The Complete Book of Corvette 5th Edition: Every Model Since 1953

The Complete Book of Corvette 5^th Edition:

Every Model Since 1953

FULLY VETTED

In the rearview mirror, take a look at 1953. Eisenhower is president, the Korean conflict is winding down while the American economy is winding up. And although the American car industry is fueling much of that growth, its Detroit products are more chrome than substance; there hasn’t been much design advancement since prior to World War II. One exception, of course, is at the GM Design Center, where – among a great many other products – General Motors’ Chevrolet will introduce its all-new Corvette.

Although sitting atop an entirely conventional chassis – a ladder frame, propelled by Chevy’s Blue Flame inline six connected to a 2-speed Powerglide automatic – the new Corvette’s appearance was anything but. Sheetmetal and its expensive tooling were thrown out, while of-this-century fiberglass was thrown on. The driver and passenger were located back in the chassis, while the small space given to luggage was immediately behind them. Although its shape gained plenty of attention from the dreamers, it received few dollars from paying customers; it was too impractical for realists, and too slow for enthusiasts.

Obviously, it didn’t stay that way. The Corvette’s design evolution – from 1952 through today – is well-documented (exhaustively documented!) by author Mike Mueller in THE COMPLETE BOOK OF CORVETTE 5^TH EDITION: EVERY MODEL SINCE 1953. And get your head around this: The book is almost as long – 352 pages – as its title. But then, America’s iconic sports car deserves, in this wholly biased view, every one of its 350+ pages and only Motorbooks – its publisher – knows how many pics.

If you were born in the ‘50s with an interest in the automobile, you grew up with the Corvette. But then, if you were born in any decade since the ‘50s you might have grown up with the Corvette. Given the longish shelf life of Corvette design, each and every decade offered an essentially clean sheet architecture. What Mr. Mueller describes as the solid axle era began with the Corvette launch in ’53 and extended thru the ’62 model year. Within those ten model years the same platform received a host of styling changes, the availability of a V8 beginning in 1955, four headlights in ’58, and a precursor to the Sting Ray’s rear deck in ’62. And with the advent of the racing ‘Vette (before GM formally withdrew from competition), the Corvette had sucked in the enthusiasts and would finally become a business model. 

The Sting Ray debuted in ’63, featuring an all-new platform with fully independent suspension. Its construction was still body-on-frame fiberglass, but what a body! And while mildly modified Corvettes had their asses kicked by the Shelby Cobra (and later by Shelby’s Mustang) in racing, engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov had his tricks, some of which were deployed on production models, and some surreptitiously slipped to racing teams.

If born in the ‘70s you would become emotionally bonded with the Corvette C3, heavily influenced by Chevy’s Mako Shark show car. Fans of the earlier C2 were mildly mortified, but with an available 427 now under the hood, their collective angst was blown away in a blaze of acceleration. The C3 would run from ’68 thru ’82, after which the Corvette team took a year-long break before introducing the C4 in ’84.

Mr. Mueller includes the addition of the ZR-1, a performance derivative featuring a Lotus-designed V8; that engine was assembled by Mercruiser for GM. The result was an absolutely stunning ‘Vette variation, offering 375 horsepower, a 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds (in Car and Driver testing), and a top speed hovering around 170 miles per hour. That performance, of course, came at a cost: The ZR-1 option essentially doubled the $30K price of a base Corvette.

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF CORVETTE 5^TH EDITION closes – appropriately – with the launch of Corvette’s first mid-engine effort, the C8. Although that model’s development and debut is an amazing achievement, it hasn’t eclipsed the seven models that went before it. Those of us that love the Corvette, along with those that love to hate it, can’t deny one basic truth: In the 60+ years since 1953 the Chevy team has given more than a casual nod to the car enthusiast. They’ve given that enthusiast the Corvette. 

A review copy of Mr. Mueller’s book was provided by Motorbooks, and is available at www.quarto.com, or – of course – your local bookseller. It retails for $60, and is – in this writer’s view – worth every penny.