich or as celebrated as the Corvette (Ritter, 2002). The 2003 50th anniversary edition Corvette included a special “Anniversary red paint” and shale interior. The last C5 Corvette was in 2004 and was available in a special commemorative edition that was dedicated to winning back-to-back class victories at the Le Mans, which is a 24 hour race in France (Kiewicz, 2003).
Vette vs. Jet
In 2002, John Lingenfelter, who is very popular Corvette tuner, built an 802 horsepower twin turbo V8 Corvette that was named the “Lingenfelter Corvette.” Motor Trend issued a challenge to John Lingenfelter to race this Corvette against an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet, which is designed for the U.S. Navy. Lieutenant Blankenship of the U.S. Navy’s ultra-elite Blue Angels finally agreed to race the fighter jet after months of calls from team Lingenfelter. The race took place at the Naval air station in El Centro, California, which is near the U.S. / Mexico border. The Lingenfelter Corvette beat the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet in every category except for top speed. This race was a record setter not only for the Corvette, but for automobile history (Kiewicz, 2002).
Each year since 1953, the Corvette has been becoming more sophisticated, faster, better handling, and a better ride (Mcvay, 1965).The 2005 sixth generation Corvette was something much different than any other Corvette. Dave Hill, chief engineer of the Corvette and vehicle line executive for GM performance cars, says “The C6 represents a comprehensive upgrade to the Corvette. Our goal is to create a Corvette that does more things well than any performance car” (National Corvette Museum, 2009). The headlights were exposed; this was the first time that the headlights were exposed on a Corvette since 1963. The engine was upgraded as well to a 6.0 liter 400 horsepower V8. The rear of the car was similar to the C5, but had much more sharper edges. The convertible model was also available in 2005, but arrived a few months after the coupe. The convertible model offered a power top option, but cost $1,995. The last time this feature was offered on a Corvette was back in 1962. A Z06 model was not available in 2005, but became available in 2006. The big block was back, and was placed in the Z06. The 427ci 7.0 liter produces an incredible 505 horsepower, 100 horsepower more than the 2004 Z06. Chevrolet decided to upgrade the base Corvette engine in 2008. They replaced the 6.0 liter with a 6.2 liter and raised the horsepower to 430. A new option for 2008 was a dual mode exhaust system, which would give you an extra six horsepower. General Motors had a huge surprise in 2009 for the Corvette enthusiasts. The surprise revealed the return of the ZR1, but is much more refined that the previous C4 ZR1. This super Corvette has a 6.2 liter 638 horsepower engine that is capable of doing zero to sixty miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. The Corvette team used the name “Blue Devil” as a code name for the ZR1 before it was announced to the public. They called it the Blue Devil because GM chairman Rick Wagoner is a Duke University graduate (Burton, 2008). The 2010 Corvette options have not yet been announced. Although there have been rumors of two new color options, but nothing has been released. Supposedly, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, had intentions on replacing the engine from the front to the middle of the car on the next generation C7 Corvette, but now is backing down from that idea because of the cost to manufacture it (Lassa & MacKenzie, 2007). GM had plans to introduce the C7 Corvette sometime around 2012-2013, but since the financial situation has become an important issue for General Motors, it has been postponed with no official set time (Morrison, 2008).

Conclusion
Today, we look back on June 30, 1953 as a day in automobile history. The history behind the Corvette reveals how the Corvette became such an American icon. Many car enthusiasts not only see the Corvette as just a car, but they also see it as a story. Some Corvette owners go to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to watch their car being built, and some just take a tour of the plant and look at the amazing history behind the Corvette. It is very interesting to know that the National Corvette Museum is the only museum in the world to reveal the history of a single vehicle line. As of right now, it is going to hard to predict the future of the Corvette, due to the financial crisis with GM. Many Corvette owners and enthusiasts think the Corvette is here to stay. All we can do now is just hope and pray for the future of the Corvette.

 

Here's the condensed version:

First, God created light. Then, God created the Corvette. Then he rested.

The End.

 

Nice Paper.... I would give you a A+

 

lol, thanks. I sure hope I get an A+ on this!!

 

At the library, a book called: "CORVETTE, AMERICA'S STAR-SPANGLED SPORTS CAR, THE COMPLETE HISTORY" by Karl Ludvigsen, Dutton Publishing.