Corvette Stingray: The Seventh Generation of America's Sports Car

by Larry Edsall

For the Corvette enthusiast, there is no greater source of speculation, pent-up excitement, and anticipation than the pending introduction of a new-generation ’Vette. Since unveiling the original American sports car in 1953, GM has upped the ante with each successive model and along the way, the Corvette has evolved from 6-cylinder boulevard cruiser to street racer to Le Mans winner to world-class sports car. Sixty years of constant refinement have ensured that the next-generation Corvette will give its global competitors a strong run for their money. For the making of Corvette The Seventh Generation of America's Sports Car , GM granted author Larry Edsall exclusive access to engineers, designers, and other Corvette team members, as well as its own photographic archives, to create the complete inside story of this top-notch sports car. The seventh-generation Corvette (C7) again raises the bar, not only for outright performance but also for performance-for-dollar. Capable of running with—and in many cases outclassing—the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, and other European legends, Chevy's newest Corvette delivers the goods with a new look and even more performance technology. With more than 300 historical and behind-the-scenes photographs that take you as close to the car as you can get without sitting behind the wheel, Corvette Stingray is a must-own book for any serious gearhead—whether you're a long-time ’Vette junkie, a sports car devotee, or simply an admirer of beautiful machines.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2013

Reviews

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with fab photos, history and intriguing facts, this fine coffee table book will make a terrific gift for Corvette lovers like my husband. Vrooooooooom!

[Donald Ohlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The corvette is a world class car and it all began in 1953 with orginal fiberglass sports car that changed chevorlet as an auto manufacture the corvette was intened to be a competive two seater that took on other two seaters from European auto manufactures but when corvette first began it was powered by a blueflame six engine and manual transmission later GM would offer a 265 V-8 the same V-8 that powered the chevorlet passenger cars as the years went on the corvette changed and became offered with fuel injection in 1957 the C1 was a beautiful car and came in different two tone paint jobs there were race versions that raced le mans and sebring however as the years went on the new corvette that became the new 1963 stingray was an eye catcher and was also aggressive like the first generation the new corvette was the C2 and came with a split window coupe and convertible you could opt for a 427 stingray with side pipes for every generation the corvette is based on the engineering and design practices of the corvettes of the past and the performance is even greater and faster however the corvette has won many races and paced many races plus is very competive in the showrooms the new C7 is a beautiful car that has a lot of stingray influence in the exterior design and the interior is modern chevorlet built a great corvette that many corvette fans and loyal corvette owners will love for years to come the corvette is Americas sports car and with evey generation the corvette keeps getting better than the last generation though when a corvette is in the works there are a lot to consider while planning out the next sports car like styling and interior plus practically and useabilty and performance plus pricing and advertising the corvette is the number 1 car at GM and the corvette makes chevorlet what it is as an auto manufacture so with a new corvette everything has to be precise and designed to a T to fit the corvette image. I would highly recommend Corvette Stingray : The Seventh Generation Of America's Sports Car to any corvette fan.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this last year when my dad ordered a C7, and this looked to be the book to get. Authorised by GM, it wasn’t as detailed or as critical as I would have like, but I still enjoyed it. Whilst definitely being a big marketing piece, I still learnt about the car, how it was designed and built. I finished it as I am gearing up to go away to the Corvette Nationals tomorrow in it. I really enjoyed hearing from many different people associated, from design, engineering, delivery and even the assembly plant. The design process where it was sent out to 300 people to send in designs, as to how they launched it with Gran Turismo 5 was great to read about.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corvette Stingray: The Seventh Generation of America's Sports Car by Larry Edsall.Motorbooks,2013(Although came out 2014 thanks to ILWU,West Coast Port Union/And Delay):

This is another Great book by the Author,Although since at the Time of printing the Corvette C7R AND Z06 had just been announced so they are not included here nor is the Daytona Prototype.However,This book is not only well written by a Great author it is documented throughout with In-Depth photos of Parts,Factory/Factory Building,The Prototypes/Camouflaged cars/Test cars the Section On Marketing/Gran Turismo 5 downloads.

The Engineering,The styling are looked at and some Drawings(Although I must say except for the "Gonzo" Blue car rendering which is beautiful they were all ugly.)

The book is Highly Recommended for any Corvette Enthusiast like myself or Gearhead,

However,

Tom Peters,Bennion,and Tadge have ruined the Car's Styling in My opinion,With those taillights there are some aftermarket folks who will provide the true Corvette Style that should have been on(The Round Taillights.)I am in the 20s-30's age bracket that They are hoping to attract,I have been a Corvette Fanatic since I was a Kid seeing a 74' Stingray and the then New C4 back in the showroom new in 86/87' the popup headlights and Those Tail lights got me hooked and it's styling. The later 91-96 C4 While taillights became a little different were still traditional looking to me. then the C6 Came and peters and co. Ruined the Look with Exposed Headlights,I hated it however the Wider beautiful Iterations came such as The C6.R,Z06,ZR1 and Grand Sport and they are beautiful and of course. So While the New Z06 C7 is gorgeous minus the tail lamps and the C7R is as well again minus the tail lamps the car should have had circular/round tail lights.all the aerodynamic talk and engineering to me probably has made the call,so that's my beef with the C7.I hope they do a re-design with that.The rest of the car is spectacular,the front and wider stance even if the tires are smaller than previous.So yes sadly they were attracting a "wider Audience" or "Global" one but I think that is where they made the mistake.The Car sounds Awesome though,and back to the book it is Highly Recommended although you won't get why except being "bold" on why they did the Tail lights also the Obama Admin. should not be credited with the "bailout" and the Baillout book in the bibliography should not be there because Bush did the bailout which should have never been done and Obama takes credit for it and makes it worst by enforcing ridiculous CAFE standards.I love Corvettes and just like Porschephiles are just as traditional and if it works don't fix it.Yes they have made it better,and the racing has rubbed off on the car and it is still the best!