Corvettes have come a long way since they first started rolling off the assembly line in Flint back in 1953 — 60 years ago. That’s enough for the Corvette to claim to be the longest-running, continuously produced passenger car (the Chevy Suburban is the longest-running vehicle of any type). Approximately 1.56 million Corvettes have been produced since June 30, 1953, with the 500,000th Corvette being built in 1977, the 1 millionth in 1992, and the 1.5 millionth in 2009.
Originally, the first-generation 1953 Corvette was only available in Polo White, with a red interior, and sold for $3,498. Some of you probably have that much in your pocket right now, even though it would cover nothing but a set of options on the now $51,995 2014 Corvette Stingray.
As a quirky fact, no 1983 model year Corvettes were sold to the public, as the model year was skipped with the introduction of the C4 Corvette. However, 44 1983 Corvettes were built as prototype models only.
Through time, Corvettes have been produced at three facilities: Flint, Michigan (1953); St. Louis, Missouri (1954-1981), and Bowling Green, Kentucky (1981-present), with the change from St. Louis to Bowling Green taking place during the production year, meaning that the first 1981 Corvette was built in St. Louis, and the last 1981 Corvette was built in Bowling Green.
Now, the Corvette is entering its heyday with the 2014 C7 Stingray — and the future seems bright for the quintessential American sports car. Very bright.
Comments
There’s someone in my neighbourhood that is the original owner of a 40th anniversary model in ruby red.
“That’s old enough for the Corvette to earn claim to being the longest-running, continuously produced passenger car”
Fact check. Mk1 Beetle, 1938 – 2003, 65 years. Even through the war, albeit for a few party members.
The Corvette is old, but not old enough to claim the record for passenger cars….yet.
Key words: “Continuously produced”.
The Beetle, although longer-running than the Vette in total (for now), did cease production and wasn’t available for a few years, wasn’t it?
I wasn’t counting the old “new beetle”, just the production continuity of the original Beetle. It too was at one point in time “Continuously produced”. It’s long gone, but still holds the record for now, like a how a dead person can be a record holder.
Nameplate. Maybe the longest running passenger car nameplate?
But then again, if we’re going with “Continuously produced”, then the Corvette isn’t 60 years old, it’s 30 years old as there was no 1983 model year, and thus counts as a break in production.
The 70th year Corvette (2023) will be an electric vehicle.