Corvettes (C1)

The Chevrolet Corvette debuted in 1953 with just 300 units produced, every one a white roadster with red interior. Chevrolet chose fiberglass bodywork for light weight, but the first Corvettes came equipped with a relatively modest 150-horsepower six-cylinder engine paired to an automatic transmission. The result was more boulevard cruiser than sports car, and early sales were underwhelming.

The Corvette's fortunes changed when engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov entered the picture. Born in Russia and trained in Europe, Duntov fell in love with the prototype Corvette and joined GM in 1953. He convinced the brass to take performance and racing seriously, and between 1953 and 1956, he championed the introduction of a V8 engine and manual transmission. Those changes transformed the Corvette from a curiosity into a legitimate sports car. From that first run of 300 cars, Chevrolet ultimately produced about 69,000 C1 Corvettes, with production peaking at 14,531 units in 1962.

The C2 generation, spanning 1963 through 1967, is where the Corvette truly found its identity. Annual production climbed from roughly 10,000 to about 27,000 cars, and the engine option sheet expanded dramatically. Chevrolet introduced independent rear suspension on the C2, years ahead of any other domestic production car. The fuel-injected Sting Ray models became performance benchmarks of the era. Particularly significant C2 Corvettes include the rare 1963 split-window coupes, the ultra-rare Grand Sport models, and the 1967 L88 427 big-block cars rated at 430 horsepower.

The C3 Corvettes, produced from 1968 through 1982, represent the largest generation ever built. Of the 1.5 million Corvettes manufactured between 1953 and 2010, over 540,000 were C3 models wearing the famous "Stingray" design. This generation started strong but faced the headwinds of tightening emissions standards and GM's corporate malaise during the 1970s. The low point came in 1975, when the base engine offered just 165 horsepower, nearly back to 1953 levels. That year also marked the last C3 convertible, as GM believed Americans had lost interest in open-air driving. Despite the power decline, sales kept climbing. The 1979 model year saw the greatest production numbers in Corvette history, with over 53,000 units built.

Chevrolet designed an all-new C4 Corvette in the early 1980s, but quality issues with 1983 prototypes delayed the launch to the 1984 model year. Roughly 40 prototype C4s were built for 1983 but never sold to the public. The 1984 debut was the second-largest production run in Corvette history, with over 51,000 cars built. Across its 12-year span, about 350,000 C4 Corvettes rolled off the line. Base engine power ranged from 205 horsepower in 1984 up to 300 horsepower with the LT1 engine from 1993 to 1996. Special editions like the Callaway twin-turbo models generated up to 405 horsepower. The convertible returned in 1986 after an 11-year absence.

The C5 generation, produced from 1997 through 2004, represented a clean-sheet design and a return to glory for the nameplate. Corvette re-entered world-class professional racing with entries at Le Mans and in the American Le Mans Series, and the C5 also became popular in SCCA Trans-Am competition. Base C5 models used the 345- to 350-horsepower LS1 engine, with the 2002 Z06 producing up to 405 horsepower. Production started modestly at 9,752 cars in 1997 before stabilizing around 35,000 units per year. Every generation of Corvette has demanded serious cooling capacity, and Griffin Thermal Products builds exact-fit aluminum radiators for C1 through C5 Corvettes, delivering the cooling performance these legendary sports cars deserve.