In the world of 1957 Corvettes, there are Fuelies and then there are Airboxes. Fuelie, of course, is collector-speak for fuel injection, which was a brand-new and milestone status for 1957 Corvettes. The collector’s term “Airbox” refers to fuel injection plus factory Ram Air, which was a brand-new feature that...

Only three years after its introduction, for 1956 Chevrolet introduced a restyled Corvette that was a significant departure from earlier models. Fast, sleek and extremely clean in appearance, the new body style was more than just a work of art – the now-iconic design lent America’s sports car a much...

  While the original Corvettes of 1953–54 were more suited to stylish cruising, a performance boost quickly followed, thanks to Zora Arkus-Duntov, who skillfully guided the Corvette’s transformation into a potent sports car. The addition of the powerful, small-block 265-ci V8 engine in 1955 was a welcome first step in the...

  Although Chevrolet introduced the Corvette to great acclaim at the 1953 Motorama, few realized it would, in time, become America’s iconic sports car. The sporting transformation didn’t come until 1956, a year after Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov inserted a 265-ci V8 into the previously sluggish 6-cylinder-powered fiberglass two-seater. For 1956, Arkus-Duntov improved...

As I struggled to keep the Corvette on the road, I felt like I was driving my couch through the Laguna Seca CorkscrewIn 1956 Chevrolet introduced a restyled Corvette that was a complete departure from earlier models. The new Corvettes gave the American sports car a new identity that was...

America was sadly without a true sports car until Chevrolet introduced the Corvette at the 1953 Motorama show and started production that year. The early Corvettes were lower and sportier than any other domestic car on the market but they lacked the innovative technology necessary to break open the market....

Created by Troy Trepanier, Intruder came out of the box in San Bernardino, California, with three miles showing on the odometer. Six days and 2,900 cross-country miles later, on the Hot Rod Power Tour, Intruder had performed flawlessly, and even returned 20 miles per gallon.The goal for Rad Rides, the...

Even if the Commies had beaten us in space exploration, we had both the hideaway hard top and the EdselThe Ford Fairlane Skyliner can claim to be America's first production convertible to feature a retractable hard top. Introduced as Ford's top-of-the-range model in 1955, the Fairlane was rival to Chevrolet's...

When the Ford Thunderbird arrived in 1955, it literally blew past the Corvette in both sales and popularity, giving General Motors pause to reconsider the Corvette's future. It was the beginning of the short-lived but exciting sports car wars which revved up in 1955 and ended abruptly in 1957, when...

In 1955, Ford responded to the Chevy Corvette with the introduction of the Thunderbird. Ford knew that its more luxurious two-seater V8 was going to attract a wider audience than Corvette's spartan racing/performance-oriented approach to the market. The Thunderbird design incorporated Ford features found on other models to creat Ford...