100 Fun Facts About Corvette

The Corvette is named after what?

PR man Myron Scott suggested the name in 1953.

In what year did the first Corvette go into production?

It debuted as a show car at the GM Motorama at New York's Waldorf-Astoria that January.

What was unusual about the original Corvette's bodywork?

The reinforcement was placed by hand; later generations use composites.

How many Corvettes were built for the 1953 model year, and in what color?

Every one was a hand-built convertible; four colors became available in 1954.

What engine powered the 1953-55 Corvettes before a V8 arrived?

The 235 cu in six made 150 hp; a 265 V8 became optional in 1955.

Which competing two-seater debuted in 1955, the same year GM cut Corvette production to 700 cars?

A glut of unsold 1954 models forced the cutback; the Studebaker Speedster and Chrysler C-300 also arrived that year.

Who designed the original 1953 Corvette prototype and is credited as its inventor?

His EX-122 concept was first shown at the Motorama on January 17, 1953.

Which engineer, born in Brussels to a Russian family, is known as the "Father of the Corvette"?

He raced at Le Mans four times, with class wins in 1954 and 1955.

What new name did the second-generation Corvette introduce in 1963?

It was written as two words on the C2; from 1969 it became one word, Stingray.

Which one-year-only feature makes the 1963 Corvette coupe especially collectible?

The chief engineer hated it because it blocked rear vision, but designer Bill Mitchell insisted.

The Z06 designation first appeared as what on the 1963 Corvette?

It brought stiffer suspension and bigger finned-drum brakes; only a couple hundred cars got it.

The third-generation Corvette of 1968 was patterned after which concept car?

It stayed in production until 1982, the longest run of any generation.

The Corvette first served as the Indianapolis 500 pace car in which year?

It was the car's 25th anniversary, also marked with a two-tone Silver Anniversary Edition.

Corvette production moved in 1981 from St. Louis to which city?

The National Corvette Museum stands nearby.

Which model year was skipped entirely, with the C4 launched early as a 1984?

Only one 1983 prototype survives, now displayed at the National Corvette Museum.

The C4 ZR-1's LT5 engine was designed by which British sports-car maker?

It was built at a Mercury Marine plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from 1990 to 1995.

What was the "4+3" transmission offered on 1984-88 Corvettes?

Doug Nash designed it, bringing back a manual option after 1981.

What all-new engine family debuted in the 1997 C5 Corvette?

The all-aluminum small block had individual ignition coils for each cylinder.

The C6 Corvette shared some components with which Cadillac?

The XLR hard-top convertible had arrived two years earlier, in 2003.

Why was the C7 Corvette's debut pushed from 2011 to the 2014 model year?

Marketing chief Chris Perry admitted too many people saw it as the car of "the successful plumber".

How much horsepower does the C7's LT1 6.2-liter V8 produce?

The C7 debuted at the Detroit auto show in January 2013 and revived the Stingray name.

What fundamental change did the C8 Corvette make in 2020?

Every previous generation had put the engine in front.

Where was the C8 Corvette unveiled in July 2019?

The Tustin, California event honored the Corvette's NASA ties on the moon landing's 50th anniversary; production was delayed by a GM strike.

What is the E-Ray, introduced as a 2024 model?

Its 6.2-liter V8 and front electric motor combine for 655 hp.

The 2026 ZR1X set a lap record for an American production car at which track?

Its 6:49.275 beat the Ford Mustang GTD; Chevy claims 0-60 in under two seconds.

Which early-1960s TV show made the Corvette "synonymous with freedom and adventure"?

Two young men drove a Corvette across America each week.

Which Indy 500 winner and Florida Chevy dealer set up the program giving astronauts new Corvettes?

GM president Ed Cole approved it; Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom raced theirs on Florida beach roads.

What disaster struck the National Corvette Museum on February 12, 2014?

Dissolving limestone opened a hole under the Skydome; five of the eight cars were pulled out within weeks.

In what year did the National Corvette Museum open?

It stands beside the Bowling Green assembly plant.

Corvette Racing, founded in 1999 with Pratt Miller, is known for its cars' what color?

The team has nine class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

How many times had Corvette Racing won its class at Le Mans by the end of 2025?

