| The Chevrolet Corvette, a Sportscar legend and a | | | | car of a good day to day commuter by just selecting |
| Auto Classic for ever, has somehow survived inflated | | | | the right options. The Corvette could play either role |
| insurance rates; all types of inane and meaningless | | | | very well. |
| safety legislation and engine pollution add ons. The | | | | Performance was the trend in the late 1950's and early |
| Chevrolet Corvette has been universally accepted as | | | | 1960's. One of the biggest controversies of the day |
| the measure of a high performance sports car. Cars | | | | was which was faster - a Corvette with dual four |
| come and go, new model of cars emerge and | | | | barrel carbs or one with fuel injection. |
| disappear and yet the Corvette lives on. No car has | | | | Corvette owners were buying the high performance |
| been able to cover as many aspects of the high | | | | versions and putting them to good use at weekend |
| performance sport as the Corvette. The versatility of | | | | drags and the novice road events. There were metallic |
| this fantastic automobile has appealed to all age | | | | brake and sway bar options for the sporty set. And |
| groups and has kept the ownership of a Corvette, a | | | | although the suspensions system was a |
| most prestigious thing. | | | | conglomeration of early passenger car parts, the low |
| The Corvette has gone through many changes in its | | | | center of gravity and near equal weight distribution |
| lifetime, including every custom and hot rod trend going. | | | | made these cars handle well. The 50/50 weight |
| It has a miracle that the Corvette has remained a true | | | | distribution did not hurt the drag racers one bit either, |
| high performance sports car and did not mature into a | | | | and they won more than their share. |
| two plus two sedan as did Ford's Thunderbird. The | | | | When 1963 happened, it brought with it a real change |
| Corvette was in the on the beginnings of the fast car | | | | in the Corvette. The new body style called the "Sting |
| era. In the mid 50's people wanted fast cars, and by | | | | Ray" was unavailable in a fastback version commonly |
| 1957 the Corvette was leading the pack. Hot rodding | | | | referred to as a "coupe" and in the traditional roadster |
| owes a big debt to the Corvette; it was responsible | | | | version with a removable hardtop. The Sting Ray had |
| for almost all of the higher performance parts ever to | | | | much cleaner lines than its predecessors and even |
| come from Chevrolet. Four speed transmissions, dual | | | | featured retractable headlights. With the change in |
| quad intake manifolds and hot solid lifter camshafts. | | | | body style, the suspension was vastly improved with a |
| One of the big contributions to the Corvette's success | | | | new independent rear suspension assembly and |
| story was the variety of options that were offered. | | | | updated steering gear. It still had the performance of |
| Ever since 1956, there had been the choice of a | | | | the older cars, including the Rochester fuel injected 327 |
| standard of high performance automatic transmission. | | | | cubic inch engine, rated at 360 horsepower. |
| Each car could be tailored into a semi competitive race | | | | |