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The Chevrolet Corvette Turns 70

America's popular sports car is celebrating a huge birthday this 4th of July weekend. The Corvette is celebrating being the world’s longest-running continuously produced passenger car.

The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette or C8 is the eighth iteration of America’s longest running sports car. She may be 70 but she doesn’t look a day over fabulous as celebrations have continued all weekend. Chevrolet Performance posted this tribute.

“Seventy years ago today, an icon was born. The first-ever Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan on June 30th, 1953. America’s first sports car continues to exemplify innovation and is the world’s longest-running continuously produced passenger car.”

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray Continues the 70th Celebration

Chevy’s first electrified Corvette is a stunner. It combines the beauty of the Stingray with the power of the Z06 and produces a sleek sports car that does 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. It can do the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds.The 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray and its unique eAWD architecture debuted this morning at Rockefeller Center in New York.

The original 1953 Corvette debuted on January 17th, 70 years ago at the Waldorf Astoria. It then went into production on June 30th. To mark the occasion, Chevrolet debuted the stunning, electrified 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray this past January 17, at the Rockefeller Center. It combines the beauty of the Stingray with the power of the Z06 and produces a sleek sports car that does 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. It can do the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds.

The E-Ray combines an electrified propulsion system with the Corvette 6.2L LT2 Small Block V-8. The new eAWD E-Ray will be available in either a removeable roof coupe or a hardtop convertible model. It is designed to be an all-season vehicle, not just a summer fling.

At the time, GM President Mark Reuss said, “In 1953, the enthusiastic reaction to the Chevrolet Corvette concept kicked off seven decades of passion, performance and American ingenuity,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors president. “E-Ray, as the first electrified, all-wheel-drive Corvette, takes it a step further and expands the promise of what Corvette can deliver.”

1963 Chevrolet Corvette StingrayInstant Classics Through Out the 70 Year Span

Perhaps the most loved Chevrolet Corvette body style is the 1963 Corvette. The split rear-window model is very rare and the most valuable. That is the Corvette that really exemplified the brand.

2023 Chevrolet Corvette Shown as Pace CarThe CB Mid-Engine Design

Similarly, when Corvette switched to the C8 or mid-engine design, it became an instant classic. Aficionados claim that the mid-engine design put the new Corvette into a class to compete with Ferraris and Lamborghinis. The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 debuted with 670 horsepower and a top speed of 186 mph, a track-based beast that is street legal.

An all-electric version of the Chevrolet Corvette is also in the works, so here is to celebrating the next 70 years with America’s best-loved sports car!

Chevrolet Photos

Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.

 

 

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