Corvette: An American Icon
As today is the Fourth of July, as one of the icons of America is the Chevrolet Corvette, and as this past Sunday, June 30, Corvette marked its 60th year of production, we figured it would be a good time to give the car—of which more than 1.5-million have been manufactured—a nod.
As today is the Fourth of July, as one of the icons of America is the Chevrolet Corvette, and as this past Sunday, June 30, Corvette marked its 60th year of production, we figured it would be a good time to give the car—of which more than 1.5-million have been manufactured—a nod.
While people are anxiously awaiting the appearance of this, the 2014 Corvette Sting Ray
what follows are photos of production in Flint, Michigan, in 1953. The Corvette was built there for one year. It was then manufactured in St. Louis, MO, from 1954 to 1981. The car was then moved to Bowling Green, KY in ’81.
Speaking of the transfer from St. Louis to Bowling Green: it occurred during the production run of model year 1981. This meant that the first ’81 was built in Missouri and the last in Kentucky. Doesn’t seem particularly clever, does it?
While the car is said to be the “world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car,” there were no 1983 Corvettes sold to the public. There were 44 Corvette prototypes built in ’83, somehow constituting “production” for that year, apparently.
As for the original Corvettes, all were Polo White convertibles with a red interior. All Corvettes were convertibles until 1963, the year of the second-generation, fixed-roof, split-window ‘Vette—which is where the “Sting Ray” moniker for the 2014 comes from.
Happy Independence Day!