Evolution of the Corvette

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Corvette In 1953 American design took a whole new twist when Chevy unveiled its sporty new design, the Corvette. When Chevy designed this car they looked to the European designs for some help. From 1953 to 1955 the Corvette embodied the best characteristics of the MG, Jaguar, and Porsche. This helped the Corvette to succeed because people in America were just starting to understand the sporty style of the European sports cars. One of the strange ideas Chevy borrowed from the Europeans was that the Corvette didn't have roll up windows, or door handles on the outside. The only thing people didn't really like about this car in its first two years, was the fact that the Corvette only had a six-cylinder engine producing around 150 horsepower. Fortunately this would be soon to change. In 1955 Chevy knew that they had to do something quick; mainly because of Fords release of the Thunderbird, their sports car.

Chevy dropped a new engine into the Corvette, an eight cylinder with a Carter single four-barrel carburetor which was able to produce 195 horsepower, and shaved almost two seconds off the cars quarter mile time. Now, with the performance upgrades Chevy's Corvette was ready for an all new look, and in 1956 Chevy did just that.

In 1956 Chevy decided to give the car a more luxurious feel on the inside, as well as increase the cars performance once again. The Corvette now had door handles, roll-up windows, with a power option, and an easier to use convertible. The Corvette also increased its horsepower to 210 hp, with 225 hp available through an optional dual four-barrel carburetor. This was also the first years that testers liked the all around performance of the Corvette. People were impressed by the speed of this new Corvette, able...