How the 57 Chevrolet Corvette Made Automotive History!

The 1957 Chevrolet ‘Vette almost didn’t make it to 1957 and almost died a death a few years prior. Why did this automobile, which has won the hearts of many, come close to being canceled?

Chevy initially presented the two-seat Corvette (or ‘Vette’ as it’s affectionately known) in 1953. It was the obsession and brainchild of the prominent designer Harley Earl. Earl had been designing for Chevrolet since the late 1920’s and at long last managed to persuade Chevrolet to build a two seater sports car, rather like the MGs, Alfas and other European autos that were being introduced to the US market by GIs returning from the war.

While the 1953 Chevy ‘Vette was hailed for its killer good looks and terrific body, its engine performance was unquestionably unexciting, unadventurous and just plain bad. The Ford Thunderbird further threatened the future life of the automobile that would ultimately go down in the records of American auto history as ‘the only true American sports car’, by outselling the Corvette by 24 to 1. Ouch!

While the T-bird was looking great on the highways and byways of America, the Chevy Corvette (not yet the 57 model) was still looking hopefully at potential buyers in the automotive showrooms. It was during this time that GM considered killing it off, or in the words of an devotee ‘murdering it’. Things were not looking good.

Enter the V8 engine and Zora Arkus-Duntov. Zora, who rather wrongly became known forever after as the father of the Corvette, inspired the V8 design and spec for the 1957 Corvette. The V8 engine is recognized with being the single most important modification made to the Corvette up to that point.

Enough of the auto history. Given a new engine the 57 Corvette zoomed from so-so to muscle in performance and was reborn as a true sports car.

While the 1957 Chevrolet is as synonymous with the American dream as Mom’s home-made apple pie, the Americans do not have the monopoly on vehicles in thoughts. The ‘Vette started appearing in the dreams of car-lovers the world over and began attracting fans all over the globe. They were introduced to the car through the medium of its frequent guest TV appearances, where it often got its own listing in the show credits! How’s that for a comeback?

The 57 Chevy Corvette is coveted and collected by classic auto enthusiasts from Asia to Antarctica. They are being bought at car auctions for anywhere from $70,000 upwards, with apparently no shortage of adoring collectors. The automobile world is now anxiously waiting for the unveiling of the C7 Chevrolet Corvette anticipated to arrive sometime in 2010.

Find Out More About the 57 Chevys! Here’s FREE Information!

Now that you know something about this great auto, want to know more? Want to see photos? What about actual 57 Corvettes for sale? Click on over to 1957 Chevys for Sale and see all the great cars available!

Big, Bold Beauty And Performance From The 2009 Chevy Corvette

The awesome, blazing fast 2009 Chevy Corvette, also known as the C6 Corvette, still stands alone atop the American sports car performance scene. With a body composed of fiberglass and not metal of some sort, this two-seat high performance machine pays homage to a time in the nation’s history when open roads, smooth highways and high speeds were the norm.

This newest of Corvettes — the body style made its debut for the 2005 model year — continues apace and true to its lineage. Chevy has made sure that the fanatic owners of Corvettes everywhere get what they want and in the quantities they want it, as often as possible. Different V8 engines and suspension/transmission systems make sure the car can go very, very fast, hold the road very, very well and even deliver surprisingly good gas mileage, which is quite a feat.

From 2005 and onward — when the current Chevy Corvette made its debut — the ‘Vette has benefited from continuous tuning and tweaking by the car’s engineers, who every year turn out a model worthy of roll out from its Bowling Green, Kentucky plant. It’s truly innovative and a real gas, so to speak, to drive.

Chevy’s always tended to use what it learns from the development and ongoing maturation of the 2009 Chevy Corvette to develop other engines, sound-proofing characteristics and body changes to send them down the company lineup of cars, even down to its most pedestrian subcompact offerings.

One thing’s for sure, and that’s that Corvette is never hesitant to put all it robust horsepower on display whenever possible. The vehicle offers a number of different V8 engines, including a 7 liter beast that delivers 435 screaming horses at the pavement level in normally-aspirated form. All that power gives many a 2009 Chevy Corvette the ability to go head-to-head with some truly fine exotic sports cars these days.

As an example, the newest beast in the stable is the ZR1, which uses supercharging to pull the 6. 2 liter V8 engine to over 635 horsepower and 205 miles per hour through a high-tech 6-speed transmission. Even with all that, it’s 105, 000 dollar pricetag comes in far below what other cars offering such performance would cost.

The 2009 Chevy Corvette is nothing short of stupendous, no matter the version offered for consideration. Even base models - if one can call anything sporting the Corvette nameplate “base” - deliver a level of performance at a price that’s just as attractive as the fiberglass-bodied dream machine looks to the human eye. At the top, the ZR1 (at just over 105 thousand dollars) seems sure to inspire lust in the hearts of many a Corvette enthusiast.

Andy Zain is the admin of Corvette Forum , a place where fans and owners can get the right information for tuning, customization and general discussions on anything about Chevy Corvette. Get the information you need when you visit Chevy Truck Forums