The Chevy Corvette was the very first American sports car, and whilst the Corvette has been in production since the 1950s, it has remained one of the most popular cars in the world, even to this day.
With Chevy constantly innovating and changing things in order to stay on top of modern trends, making sure that the vehicles are as good as possible, the Corvette's have always remained some of the most popular and sought after cars known to man.
Whilst the Corvette might be incredibly popular and well known, there are still things that even the most passionate Corvette fan doesn't know about them, and therefore within this article, we will list 10 things you didn't know about the Chevy Corvette.
10 The First Corvette Was Introduced At Motorama
People nowadays take the Chevy Corvette for granted, simply expecting to see them, as they are produced frequently, however, when they were first created, the car was an unknown entity and nobody knew if it would be a success or not.
The very first Corvette was introduced at a traveling show at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and which was being run by GM Motorama, with the Corvette being displayed as the first American sports car.
This took place in 1953, with its all-fiberglass body and a fantastic design, the car was an instant hit and went into production just a few months after the show due to the popularity of it.
9 The Fastest Corvette Isn't The Newest
Even though Chevrolet is always innovating and changing things with their cars to make them even greater with each model, that doesn't mean that they are always focusing on the speed.
Most people probably think that the newer models of the Corvette are going to be the fastest, simply because of the modern technology, but that actually isn't true as the 1968 LT-2 is the fastest Corvette in history.
Boasting a 0-60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds, the car which was actually designed as a prototype for the 1970 Corvette, but it ended up being the fastest car in Corvette history.
8 What They Are Named After
The Chevy Corvette is now one of the most well-known names in the motoring world, but many people do not actually know where the Corvette name comes from, as it wasn't simply something Chevrolet just pulled out of a hat.
The Corvette namesake actually originates in Enlightenment Era warships, dating back to the 17th century with the fast and strong ships being a crucial part of any navy that chose to use them.
With a single tier of guns, the warships still remain popular with modern navies to this day, with the ships now having a better design and more armor, and that is what the car is named after.
7 Change In Logo
The Chevy Corvette's logo is another iconic part of the car, with everyone knowing the symbol, what some people do not know is that the Chevy actually had a different logo at the very beginning.
The very first logo that was designed for the Corvette has a checkered flag crossed with the American flag, as you can see in the image above, however, even though the logo looked great there was one major problem.
What the company learned was that using the American flag for commercial branding purposes is actually illegal, hence why it had to be changed, with Chevrolet altering it to what is known today just four days before the car's debut.
6 There Is Only One 1983 Model
For the most part, Chevrolet is very organized when it comes to releasing its cars and ensuring that they are correctly advertised, but the 1983 Corvette didn't quite go to plan as Chevy would have liked.
The company originally created a brochure for the 1983 cars, but production was pushed back for retooling and other reasons, and instead, Chevrolet moved on to the 1984 model of the Corvette instead.
But 43 pilot cars were still built, and all but one ended up being destroyed, with the final car now being kept in a museum for people to visit and check out the historic vehicle.
5 The Corvette Was Inspired By Europe
Even though the Chevrolet Corvette is considered to be an American classic, that doesn't mean that the car doesn't have any influence from elsewhere, as the very first Corvette was actually heavily influenced by Europe.
Harley Earl, who designed the first Corvette, took influences from European cars and manufacturers such as MG and Jaguar as he was a frequent attendee for road-racing events and saw the power of the British cars.
Taking inspiration from the European race cars, he moved on and designed the very first Corvette with those inspirations in mind.
4 Shark Inspirations
Whilst the original Chevy Corvette was inspired by European cars, the Corvette Stingray was actually inspired by the shark itself, with the legend being that the designer, Bill Mitchell had caught a shark on a fishing trip.
Whether that was true or not is unknown, but the car was certainly based on the appearance of a shark, with the initial prototype being repainted multiple times in order to get a perfect match of the shark's skin color.
Whilst the car obviously doesn't look exactly like a shark, it is cool to know that it where the inspiration came from in terms of the design.
3 Prince Wrote A Song About Them
Prince is one of the most famous musicians in history and whilst most people think of Purple Rain when he comes to mind, his song Little Red Corvette is also an incredibly popular one amongst fans.
He actually came up with the idea when he fell asleep in the back of a car, but that car was a 1964 Mercury Montclair Marauder, however, that doesn't quite roll off the tongue and therefore he changed the lyrics with Corvette being the focus.
Chevrolet even went out and helped to advertise the song, using the tagline, "They Don't Write Songs Abot Volvos," promoting the song to help increase Corvette sales.
2 It's A Pioneer
Everyone knows that the Chevrolet Corvette is an incredibly iconic car that people will always remember, but what a lot of people do not know is how influential that the car was itself.
The 1953 Corvette came with a wraparound or panoramic windshield, and in the process, it became the first mass-production car in history to do so and helped it become so popular.
This helped change the game for sports cars moving forward, even though they were abandoned due to distortion concerns.
1 It Is The Official Car Of Kentucky
Something else that many people are likely not aware of is the fact that the Chevrolet Corvette is actually the official sports car of Kentucky, with the mayor making the announcement in 2010.
Whilst many people might not even know different places have an official sports car, but apparently, they do, and for Kentucky, it is the Corvette, which might not be too shocking as the Corvette factory in Kentucky is the last remaining one in America.
The factory at Bowling Green gets consistent business and is a staple of Kentucky now, with people knowing about the location from far and wide.