Corvette History for the month of February

Corvette History - February

February 2, 1993: The term "STINGRAY" is registered as a trademark to General Motors.

February 9, 1995: The first alpha test C5 Corvette enters public roads for the first time.

February 11, 1962: At the Daytona Continental race, Dick Thompson and Don Yenko race a 1962 Corvette of the Gulf Oil racing team to first in A/Production class, and seventh overall.

February 19, 1994: Reeves Callaway decides to produce a modified Corvette to race at Le Mans, the first time for a Corvette in almost 20 years.

February 20, 1954: The Ford Motor Company shows the Thunderbird two-seat convertible in Detroit. The Thunderbird is a major part of General Motors' decision to continue production of the Corvette.

February, 1955: The basic design of the 1956 model Corvette is completed.

February, 1966: At the Daytona Continental endurance race, Roger Penske's 1966 Corvette with 427 ci engine finishes first in GT class.

February, 1968: At the 24-hour Daytona Continental race, Sunray DX Oil Company enters three Corvettes. Jerry Grant and Dave Morgan race a 1967 L88 Corvette (car No. 31). Revson/Yenko race 1968 L88 Corvette (No. 29). DeLorenzo/Thompson race 1968 L88 Corvette (No. 30). This is the racing debut of the 1968 model Corvette. The Grant/Morgan car finishes first in GT class and 10th overall.

February, 1993: General Motors Powertrain Division decides to discontinue development of the Gen II engine as a small-block, and create a new medium-displacement V-8 engine.

February, 2000: The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is held in Florida. Chevrolet enters its two C5-R Corvette race cars. One places second, 31 seconds behing the winner. The other places 24th.

Why does traffic all of a sudden STOP?

Did You Know?

Facts From The Bowling Green Assembly Plant

The Bowling Green Assembly Plant is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It sits on 250 acres of land, located directly off Interstate I-65.

This is the only place in the world where the Chevrolet Corvette and the Cadillac XLR are produced.

corvette: a fast, lightly armed warship, smaller than a destroyer, often armed for antisubmarine operations.

Our plant is approx. one million sq. ft., or the equivalent of 22 football fields.

Approximately 1,000 total are employed at The Bowling Green Assembly Plant. There are approximately 850 hourly employees.

The Bowling Green plant assembles more than 35,000 Chevrolet Corvettes and 4,000 Cadillac XLRs per year.

Production each day ranges from 150 - 170 Corvettes and approximately 8 XLRs are produced a day.

There are 430 suppliers and 2,800 parts used to build the vehicles. Seventy-seven percent of the car is made in the USA and Canada.

The Assembly plant hosts more than 50,000 enthusiasts each year.

From start to finish each Corvette spends approximately 36 hours winding seven miles of conveyor systems in the plant.

In the paint department body panels spend ten hours winding two miles on a conveyor system.

Body panels receive three coats of paint: primer, color and clear coat. The paint is manufactured by DuPont.

Corvette and XLR body panels are composite fiberglass, except for the front and rear bumpers, which are urethane.

Production runs one shift, Monday through Friday, from 6:12 a.m. until 2:42 p.m. Overtime is added when necessary.

The Cadillac XLR is built on a separate line from the Corvette. They share the same frame and both use fiberglass body panels.

More Interesting Facts......

Facts About The Corvette

-The original front emblem logo on the Corvettes that made the trade show circuit featured a checkered flag and an American flag crossed, later Chevrolet was alerted to the fact that it is illegal to use an American flag on a trademark and the logo was changed.
-As revolutionary that the Corvette was when introduced in 1953, the only part or component included in its manufacturing that was not already available in other Chevrolet models was the fiberglass body.
-Manual transmission was listed as an option on the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette, but no model was ordered, manufactured, or delivered that year with a manual transmission.
-The 1958 Chevrolet Corvette was the first ‘Vette with factory installed seat belts.
-The first year that an AM/FM radio was offered as an option in a Corvette was 1968.
-The 1963 through 1967 Corvettes were known as “Sting Rays”. The model name disappeared in 1968, but returned in 1969 only to be spelled as one word, “Stingray”
-The last Corvette manufactured to run on the old style “leaded” fuel was produced in 1974.
-The most Chevrolet Corvettes ever manufactured in one year was over 53,807 in 1979.
-The first Corvette produced with windshield wipers that clear water in the same direction instead of opposing directions was made in 1997.
-In 2005, Chevrolet manufactured Corvettes without the famous pop-up headlights for the first time since 1962.
The Chevrolet Corvette has been one of the most popular American made sportscars for decades, and with good reason. From its high performance design that delivers amazing on-road results to the always innovative thinking that brings new options and developments with almost every new model, the Corvette has set itself up to remain the standard by which all other American sportscars will be judged by in the future.

Emblem History

History of the Corvette Emblem

Over the years, the Corvette has gone through many design changes; some subtle, some not so subtle. The Corvette's symbolic crossed flags emblem has also seen its fair number of changes. If you've taken a close look at the emblem over the five generations of Corvette, you'll notice that even though the design has changed dramatically from time to time, a few design cues remain. These include some form of a checkered flag and a bow-tie emblem. From time to time, a strange, maple leaf type of insignia, called a "fleur-de-lis" also shows up from time to time in the emblem. So what does all this mean and how did it get started?

The original Corvette logo (Figure 1) was designed by Robert Bartholomew, an interior designer at Chevrolet in 1953. This emblem was destined to appear on the 1953 Corvette prototype which was introduced to the public for the first time at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel in January of 1953. It had crossing staffs with the checkered flag on the right hand side, and the American flag on the left hand side. However, four days before the Corvette was to go on display at the show, Chevrolet management decided that it should be redesigned. The problem with the proposed emblem was that it included the American flag which is illegal to use on a commerical product. Right before the show, redesigned emblems were attached to the front hood and steering wheel of the Corvette. The new emblem contained the checkered flag on the right side as well as the white racing flag, red Chevrolet bow-tie symbol and a fleur-de-lis (Figure 2).

Where did the fleur-de-lis come from? At the time, Chevrolet was conducting research on various emblem designs for the 1953 and 1954 passenger cars. They looked at the Louis Chevrolet family history in an attempt to discover a crest or some type of heraldry that they could utilize. Unfortunately, they came up empty, but they did realize that Chevrolet is a French name and the fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) is a French symbol meaning peace and purity. They decided to use the fleur-de-lis along with the famous blue Chevrolet bow tie on a new flag which replaced the American flag on the Corvette. When the 1953 Corvette first appeared to the public at the Waldorf Historia Hotel, the redesigned emblems were in place.

However, this emblem was temporary and used only for press photography at the show. A new emblem was designed prior to the 1953 Corvette going into production.

If you're wondering what ever happened to the original 1953 Corvette emblem by Robert Bartholemew, it's currently on display at the National Corvette Museum!