Power and blinding acceleration were the driving forces behind the development of the 1968-1969 Chevrolet Corvette 427. Only 390 1969 Corvettes were built with the famous L89 427 and while the L89 option was chosen 624 times in 1968, it is still a rare beast relative to total production. The 427 CI engine was good for 435 HP and a strong 460 lb-ft of torque making it one of the best-accelerating cars of its time.
Only Bill Mitchell could get away with this. Bill always managed to have a hot daily ride. Engineering prototypes that weren't street-legal stayed behind the fence, but many of the show car Corvettes managed to go home with Bill. His usual statement on his "design study" cars was, "This thing runs like a bear!" For the Mulsanne Bill added, "This is the best Stingray ever."
The 25th Anniversary Edition is a hardened up version of Callaway's Corvette SC757, which in turn is based on a C7-generation Corvette Z06. It features a supercharged V8 that pumps out 757-horsepower and 777 pound-feet of torque. The supercharger is a GenThree Callaway unit with the company's TripleCooled intercooler system. A high-flow intake system feeds that beast. Callaway's Level Two HD Cooling System also helps it avoid the overheating issues that plagued C7 Z06s.
Corvette performed Indianapolis 500 Pace Car duties for a record sixth time. It marks the third consecutive year and 15th time overall that a Chevrolet product has served as the Official Pace Car – the most appearances by any brand. The 2004 Corvette that will serve as the Indy 500 Pace Car is virtually identical to the Convertibles available today through local Chevrolet dealerships.
1978 was significant because it marked the cars 25th anniversary of production. Recognizing the achievement of manufacturing a car for a quarter-century, Chevrolet commemorated this accomplishment by introducing two special-edition Corvette that year. The first of these was known as the "Silver Anniversary" edition Corvette. It featured a two-tone silver over gray exterior with special pin-striping and special "25th Anniversary" badging.
Food for Thought: Why not Build a Corvette-Powered DeLorean DMC-12 There have been few cars in automotive history more iconic...
The Future of Corvette – A Look Ahead at What’s Next The second decade of the twenty-first century has been...
Based on Harley Earl’s Project Opel plaster model, the EX52 / 122 was the original concept car that inspired the nation and left countless consumers wanting a Corvette to call their own. This Corvette concept was introduced at GM’s Motorama in January 1953.
The launch of any new Corvette is significant, and the new-for-2014 C7 model launching this year brings sweeping changes, including upgraded performance and a more contemporary, international styling language. To mark the car’s debut, Chevrolet is prepping the Corvette Stingray Coupe Premiere Edition—and just 500 will be built. While the engine and the transmission options remain unchanged, the Premiere Edition isn’t going to be hard to pick out of a lineup.
Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Spyder prototype, 1991, by ASC. An experimental styling prototype ordered by Don Runkle, Chevrolet’s chief engineer, to see how far the ZR-1 might be pushed in convertible form. The windshield was chopped in half and the seats were mounted directly to the floorpan. The black example in the National Corvette Museum was originally painted Sebring Silver with a Neutrino Yellow interior.
There’s a long, rich history between the Chevrolet Corvette and the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), or at least between GM...
This Dallara-Corvette Daytona prototype (Chassis 004), now up for auction on Bring a Trailer, is a proven championship-winning race car....
The 2019 Corvette ZR1 was the official Pace Car for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil and led drivers to the green flag on Sunday, May 27, for the 102nd running of the legendary race. It marks the 15th time a Corvette has served as the official Pace Car since 1978, and the 29th time a Chevrolet has led the field dating back to 1948, when a 1948 Fleetmaster Six convertible paced the race.
Since the arrival of the eighth-generation Stingray Corvette in 2020, and with it, the arrival of Corvette’s first hard-top convertible,...
The “CERV-1” (Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle) was developed as a research tool for that company’s continuous investigations into automotive ride and handling phenomena under the most realistic conditions. The car was built at the Chevrolet Engineering Center at Warren, Michigan in a special project headed by Mr. Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chevrolet Staff Engineer.
If you were a senior GM employee, one of the perks was being able to have your own custom built for you. Bill Mitchell was known for it, but this SR-2 Lookalike was built for GM president Harlow Curtis, who was president of GM during the period that the SR-2 were developed. The lookalike was built by GM’s styling staff and presented to him.
"Bunkie" Knudsen ordered it up in the spring of 1964 for his wife, Florence. This car is as much of a gem today as it was when Florence Knudsen first saw it, so says its current owner, Chevy dealer and noted Corvette collector Bob McDorman. It had custom Pink Pearl paint and custom pink leather interior.
