Corvette Concept Cars

For more than a half century, the Corvette has been celebrated as “America’s sports car” by owners and enthusiasts. Since the first model rolled off the assembly line on June 29, 1953, it has been transformed time and again from a well-intentioned-but-underpowered boulevard cruiser into one of the most iconic sports cars of all time! How did Harley Earl’s original vision for a two-seat sports car progress through eight distinct generations to become the car that we know and love today? Who were the visionaries responsible for advancing its form and function over the last 70 years? Also, why has the Corvette continued to find commercial success in an ever-changing marketplace when so many other automobiles have come and gone since its creation? Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America's Favorite Sports Car answers these questions by delving into the origins of the Chevrolet Corvette and of the countless designers, engineers, drivers, and dreamers responsible for its creation. It explores the personal histories of Corvette’s greatest visionaries (Harley Earl, Zora Arkus-Duntov, and Bill Mitchell) and tells how each of their fates were indelibly intertwined with the rich (and sometimes volatile) history of Chevrolet’s flagship sports car. This book is an exploration of the Corvette concept cars from the earliest turnstile dream cars and purpose-built racers to the many unique mid-engined concept and research vehicles that preceded the creation of the current production model: the eighth-generation mid-engine Stingray. Painstakingly researched and written by Corvette historian Scott Kolecki and packed with more than 400 incredible photographs, Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America’s Favorite Sports Car is the quintessential history of the evolution of the Chevrolet Corvette!

The officially licensed Corvette Stingray: The Mid-Engine Revolution chronicles the full development story behind Chevrolet’s re-imagined sports car with an engaging, detailed text and photography from GM’s archives and Corvette team members. Corvette is Chevrolet’s iconic performance car. Its importance to the brand cannot be overstated. Thus each new generation is sweated by Chevy’s designers, engineers, marketing staff, and executives to ensure that it sets the bar higher than the preceding version. With the eighth generation, Chevrolet has done more than raise the bar or move the goalpost—they’ve torn down the stadium and started from scratch. For the first time ever in a production version, the new Corvette features a mid-engine configuration. Though Corvette engineers have experimented with this engine placement over the past several decades, 2020 marks the first time GM has committed it to production cars. Corvette already had prodigious power on tap, but its front-engine configuration put some limitations on its handling and traction. The new mid-engine Corvette eliminates any final performance barriers and takes the battle to supercar rivals like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren. It’s the story every Corvette fan needs to read.

While working at GM and afterward as the author of the authoritative Corvette history, Karl Ludvigsen was close to the behind-the-scenes development of Chevrolet's Corvette. As a result, his collection contains many rare and unusual photos of the experimental Corvettes built both for the road and racing - exotic chassis, engines, styling concepts and designs. In this book he opens his files and takes the reader behind the scenes of Chevrolet R&D and Design Staff to show the rare and spectacular machines conceived by Bill Mitchell, Zora Duntov, Larry Shinoda and others in the car-crazy Corvette world at GM.

In 1953 the first Corvette cruised into the hearts of Americans. It's still a favorite today. Let's take a ride through the history of the Corvette with Sports Illustrated for Kids author Michael Bradley! Book jacket.

... This book brings the story of this icon to life with a detailed look at the technical breakthroughs, major players and little known facts that make up the sports car's long and colorful history ...

Concept cars are meant to break moulds and explore new ideas; to forecast or establish trends. They afford designers the opportunity to let rip; to use their imaginations and envisage the sort of vehicle that we will be driving in years - perhaps decades - to come. The fact is that some concept cars are displayed at an event and never seen again, while others cross continents and become media darlings, only to be placed in storage - or worse - once they are no longer of use. The 1960s witnessed the emergence of countless memorable showstoppers, and this book presents a year-by-year rundown of the most memorable concept cars of the 1960s with several obscurities thrown in for good measure. Some have long since earned legendary status, foretelling the future, while others fell a long way short. Here is fascinating glimpse into how the future of motoring looked in the 1960s, from the sublime to the frankly ridiculous.

Learn about the creation of every generation of Chevrolet’s pony car! For more than 50 years, the Chevrolet Camaro has been an indelible part of the modern automotive landscape. Since its introduction in 1967, Chevrolet’s immensely popular pony car has redefined American automotive styling by setting the bar and then raising it with the introduction of each generation. How did the Camaro become one of the most celebrated automobiles of all time? What was its origin? What factors contributed to its creation and continued evolution through periods of economic uncertainty? How, when so many other cars have come and gone, has the Camaro survived and flourished? Automotive historian Scott Kolecki explores those questions in Camaro Concept Cars: Developing Chevrolet’s Pony Car, as he introduces the men and women who created Chevrolet’s successful sports car. This book looks at the factors that contributed to its evolution through six distinct generations and explores the concept and design prototypes that gave rise to the production models that we know and love today. This is the ultimate book for anyone who has owned (or dreamed of owning) a Camaro as well as for the countless enthusiasts around the globe who continue to celebrate and share the car’s rich heritage with future generations.