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The Complete Book of Corvette: Every Model Since 1953 - Revised & Updated Includes New Mid-Engine Corvette Stingray
The Complete Book of Corvette covers every production model and every year of Chevrolet’s legendary performance car. Every Z06 and ZR-1, racers, prototypes, Indy pace cars—they’re all here, including the stunning mid-engine 2020 Corvette Stingray. Every model year is presented with an insightful text, technical specifications, and beautiful photography culled from the author’s own images and GM’s photographic archives.
With more than sixty years of production under its belt, the Corvette remains a world-class sports car offering a fascinating development story and a stellar competition record. The Complete Book of Corvette covers all eight generations, from the first six-cylinder model in 1953 to the all-conquering L88 of the 1960s to 21st century ZR1 and Z06 to today’s tour de force mid-engine Stingray —the ultimate expression of Chevrolet’s and Zora Arkus Duntov’s vision. Prototypes, racers, one-offs, and specialty packages also get their due as do the designers and engineers behind the iconic Corvette. It’s all here in the ultimate reference for all Corvette enthusiasts.
With more than sixty years of production under its belt, the Corvette remains a world-class sports car offering a fascinating development story and a stellar competition record. The Complete Book of Corvette covers all eight generations, from the first six-cylinder model in 1953 to the all-conquering L88 of the 1960s to 21st century ZR1 and Z06 to today’s tour de force mid-engine Stingray —the ultimate expression of Chevrolet’s and Zora Arkus Duntov’s vision. Prototypes, racers, one-offs, and specialty packages also get their due as do the designers and engineers behind the iconic Corvette. It’s all here in the ultimate reference for all Corvette enthusiasts.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 14, 2020
Books on Corvette are fairly common and they are more often than not, quite good, but this one might truly be the best one I ever put my hands on. Lot of info, good charts, lot of pictures as well and everything is well done, seem relevant, I'm not expert on Corvette, but it seem right and would be a nice gift to every Corvette lovers, who are many!
August 6, 2020
Zora Arkus Duntov was determined to build a fiberglass sports car that would compete with European manufactures however to manufacture a fiberglass sports car was going to be exspensive and very hard when it came to the molds and equipment needed to build the bodys but duntov pulled it off and hand built the corvettes in jigs were being shaped and put together and production began. The 1953 corvette was a polo white car with red interior and came powered by a blueflame straight six with a manual transmission however in 1955 Chevrolet would introduce its first V-8 of 265 cubic inches wich was used in passenger cars and trucks as well as the corvette wich benefited due to the power and capability the new engine gave the corvette it was a driving experience like no other but that would change in 1957. The corvette would be refined in 1957 with some exterior and interior upgrades however the big news was the new 283 V-8 with fuel injection wich gave the new corvette more power and better performance by 1957 most car manufactures were switching to fuel injection but in corvette it was exharlrating and fun though the fuel injection was only avalible for manual transmission cars only not for automatic transmission cars. the C1 in 1958-1962 was at the end of its road though changes were made the single headlights were discontinued and new quard headlights were introduced for all corvettes and passenger cars as well as pickup trucks. The 1963 corvette debuted as the new C2 wich was a completely redesigned and had a new interior these corvettes came to be known as the stingray with sharper exterior lines that were attractive and a split back window and some models came with side exit exhaust and turbine style wheels these cars came with new engines and transmissions and drivelines though the big news was the bigblock 427 V-8 used in stingrays and in the L88 coupe wich had no sound deadening or A/C or Radio this car was a street legal race car and was brutal if driven as a daily driver though this generation would last until 1967 until a new corvette debuted for the 1968 model year that was totally redesigned and had a new interior this corvette was the new C3 model wich came with the same V-8 engines as the generation before the 427 bigblock was still around as was a new 350 smallblock though by the 1970s things had changed and new government mandated safety regulations were set in stone like fuel efficentcie and the 5-mph bumpers for accidents to help protect occupants though in 1974 corvette came with a 454 bigblock V-8 in the new car but it was a one year only options the corvette now accepted new dura bumpers that were body color though in 1978 corvette would be given pace car honors at the Indianapolis 500 race and Chevrolet would build replicas of the car for sale to the public . The new 1984 C4 corvette came wich was considered to be a highly advanced corvette with a digital graphic gauge cluster and a modern interior with a euro style body wich looked stunning when compared to the C3 the new car had a new 350 V-8 built by Mercury Marine wich turned the new generation into a fast car and with performance enhancements the new corvette was a monster with a ZR1 package and performance tuned suspension and brakes and upgrades though in 1996 corvette would introduce a new high performance package called gran sport wich was blue with white racing stripes and black wheels with red pin stripping. The corvette would get a new car in 1997 the C5 wich was wider and lower and came with a new powerplant and new driveline this car was sold in numerous performance packages with upgrades such as pace cars and new special editions the corvette came with a new LS series engine and 6-spd manual transmission however by the time the new C8 came along it looked like the 1968 in a retro style but was well portioned and designed with a complementary interior and technical advances both in the engine and electronics the new corvette was now completely different taking the car in a hole new direction when it came to creature comforts and egronomics though performance was still on order for the new corvette and there were plenty of commerative packages and limited edition packages plus different color hues. GM has always had a good handle in racing with corvette wether it be lemans or sebring or even in NHRA or IHRA competition were the corvette was a powerful contender with other manufactures .