The Z06 arrived for the 2006 model year as a homologation vehicle in the third quarter of 2005 and is the lightest of all Corvette models. The Z06 was equipped with the largest-displacement small-block engine ever produced, a new 7,011 cc (7.0 L; 427.8 cu in) V8 engine codenamed the LS7. The engine has a power output of 505 hp and 470 lb⋅ft.
Priced at an additional $3250 for the coupe or an additional $2880 for the convertible, the Grand Sport package included exclusive Admiral Blue paint and featured a single white stripe that ran the length of the body as well as two red accent stripes (also known as “Sebring Stripes”) on the driver side front fender. This unique paint scheme was deliberately developed by GM to pay homage to the classic Corvette Grand Sport Racer of the 1960’s.
Always on the hunt for greater speed and greater thrills, Delmo decided to replace the '61 he had been racing with a brand-new 1962 Chevy Corvette. Owing to his demonstrated skill behind the wheel and prior successes with Corvettes, Delmo had a close relationship with legendary chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov and enlisted his assistance with the new car. "It was easy," Delmo recalls. "I called Zora and said, 'Build me a race car.' The only other thing I said was to make it white."
The CERV II was entirely Zora’s car. The CERV II was conceived early in 1962 and developed over the next year, after the GS program was squashed. The car was built under Zora's direction between 1963-'64. Zora had it in mind to develop a separate line of racing Corvettes but the idea got terminated by management.
As early as the late 1990's, San Francisco based coach-builder SV Motor Company envisioned a car that took the raw performance of a Corvette and refined it with a touch of Italian flair. Their vision was to infuse many of the design elements found in the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione (from which the SV 9 clearly drew its inspiration, as well as its name) with a 2009 Chevy Corvette.
The Corvette SS began life as an experimental race car, and was unveiled to the public at the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race on March 23, 1957. The SS was in training for Chevrolet's debut at LeMans that year. The Sebring race was, in many ways, Chevrolet's inauguration into modern racing. But the SS never finished the race, much to the dismay of the racing community.
The GS II (Grand Sport II) was a test vehicle completed in late 1963 by Chevrolet Engineering Center (C.E.C.). The chassis was constructed of spot-welded sheet steel and was fitted with narrow tires. With only minor testing done at GM’s test facility in Michigan, the vehicle was shipped to Texas to the Chaparral Cars test facility.
A Torch Red 2020 Corvette Stingray coupe will serve as the Official Pace Car for the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, continuing Chevrolet’s tradition of leading the field to the green flag. The Pace Car will be driven by GM President Mark Reuss. This marks the 17th time a Corvette has served as the Pace Car, starting in 1978, and the 31st time a Chevrolet has led the field dating to 1948 when a Fleetmaster Six convertible held the honor.
The Corvette SS racing car and its mule test car were planned as far back as August of 1956, well before the Super Sport show car. However, that one was referred to within GM as the XP-64, and it was finished in march, well after the show car had been on the show circuit for a couple of months.
Duntov laid out three design concepts that took decades to implement. The first was his proposal for the 1957 Q-Corvette. This design called for the following: an all-aluminum, fuel-injected small-block engine, four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, and a transaxle. This design concept arrived in 1997 as the C5.
Chevrolet begins a new chapter in its storied racing legacy with the introduction of the new mid-engine Corvette race car, known as the C8.R. The C8.R will be Chevrolet’s first mid-engine race car to compete in IMSA’s GTLM class and the first clean sheet race car design since the C5.R debuted in 1999. It will make its racing debut at Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 25, 2020. The C8.R is based on the strong foundation of the 2020 Corvette Stingray.
Various upgrade packages were offered by Motion Industries, for the Chevrolet models included within the Baldwin Corvette partnership. The most prominent of these packages included the SS (425 HP) and Phase III (500+ HP) offerings. These cars not only came with a performance promise, but a guarantee to back it up. All Phase III cars came with a personal guarantee.
The Purple People Eater MKIII is a 1959 Corvette that was literally unbeatable in SCCA B-Production racing in the late 1950s. There were three Purple People Eaters built in 1958 and 1959. The 1959 model, won every race it entered, except the last one, with Jim Jeffords behind the wheel and mechanic Ronnie Kaplan turning wrenches. The car was built by a team at Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago.
































