The Corvette skipped a year and returned to the Indy 500 in 2015. NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon drove the 'Vette for the first lap, and the car had a fairly simple body with the race decals on the doors and sponsor stickers at the front end. Gordon, who grew up in nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, is no stranger to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the first NASCAR race in the history of the famed 2.5-mile oval and has won four more times.
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.
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.
Designed mid-1956 for Harlet Earl’s son Jerry, the SR-2 was put into racing duty in 1957. The car debuted at Daytona Beach in 1957 with a high-speed canopy, fender skirts and bullet-shaped frond headlights. Driven by Betty Skelton and Buck Baker, the car won the modified class with an average speed of 93.074 mph. The SR-2 also finished second in class for the flying mile with a top speed of 152.886 mph.
For only the second time in Chevrolet history, a Corvette is now available in a Drivers Series special edition. Actually, there’s four, all Grand Sports designed in collaboration with Corvette Racing team drivers Milner, Gavin, Magnussen and Garcia. The idea came from Chevrolet exterior design manager Kirk Bennion, a racing fan who was also at the Rolex 24, according to Corvette Marketing Manager Todd Christensen. Four Drivers Series special editions is definitely more fun than one.
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.
Built exclusively for Hertz Rental Car, the Corvette ZHZ coupe was first introduced in 2008 as part of Hertz’s “Fun Collection.” These Corvettes were part of a larger group of rental vehicles made up of cars like the Ford Mustang, the Nissan 350Z and the Shelby GT-H. The intent behind these rental cars was simple - provide consumers with an opportunity to rent (at a rate commensurate with the car's performance) a well-equipped sports car for a day, a weekend or even longer.
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.
Those who are familiar with the history of the Corvette, and Chevrolet in general, know that it is filled with...
Reeves Callaway has always had a dream of competing a Corvette of his own at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, France. The idea begin with the body work for a street version, but one thing led to another, and a full race version was completed as well. The street version is almost identical to the race version because the hood, tail, rocker panels, and lower door halves, are all made of carbon fiber, just like the race version.
In 2006, the company behind the Corvette C6.R pulled out all the stops and developed a Corvette (based on a Z06 donor car and a lot of amazing engineering) that featured an unprecedented amount of horsepower and torque under its hood while packing ultimate luxury inside its ultra-wide carbon-fiber body. The car, which was revealed at the SEMA show in 2007, was called the C6RS Corvette.
Finally in 1971, both the ZR1 and ZR2 packages were offered side by side as initially intended. The solid lifter, 350 cubic-inch LT-1 found under the hood of the ZR1 featured a ‘178’ high-performance camshaft and a 780 CFM Holley four-barrel carburetor, which resided atop a specialized aluminum intake. The LT-1 featured a reduced compression ratio of 9.0:1 for the 1971 production year, relative to 11.0:1 specified the year prior.
Carl Renner was responsible for the Nomad which was essentially a Corvette built with an extended station wagon roof. This meant the Corvette shared its lightweight fiberglass body, ‘Blue Flame’ inline-6 engine and curvaceous styling with the Nomad.
Throughout its tenure, the Corvette has been the recipient of numerous redevelopments and reconfigurations. As such, the iconic American sports...
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.
When one of his cars was severely damaged in 1972, John Greenwood converted his 1969 L88 Convertible into a formidable race car. Included as the formidable ZL1 engine with 750 bhp on tap. Other modifications included a rear spoiler, quick replacement radiator and camber adjusters. At Le Mans, this car set the GT-class record for top speed down the Le Mans straight with 215 mph.
"Hot" is an apt description of this special coupe's drivetrain. Its 6.6-liter engine produces 512 horsepower and 523 lbs.-ft. of torque. Mated to a four-speed automatic transmission and featuring a 3:41 geared limited slip differential and four-wheel independent suspension, this "Vette takes a backseat to no other vehicle. The White Shark Corvette also features power rack-and-pinion steering to precisely pilot this vehicle and four-wheel disc brakes with ABS.
The First American Post-War Sports Cars American’s Got a Taste For Speed While Stationed Overseas…and it changed everything! It is...
The 2005-2013 Callaway Corvette was a specialist version of the C6 Corvette, built by Callaway Cars expert craftsmen and sold through selected Callaway/Chevrolet dealers. The 17th “C-Project” undertaken by Callaway first produced naturally-aspirated SuperNatural™ 450, 461, 490 (6.0L) and 550 (6.8L & 7.0L) horsepower Callaway Corvettes. In February 2006, Callaway returned to its positive manifold pressure roots, introducing Callaway “SuperCharged” Corvettes.
For the 2014 model year, the Chevrolet team sculpted the seventh-generation Corvette into the most sophisticated, most feature-packed Corvette produced to date. Facing a daunting challenge, new technology enabled Callaway engineers to produce breathtaking power with seamless transition into and out of positive manifold pressure. Entirely new, Callaway’s patented GenThree supercharger design improved airflow quality and increased charge air cooling capacity.
Chevrolet’s C8 Corvette has been a blockbuster hit since its release. So much so, that it’s tough to get your...
Chevrolet Corvette Coupé, 1957, by Ghia Aigle. Designed by Giovanni Michellotti a one-off built on a ‘54 Corvette chassis by Carozzeria Ghia in Switzerland. The Ghia Corvette was powered by a Blue Flame 6 in-line engine with a 4-speed manual gearbox
This one-off 1961 Vignale Corvette was built for the 1961 Salon de l'Automobile in Paris, France. It was based on a 1960 Corvette chassis and built by Italian coachmaker Carrozzeria Vignale. The body was designed by Gordon Kelly.
Bill Thomas had one goal in mind when he designed and produced the Cheetah: beat the Ford Cobra. 25 examples were produced until sadly, the factory burnt down. After the blaze, chevrolet pulled out of the project. The power to weight ratio was phenomenal (it was almost 500lbs lighter than the cobra!). The V8 was pushed back as far as possible leaving the engine almost in the center of the car. Some examples were tuned as high as 520HP.
GM’s 1950s Motorama-mobiles were mostly pretty out-there, with flamboyant fins, rocket-inspired skegs and cockpits, and other flights of wild imagination. Frankly, many of them were a bit absurd and even childish. But there were a few that were somewhat down to earth, even rather brilliant, like this 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne.
Built for outright top speed, this prototype Corvette was built by Zora Duntov. He successfully piloted the car to a two-way average speed of 150 mph in January of 1956 at Daytona. Later two more similar cars were built for the 1956 Daytona Speed Weeks in February. After initial resistance from Engineering, Duntov’s cam was delivered to the Proving Ground.
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.
The L71 was Chevrolet’s most powerful engine in 1967 which replaced the big-block L71 from the previous year. Using it’s famous ‘Tri Power’ intake manifold was rated by the factory at 435 bhp. Costing $437.10, 3,754 Corvettes were made with the L71 options and they could not come with automatic transmissions nor air conditioning.
These Big Block cars would be the high-water mark of Corvette performance and refinement for the C2 series of cars. The 427/400hp L68 came standard from the factory with the Holley triple two-barrel carburetor arrangement called Tri-Power. Only 2101 Corvettes in 1967 received this rare engine option which was a $305.50 cost.
The XP-895 was one in a series of experimental Corvettes built to explore alternative engine placements and chassis layouts. This vehicle features an 400 cid small block V8 mounted transversely in a mid-engine position. It utilizes a Turbo Hydramatic transmission via a bevel gear box. The body panels are all aluminum.