It has also won Daytona four times and Sebring eleven times.

Motor Trend named the Corvette Car of the Year in 1984, 1998 and which other year?

Car and Driver has put it on its Ten Best list sixteen times.

Who succeeded the "Father of the Corvette" as chief engineer in 1975?

That same year the convertible was dropped, not to return for eleven years.

The first three Corvette generations used what kind of construction?

From the C4 onward the car has used GM's Y-body platform.

Who founded Ardun, whose overhead-valve heads transformed the Ford flathead V8, before joining GM?

The name combined Arkus and Duntov; the firm started out making ammunition dies in Manhattan in 1942.

What nickname has the Corvette earned?

Automotive News called it both the most successful concept car and the most popular sports car in history.

In which two cities was the Corvette built before Bowling Green?

Kentucky production began in 1981.

The C4 Corvette's ASR system, new for 1992, was an early form of what?

It used the brakes, spark retard and throttle to prevent rear-wheel spin.

The C4 Grand Sport of 1996 came only in which color scheme?

It also wore black wheels and two red hash marks over the front left wheel arch.

The C8's Z06 engine redlines at what rpm?

It uses the same dual-clutch transmission as the Stingray with model-specific gearing.

Fuel injection became a Corvette option in which year, alongside a new 283 cu in V8?

GM's Rochester system produced a listed 290 hp; a four-speed manual arrived that April.

Which astronaut once owned the 1967 Corvette donated to the National Corvette Museum?

The astronaut Corvette program let them buy each year's car at a used price after 3,000 miles.

The Corvette debuted as a show car at the 1953 GM Motorama held in which New York hotel?

Chevrolet's general manager said it was six months to a year from production; public interest pushed it into showrooms that same year.

Which GM public-relations man suggested naming the new sports car after a warship?

He was assistant director of the PR department when executives accepted the idea in 1953.

Who designed the second-generation Sting Ray, drawing on the earlier 'Q Corvette' concept?

The Q Corvette itself was created by Peter Brock and Chuck Pohlmann under styling chief Bill Mitchell.

How many 1967 Corvettes left the factory with the fearsome L88 engine option?

Officially rated at 430 hp, unofficial estimates put the L88's real output at 560 hp or more.

From 1969 to 1976 the model's name was written how?

The 1968 car carried no nameplate at all, though Chevrolet still called it a Sting Ray.

About how many 1955 Corvettes are thought to have been built with the inline-six rather than the V8?

The 265 cubic-inch V8 cut about three seconds off the 0-60 time and was chosen by nearly every buyer.

How much horsepower does the C8 ZR1, unveiled in June 2024, produce from its twin-turbo V8?

Chevrolet called it the 'King of the Hill'; it hits 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and runs the quarter mile in 9.6.

Which of the five 1963 Grand Sport racers is on show at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum?

All five cars are privately owned and rank among the most valuable Corvettes ever built.

Under what secret code name was the original Corvette developed in 1951-53?

The name nodded to GM's German division; the hand-built EX-122 prototype that resulted is believed to be the oldest Corvette in existence.

Why did the Corvette's crossed-flags emblem drop the American flag before production?

The crossed-flags badge has been redrawn for nearly every generation since; a new version debuted alongside the C7 in 2013.

What was the only transmission offered in the 1953 Corvette?

Chevrolet had no manual gearbox that could take the triple-carb six's 150 hp, which did little for the car's sports-car credibility.

Which dealer-installed option gave the sluggish 1954 Corvette a straight-line boost?

It did not save sales; 3,640 cars were built for 1954 and nearly a third were still unsold at year's end.

What advertising boast did Chevrolet make for the 1957 fuel-injected Corvette engine?

The 283 cu in V8 was rated at 290 hp; fuel-injected cars were scarce, with only 1,040 sold that year.

Which rear styling cue, introduced in 1961, has continued on every Corvette since?

The 1961 car also debuted a new boat-tail rear that carried over to the Sting Ray, and was the last two-tone Corvette until 1978.

Which Italian coachbuilder secretly gave three 1959 Corvettes aluminum bodies?

Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall were partners in the scheme; Enzo Ferrari reportedly threatened to end his partnership with the coachbuilder over it.

The 1963 Sting Ray was the first US car with hidden headlamps since which 1942 model?

The lamps sat in rotating housings, and hidden headlights stayed a Corvette signature until the C6 arrived in 2005.

Why were the 1963 Z06 Corvettes nicknamed 'Big Tanks'?

The tank would not fit in the convertible, so the package was at first coupe-only; just 199 were built.

What nickname did SCCA champion Dick Thompson earn from his day job?

The Washington, D.C. practitioner won SCCA titles in Corvettes in 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961 and 1962 and scored the Grand Sport's first race win.

Which big-block engine arrived mid-1965 and killed Corvette fuel injection for 18 years?

At $292.70 the carbureted 425 hp big block undercut the 375 hp injected small block by $245, so only 771 fuelies were sold before the option was dropped.

What braking upgrade became standard on the 1965 Corvette?

Drums remained as a $64.50 credit option, but only 316 of the 23,562 cars built that year took it.

What did Chevrolet delete from 1967 L88 Corvettes to discourage street driving?

The 12.5:1 engine also needed 103-octane racing fuel, sold only at select stations, and added about $1,500 to a $4,240.75 car.

How did the public get an unintended early look at the 1968 Corvette's new shape?

Mattel's GM-authorized 'Custom Corvette' was one of the original 1968 Hot Wheels and reached toy shelves weeks before the real car was unveiled.

What roof design did the 1968 Corvette coupe introduce?

Coupes came with vinyl bags and hold-down straps to stow the panels, and by 1969 coupes outsold convertibles for the first time.

How many 1969 Corvettes were factory-built with the all-aluminum ZL1 427 option?

The option alone cost about $4,700, roughly the price of a whole 1968 Corvette; a third, red ZL1 later surfaced, and one sold for $3.14 million in 2023.

According to a Corvette production manager, what does the 'ZR' in ZR1 stand for?

The original 1970-72 ZR1 was a $1,221 racing package on LT1 cars that banned power windows, air conditioning and even a radio; just 53 were built.

GM leased gold-and-black Corvettes to the Apollo 12 crew in 1969 for how much a year?

Alan Bean chose the paint scheme for the three cars shared with Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon.

What forced the 1973 Corvette to swap its chrome front bumper for a urethane nose?

The new assembly added 35 lb to the front end; the rear chrome blades lasted one more year before a matching urethane tail arrived.

1974 was the last year for the 454 big block and the last Corvette without which device?

It was also the last true dual exhaust; from 1975 both pipes fed a single converter and the fuel gauge warned 'unleaded fuel only'.

How did GM settle on building exactly 6,502 Indy Pace Car replicas for 1978?

The original plan was 2,500 cars, 100 for each year of production; the final run made up about 15 percent of 1978 output.

What engine were 1980 Corvettes delivered to California forced to use?

Californians got a $50 credit for the smaller engine but paid $250 for state emissions certification; every other state kept the 350.

Who drove the Corvette pace car at the 1986 Indianapolis 500?

The yellow convertible marked the body style's return after a decade, and all 7,315 1986 convertibles were designated pace car replicas.

What does the Corvette's 'Computer Aided Gear Selection' force manual drivers to do?

The skip-shift kicks in under light throttle to lift EPA fuel-economy numbers and dodge the gas-guzzler tax.

What average speed did a stock ZR-1 sustain for 24 hours at Fort Stockton, Texas, in 1990?

The FIA-verified run covered 4,221 miles and set seven records; a Volkswagen W12 concept later broke them.

What speed did the 880 hp Callaway SledgeHammer Corvette hit in Ohio in 1988?

Callaway's tamer B2K twin-turbo conversion could be ticked on Chevrolet order sheets from 1987 to 1991 for an extra $26,995.

The 1998 C5 convertible was the first open Corvette since 1962 to offer what?

The C5's hydroformed box frame made a convertible far stiffer, and the car's 50-50 balance came from a rear-mounted transaxle.

What unexpected material is sandwiched inside the C5 Corvette's floor panels?

It was picked for stiffness, light weight and sound absorption; the C5 also dropped the spare tire entirely in favor of run-flats.

