On June 30th, 1953, the first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off of an assembly line in Flint, Michigan. Its powerplant was an underpowered inline six-cylinder “Blue Flame” engine, and as a result the Corvette got to a slow start, quite literally. In fact, GM executives considered killing the Corvette entirely, before the 283 cubic-inch V8 injected some much-needed performance into the American sports car.
Now here we sit, 60 years later, writing about how the Corvette is one of America’s most successful and famous cars, period. From those humble roots rose a car and a legacy that is known and envied on every continent. Sixty years is a long time, and the C7 Corvette has come along just in time to help celebrate this awesome anniversary.
GM claims that the Corvette is the world’s longest-running, continuously-produced car, and who are we to argue? For the first ten years the Corvette could only be had as a convertible, and all the original 1953 models were Polo White with a red interior. As we already noted in our Corvette prices through the years post, the original Corvette sold for $3,493.
60 years later, and the Corvette C7 will have a starting MSRP of $51,995, will sport 450 horsepower stock, and has a cutting-edge design and so many technological improvements that it is worlds away a superior car to the C6. And that’s the point, isn’t it? GM listened to criticisms of each new car, and have consistently improved it from one generation to the next.
So who else is ready to start speculating about the Corvette C8? Just another ten years or so to go!
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