TL215.C6P '2--dc22

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Author: Lynn Peppas Publishing plan research and development: Sean Charlebois, Reagan Miller Company Editor: Sonya Newland Proofreader: Molly Aloian Editorial director: Kathy Middleton Project

2 Author: Lynn Peppas Publishing plan research and development: Sean Charlebois, Reagan Miller Company Editor: Sonya Newland Proofreader: Molly Aloian Editorial director: Kathy Middleton Project coordinator and prepress technician: Margaret Salter Print coordinator: Katherine Berti Series consultant: Petrina Gentile Cover design: Ken Wright Design: Simon Borrough Photo research: Amy Sparks Photographs: Alamy: Transtock Inc.: p. 11, 12, 14, 26 27, 46, 48 49, 50; Oleksiy Maksymenko: p. 13; Performance Image: p. 17; pp ; imagebroker: p. 25; Phil Talbot: p. 28; culture-images GmbH: p. 45; Retouch UK: p. 55; Drive Images: p. 58 Corbis: Michael Ochs Archives: p. 6; Car Culture: p. 8; Bettmann: p. 9; Robert Genat/Transtock: p. 20; Lucas Jackson/Reuters: p. 54 Dreamstime: Richard Lowthian: p. 1, 21; Patrick Allen: p. 31; Dana Johnson: p. 41; Nomapu: pp ; Folco Banfi: p GM Photostore: p. 7, 10, 18, 19, 26, 29, 30, 32 33, 34 35, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 44, 59 Motoring Picture Library: p. 4, 14 15, 16, 22, 23, 38, 51. Shutterstock: front cover; Dongliu: p. 4 5; Stephen Hew: p. 42; Boykov: p. 47; KSPhotography: p. 48 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Peppas, Lynn Corvette [electronic resource] / Lynn Peppas. (Superstar cars) Includes index. Type of computer file: Electronic monograph in PDF format. Issued also in print format. ISBN Corvette automobile--juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series: Superstar cars (Online) TL215.C67P a j '2 C Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peppas, Lynn. Corvette / Lynn Peppas. p. cm. -- (Superstar cars) Includes index. ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN (reinforced library binding : alk. paper) -- ISBN (electronic (pdf)) 1. Corvette automobile--juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. TL215.C6P '2--dc Company Printed in the U.S.A./102010/SP Copyright 2011 CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Company. In Canada: We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. Published in Canada 616 Welland Ave. St. Catharines, ON L2M 5V6 Published in the United States PMB Fifth Avenue, 59 th Floor New York, New York Published in the United Kingdom Maritime House Basin Road North, Hove BN41 1WR Published in Australia 386 Mt. Alexander Rd. Ascot Vale (Melbourne) VIC 3032

3 Contents 1 America s First Sports Car 4 2 The American Dream Car 8 3 Corvette s First 30 Years 16 4 The Evolution of Corvette 32 5 Specialty Corvettes 46 6 Driving Into the Future 56 Corvette Timeline 60 Further Information 61 Glossary 62 Index 64

Chapter 1 America s First Sports Car The Corvette has been called America s favorite sports car for many years now by car enthusiasts and drivers alike.

4 Chapter 1 America s First Sports Car The Corvette has been called America s favorite sports car for many years now by car enthusiasts and drivers alike. This may sound like an exaggeration, but any car that s pushing 60 years old and still looks this good deserves such a title! That s a Corvette Corvette also has the distinction of being America s oldest production sports car. But through the years and through all the design changes, the car has maintained a look that says, that s a Corvette, right away. It has always looked sleek, lean, and low-to-theground and has led the way in American sports-car design. Add fastest American production sports car to the list, too. The icing on the cake is that Corvette prides itself on being one of the mo st affordable high-performance vehicles, especially when compared with some of its European competitors. 4 This 1953 Corvette, one of the very first produced, has the classic sleek look for which Corvette has become renowned.

A work of art For over half a century, the Corvette has been an American work of art on wheels as amazing to look at as to drive. Best of all, the Corvette has always been fairly priced.

5 A work of art For over half a century, the Corvette has been an American work of art on wheels as amazing to look at as to drive. Best of all, the Corvette has always been fairly priced. These factors have combined to make it a favorite with both Americans and many other car enthusiasts from all over the world. Nearly 60 years on, Corvettes are still icons of American style in motoring. GM: Big Three automaker Corvette is made by General Motors (GM), one of the so-called Big Three U.S. automakers. GM has several divisions, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC. Corvette is the sports car produced by the Chevrolet division. Although GM does make cars and parts in some other countries, the Corvette is made in the United States. 5

6 What s in a name? Say the word Corvette today, and people everywhere automatically think of the sports car. But say that same word in the early 1950s just five years after World War II ended and people would have thought of a fast-moving warship instead. In 1953, General Motors wanted the name of its new sports car to start with the letter C, but they didn t want to name it after an animal, which was what many other companies did. A GM employee named Myron Scott had been reading about the corvette, a small, fast escort ship. Myron sent a note to the chief engineer at GM, Ed Cole, and suggested the name Corvette for the new car. Ed loved it. The vehicle has been called Corvette ever since, although many people often shorten it to its popular nickname, Vette. The Corvette became an icon in the 1960s, sung about by popular groups such as The Beach Boys. Something to sing about Musicians worldwide have cashed in on the fact that everybody knows about the racy Corvette image. Singers such as the Beach Boys in Shut Down, George Jones in Corvette Song, Prince in Little Red Corvette, and Eiffel 65 in I m Blue all sing about the Corvette in their song lyrics. 6

Corvettes don t just look good on the outside beneath the shell, every detail is carefully planned and engineered. Just a pretty face? Some people say that beauty is only skin deep.

Behind every model, there are a lot of people who have worked hard to make the car what it is.

their class. Corvette teamwork Designers are the people who think up the style and look of a car. The engineers work on a car s performance making sure it will run efficiently and smoothly.

7 Corvettes don t just look good on the outside beneath the shell, every detail is carefully planned and engineered. Just a pretty face? Some people say that beauty is only skin deep. It s true that the Corvette s skin is beautiful, but besides its great look, this sports car has a lot of character in terms of state-of-the-art technology and engineering. Behind every model, there are a lot of people who have worked hard to make the car what it is. The people behind the car GM has always employed a special team of the very best carmakers, including people who design, engineer, market, and produce Corvette models that are consistently top in their class. Corvette teamwork Designers are the people who think up the style and look of a car. The engineers work on a car s performance making sure it will run efficiently and smoothly. Marketers make up the creative team that thinks of ways to sell more cars to the public. When all this work is done, the production people are responsible for actually putting the car together on the assembly lines in GM s factories and plants. Altogether, the teams that create Corvettes have put out some of the most unforgettable and collectible sports cars in America. 7

Lynn Peppas. Crabtree Publishing Company.

Lynn Peppas. Crabtree Publishing Company. Lynn Peppas Company www.crabtreebooks.com Created by Bobbie Kalman Dedicated By Crystal Sikkens To the Sikkens family for introducing me to farm life Author Lynn Peppas Editorial director Kathy Middleton