What did the Corvette C5-R achieve at the 2001 24 Hours of Daytona?

That season the C5-R won eight of ten races and finished one-two in the GTS class at Le Mans.

The C6 ZR1's 'Blue Devil' code name honored the alma mater of which GM figure?

The Duke reference stuck: the production car's brake calipers, intercooler trim and logo were all painted blue.

The C6 Z06's LS7, the biggest small block GM ever built, displaced how much?

The 505 hp engine used titanium connecting rods and a dry sump, and was the most powerful naturally aspirated GM engine until the LT6 of 2021.

Which rental company commissioned 850 yellow-and-black 'ZHZ' Corvettes for 2008-09?

Built for the company's Fun Collection, each wore a broad black stripe over the hood and roof and ran the 430 hp LS3 with an automatic.

Which NASA-developed material shields the C7's cabin from transmission-tunnel heat?

The C7 also got a carbon-fiber hood and roof panel, yet weighed about the same as the C6.

What could 2015 Z06 buyers do for a $5,000 fee at the Bowling Green plant?

The supercharged 650 hp LT4 they helped build gave the Z06 a 185 mph top speed.

Besides the C8, which other Corvettes were never offered with a manual gearbox?

The C8 Stingray comes only with an eight-speed Tremec dual-clutch and paddle shifters.

What did the C8 offer for the first time since 1953, for markets such as Japan and the UK?

Japan sold 300 of them within 60 hours of the announcement, three times the annual total of the left-hand-drive C7.

How much horsepower does the C8 Z06's naturally aspirated flat-plane LT6 produce?

That made it the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8, beating the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series.

What top speed did the C8 ZR1 reach with GM president Mark Reuss at the wheel?

It is the first Corvette to reach full production with a twin-turbocharged engine, starting at $173,300.

Who entered three modified Corvettes at Le Mans in 1960, taking the big-bore GT class?

Car #3, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman, finished eighth overall, the marque's first Le Mans class win.

What was the body of the 1957 Corvette SS racer made from?

The metal shell let engine heat pour into the cockpit; the fiberglass test mule had insulated its drivers far better.

The Corvette SS's tubular space frame was inspired by which rival car's chassis?

Duntov's team bought one, stripped its body and cut the frame to take a small-block V8; the SS raced only once before the 1957 AMA racing ban.

Which two stars signed to drive the Corvette SS at Sebring 1957, then asked out?

John Fitch and Piero Taruffi stepped in; the car retired after 23 laps with split suspension bushings.

Which record-setting aviator raced a Corvette at Daytona in 1956 and edited Corvette News?

Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell designed her a translucent gold Corvette, which paced the 1957 NASCAR race at Daytona; she owned ten Corvettes in all.

What powered the 1973 Four-Rotor Corvette show car that was later renamed Aerovette?

A 400 cu in V8 replaced the rotaries in 1977, and GM's chairman approved the mid-engine car for 1980 production before it was shelved.

Prince's 'Little Red Corvette' was his first US top-10 hit, peaking at which spot?

He got the idea while dozing in bandmate Lisa Coleman's pink 1964 Mercury after an all-night session.

Which Star Wars actor chased a stolen 1973 Corvette in the 1978 film Corvette Summer?

It was his first role after Star Wars; co-star Annie Potts earned a Golden Globe nomination in her film debut.

Which Transformers character uses the 2009 Corvette Stingray concept as its vehicle mode?

The concept blended the 1963 Sting Ray and 1968 Stingray; a speedster version returned for the same character in Dark of the Moon.

What did the Bowling Green factory make before GM converted it to build Corvettes?

GM spent about $130 million refitting the abandoned Airtemp plant, and most of the 900 St. Louis Corvette workers moved with the line.

What briefly halted Corvette production at Bowling Green on December 11, 2021?

The storm damaged the roof and an entrance but injured no employees; the plant had turned out about 1.1 million Corvettes by 2023.

Which golfer was due to drive the 1998 Indy 500 Corvette pace car before being injured?

1963 race winner Parnelli Jones took over the Radar Blue convertible, and 1,158 replicas were sold with yellow wheels and a black-and-yellow interior.