How the Corvette Changed the Sports Car Industry Forever
Harley Earl was an automobile design expert at Chevrolet who
noticed the influx of small European sports cars into the United
States after World War II. He knew there was a market for a
two-seat roadster and convinced Chevrolet to introduce their own
version: The Chevrolet Corvette.
In 1953, the first Corvette's were unveiled. The cars were
unique in their construction. Instead of the steel bodies common
for the time, the Corvette was actually built from a much
lighter material--fiberglass. This innovation, combined with its
Earl-designed appearance, however, was still not enough to make
the car an overnight success.
At the time, Chevrolet was known for producing inexpensive, but
unexciting vehicles. The Corvette, despite its sex styling and
innovative construction was "just another Chevy" at heart, and
lacked the performance sports car enthusiasts craved. The
original Corvettes featured a less-that-impressive V6, a
two-speed automatic transmission, and a brake system taken
directly from the regular Chevy line. In essence, the original
Corvette was a sports car in appearance alone. Sales lagged and
there was even talk of discontinuing Earl's pet project after a
few years.
Sales were simply too low. Although the fiberglass design wowed
potential buyers and critics within the sports car industry and
the appearance of the Corvette was beyond reproach, the car
simply lacked the kind of performance those searching for a true
sports car expected to find.
Then came Zora Arkus-Duntov, the Russian