The year was 1953. Something really awesome happened – the Chevy Corvette.
Harley Earl (Harley?) gets our complete respect for designing this concept car.
The machine left every soul in the US of A with a WOW face. This was Chevrolet’s way to say ‘Psych, we rule America!’ to the European sports cars flooding the market.
So, why was this machine a ‘Whoa dude, now that’s a car!’ (folks then must have said it a little differntly)? I think everything. The concept Mr. Earl followed here was simple; he combined the American and the Italian dream car styles. This meant luxury + performance + style which would later add up to give ego-boosted arrogant rich snobs, well, more ego and more arrogance. (they weren’t left very rich after shelling out the kinda money this car demanded)
The first one (C-1) wasn’t introduced into the market till late 1953. At the time of its launch, it seemed the folks at Chevrolet were really in a mood to tease the car-lovers world over. Only 300 hand-made, polo white convertibles were produced, making it one of the rarest and the most sought-after Corvettes.
The panoramic windshield and the jukebox dashboard had become part of the ‘American Dream’ . However, a lot of improvements had to be made as mass production started – the soft top was flimsy, fibreglass bodywork did not work, and the power outputs were weak.
Nevertheless, the machine was improved, modified, upgraded and titled ‘the American Sports Car’.
The car is in its sixth generation now (C7 should be out in 2012).A lot of car fanatics still hold the older Corvettes to be better than the new generation ones.
According to research by Specialty Equipment Market Association and Experian Automotive, as of 2009, there were approximately 750,000 Corvettes of all model years registered in the United States. 47% of them hold college degrees (significantly above the nationwide average of 27%), and 82% are between ages of 40 and 69 (median age being 53).
Do check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette for more information on this culture icon. It even has it’s own museum: http://corvettemuseum.com/.
