100 free Corvette trivia questions with answers — technology quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Chevrolet Corvette has been America's Sports Car since 300 hand-built white roadsters left Flint in 1953. This quiz runs through all eight generations: the Blue Flame six and the first V8, Harley Earl and Zora Arkus-Duntov, the split-window Sting Ray, the Mako Shark-inspired C3, the skipped 1983, the Lotus-designed ZR-1, the LS1 C5, the C7 Stingray revival and the mid-engine C8, E-Ray and ZR1X. It also covers Bowling Green and the National Corvette Museum sinkhole, Corvette Racing at Le Mans, the astronauts' Corvettes and Route 66. About a third of the questions are easy for any car fan, a third are medium and the rest are for people who know what a 4+3 is. Every answer is checked against the Corvette's reference pages.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Corvette is named after what?
A small, maneuverable warship
PR man Myron Scott suggested the name in 1953.
Q 02In what year did the first Corvette go into production?
1953
It debuted as a show car at the GM Motorama at New York's Waldorf-Astoria that January.
Q 03What was unusual about the original Corvette's bodywork?
It was made of fiberglass
The reinforcement was placed by hand; later generations use composites.
Q 04How many Corvettes were built for the 1953 model year, and in what color?
300, all Polo White
Every one was a hand-built convertible; four colors became available in 1954.
Q 05What engine powered the 1953-55 Corvettes before a V8 arrived?
The Blue Flame inline-six
The 235 cu in six made 150 hp; a 265 V8 became optional in 1955.
Q 06Which competing two-seater debuted in 1955, the same year GM cut Corvette production to 700 cars?
Ford Thunderbird
A glut of unsold 1954 models forced the cutback; the Studebaker Speedster and Chrysler C-300 also arrived that year.
Q 07Who designed the original 1953 Corvette prototype and is credited as its inventor?
Harley Earl
His EX-122 concept was first shown at the Motorama on January 17, 1953.
Q 08Which engineer, born in Brussels to a Russian family, is known as the "Father of the Corvette"?
Zora Arkus-Duntov
He raced at Le Mans four times, with class wins in 1954 and 1955.
Q 09What new name did the second-generation Corvette introduce in 1963?
Sting Ray
It was written as two words on the C2; from 1969 it became one word, Stingray.
Q 10Which one-year-only feature makes the 1963 Corvette coupe especially collectible?
A split rear window
The chief engineer hated it because it blocked rear vision, but designer Bill Mitchell insisted.
Q 11The Z06 designation first appeared as what on the 1963 Corvette?
A competition package option
It brought stiffer suspension and bigger finned-drum brakes; only a couple hundred cars got it.
Q 12The third-generation Corvette of 1968 was patterned after which concept car?
Mako Shark II
It stayed in production until 1982, the longest run of any generation.
Q 13The Corvette first served as the Indianapolis 500 pace car in which year?
1978
It was the car's 25th anniversary, also marked with a two-tone Silver Anniversary Edition.
Q 21How much horsepower does the C7's LT1 6.2-liter V8 produce?
460
The C7 debuted at the Detroit auto show in January 2013 and revived the Stingray name.
Q 22What fundamental change did the C8 Corvette make in 2020?
A rear mid-engine layout
Every previous generation had put the engine in front.
Q 23Where was the C8 Corvette unveiled in July 2019?
At an event tied to the Apollo 11 anniversary
The Tustin, California event honored the Corvette's NASA ties on the moon landing's 50th anniversary; production was delayed by a GM strike.
Q 14Corvette production moved in 1981 from St. Louis to which city?
Bowling Green, Kentucky
The National Corvette Museum stands nearby.
Q 15Which model year was skipped entirely, with the C4 launched early as a 1984?
1983
Only one 1983 prototype survives, now displayed at the National Corvette Museum.
Q 16The C4 ZR-1's LT5 engine was designed by which British sports-car maker?
Lotus
It was built at a Mercury Marine plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from 1990 to 1995.
Q 17What was the "4+3" transmission offered on 1984-88 Corvettes?
A four-speed manual with automatic overdrive on the top three gears
Doug Nash designed it, bringing back a manual option after 1981.
Q 18What all-new engine family debuted in the 1997 C5 Corvette?
LS1
The all-aluminum small block had individual ignition coils for each cylinder.
Q 19The C6 Corvette shared some components with which Cadillac?
XLR
The XLR hard-top convertible had arrived two years earlier, in 2003.
Q 20Why was the C7 Corvette's debut pushed from 2011 to the 2014 model year?
To make it appeal to younger buyers
Marketing chief Chris Perry admitted too many people saw it as the car of "the successful plumber".
Q 24What is the E-Ray, introduced as a 2024 model?
A hybrid all-wheel-drive Corvette
Its 6.2-liter V8 and front electric motor combine for 655 hp.
Q 25The 2026 ZR1X set a lap record for an American production car at which track?
The Nürburgring
Its 6:49.275 beat the Ford Mustang GTD; Chevy claims 0-60 in under two seconds.
Q 26Which early-1960s TV show made the Corvette "synonymous with freedom and adventure"?
Route 66
Two young men drove a Corvette across America each week.
Q 27Which Indy 500 winner and Florida Chevy dealer set up the program giving astronauts new Corvettes?
Jim Rathmann
GM president Ed Cole approved it; Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom raced theirs on Florida beach roads.
Q 28What disaster struck the National Corvette Museum on February 12, 2014?
A sinkhole swallowed eight cars
Dissolving limestone opened a hole under the Skydome; five of the eight cars were pulled out within weeks.
Q 29In what year did the National Corvette Museum open?
1994
It stands beside the Bowling Green assembly plant.
Q 30Corvette Racing, founded in 1999 with Pratt Miller, is known for its cars' what color?
Yellow
The team has nine class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.