A Short History of the Beginnings of the Corvette By Bob Harder

What is it about a car, a brand, a name, that brings forth such enthusiasm, and has since its introduction? Indeed, some styling cues from cars in GM’s Motoramas eventually showed up in production vehicles, but the enthusiasm for the Corvette, shown in January, 1953, was so strong that GM produced and offered to the public the Corvette within 6 months! I can’t answer the mystique question about the Corvette, but I can review some of the facts about its creation and production ever since.

Several manufacturers offered Sports Cars after World War II. Most auto plants were producing as many standard vehicles as possible to meet the pent-up demand for cars since none were produced from 1943 to 1945. Auto plants were putting out airplanes, tanks and for the War Effort. Some of the independent makes were Kaiser-Darrin, Nash-Healy, and Cunningham costing at least two times as much as a standard sedan.

Also after the war, many returning soldiers brought English MGs and Jaguars with them. The MG was a small open 2 seater car with a small but (compared to US cars) peppy . Jaguar was a larger 2 seater with a 6 cylinder engine capable of over 100 mph. Emphasis in the US seemed to be on the big powerful new V8s produced by and Cadillac. But there was growing interest in the Sports Cars.

The birth of the Corvette happened quickly. During 1952 a design was developed for a GM , directed by , Head of GM Styling Studios. Chevrolet management approved the concept and readied 3 versions (4 if you count the removable ) code named . The Three Corvette designs (named after a fast moving warship), the 2 seater, a (Corvair) and a (Nomad) were shown at the 1953 GM Autorama. The public response was overwhelming, and Chevrolet decided to go into production with the two seater sports car. Pushing it a little, GM's President announced the car would be available in June (only 5 months later).

The above information is taken from the notes to the Society for Lifelong Learning class I will be “teaching” this spring, The History of the Corvette. The class begins March 16 th and runs for 5 weeks; you can get more information at: https://www.wku.edu/sll/

From here we delve into questions such as: Where was the original Corvette "factory"? Who was the Engineering "Godfather" of the Corvette? What are the Corvette Generations? . . . So much more; I hope you'll join me!