The 8 Most Important Corvettes of All Time
Among the greatness that is Corvette, their are a few standouts that changed history forever.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet introduced a unique fiberglass body to place over a 235 cubic inch inline six cylinder engine for the first iteration. This reduced the weight, and the name "Corvette" quickly became associated with american sports car.
1957 Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet reached a milestone in 1957 with its new fuel injected V8. The slogan "one horsepower per cubic inch" began and showed the world how seriously Corvette and horsepower were related.
1963 Chevrolet Corvette
This was the only year to feature the split rear window, making the 1963 Corvette extremely collectible.
1967 Chevrolet Corvette
During this year, the L88 engine was released into only twenty Corvettes. Although Chevrolet rated the engine at 430 base horsepower, the real world numbers were closer to 560 base horsepower.
1970 Chevrolet Corvette
During this year the high-revving lt1 engine was introduced. Even though it only had 350 cubic inches, it made only 20 horsepower less than the 454 cubic inch big block.
1990 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
A car built to compete against the likes of the BMW M1 and the Ferrari F40, the ZR-1 was a budget supercar with many innovative features. Handling was optimized with servo controlled shocks that changed dampening based on road conditions. Combined with the 32 valve eight cylinder LT5 engine, many owners found unparalleled performance from the factory.
1997 Chevrolet Corvette
The public received this new generation of Corvette with great pleasure and boasted about how performance improved at every level compared to the previous generation. Chevrolet moved the transmission to the rear with the differential, which greatly improved weight distribution. This was also the first year of the iconic LS1 small bock.
2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
Chevrolet reached new heights in 2009 by introducing a Corvette with a factory equipped supercharged V8. This force fed engine (the LS9) produces 638 horsepower and 604 pound feet of torque, making it the most powerful Corvette of its time. To stop the stampede of horsepower, carbon ceramic brake rotors are used that retail at $1,500 a piece.
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