September 21, 2020
Read this review and more on my blog.
I received a free copy of The Complete Book of Corvette from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
While not as well known as Aston Martin or Ferrari, the Corvette is a very well constructed American car that has had its moment in the public spot light. They are built in Michigan, Missouri and Kentucky. Corvettes have a very distinct body that is almost instantly recognisable on the road.
The Complete Book of Corvette is split into different chapters: The Solid-Axis Years, Enter The Stingray, Third Time’s The Charm, Better Late Than Never, Long Live The King: ZR-1, 50 Years and Counting, Throughly Modern, and World Beater.
We get given an extremely detailed history of Corvette. Each cars backstory of sorts is given so that you can see that these cars are not just mass-produced.
Each car is given a statistic block of sorts, so you can see anything and everything technical that you would be interested in in that model.
The photos that were chosen were stunning. It is amazing to see how cars used to be, and how different they look nowadays. We also get to see the construction of multiple models of Corvette and the behind the scenes in some of the factory production process.
If you are a car enthusiast then this is probably right up your alley, but for the casual car fan then it may be a tad too involved to fully enjoy it.
I received a free copy of The Complete Book of Corvette from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
While not as well known as Aston Martin or Ferrari, the Corvette is a very well constructed American car that has had its moment in the public spot light. They are built in Michigan, Missouri and Kentucky. Corvettes have a very distinct body that is almost instantly recognisable on the road.
The Complete Book of Corvette is split into different chapters: The Solid-Axis Years, Enter The Stingray, Third Time’s The Charm, Better Late Than Never, Long Live The King: ZR-1, 50 Years and Counting, Throughly Modern, and World Beater.
We get given an extremely detailed history of Corvette. Each cars backstory of sorts is given so that you can see that these cars are not just mass-produced.
Each car is given a statistic block of sorts, so you can see anything and everything technical that you would be interested in in that model.
The photos that were chosen were stunning. It is amazing to see how cars used to be, and how different they look nowadays. We also get to see the construction of multiple models of Corvette and the behind the scenes in some of the factory production process.
If you are a car enthusiast then this is probably right up your alley, but for the casual car fan then it may be a tad too involved to fully enjoy it.
October 27, 2024
With sentences like “Like a teenage boy late for his prom, America was late coming to embrace the Corvette” Mueller got me.
This is a coffee table tome (weighs in at 2.11 kg) that gets its heft from the sheer amount of facts, stats, technical info, and fantastic black and white and colour photos printed on virtually every page. Mueller’s enthusiasm for the model is palpable, his love of the design embedded from front cover to back cover.
I loved many of his turns of phrase and euphemisms such as his referring to the pipe-smoking designer/engineers at GM Corporate as “the bow-tie boys”. The writing sparkles with many such humorous asides. Then there is his reverence for the legendary designer of the small block V8 engine - Zora Arkus-Duntov, the icons Harley Earl, who designed the first production model, and Peter Brock, who styled the classic “Stingray” model we think of when we hear the word “Corvette”.
This is a book for anyone who recognizes innovation, iconic style, and elegant design: think Fender guitars, the Marcel Breuer “Wassily chair” and Le Corbusier’s chaise lounge; the architectural beauty of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Falling Water” and Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut. This is a book that ought to be on your shelf as a tribute to design innovation. And it is an easy read: easy to understand technical jargon, fun facts, memorable euphemisms. Oh! And LOTS of stunning photographs!
This is a coffee table tome (weighs in at 2.11 kg) that gets its heft from the sheer amount of facts, stats, technical info, and fantastic black and white and colour photos printed on virtually every page. Mueller’s enthusiasm for the model is palpable, his love of the design embedded from front cover to back cover.
I loved many of his turns of phrase and euphemisms such as his referring to the pipe-smoking designer/engineers at GM Corporate as “the bow-tie boys”. The writing sparkles with many such humorous asides. Then there is his reverence for the legendary designer of the small block V8 engine - Zora Arkus-Duntov, the icons Harley Earl, who designed the first production model, and Peter Brock, who styled the classic “Stingray” model we think of when we hear the word “Corvette”.
This is a book for anyone who recognizes innovation, iconic style, and elegant design: think Fender guitars, the Marcel Breuer “Wassily chair” and Le Corbusier’s chaise lounge; the architectural beauty of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Falling Water” and Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut. This is a book that ought to be on your shelf as a tribute to design innovation. And it is an easy read: easy to understand technical jargon, fun facts, memorable euphemisms. Oh! And LOTS of stunning photographs!
August 22, 2020
The Complete Book of Corvette: Every Model Since 1953 by Mike Mueller exceeded my expectations in both appearance and information given.
I was expecting a book with wonderful photographs and a little bit of information about each model. I would have been perfectly happy with such a book. While the pictures were as expected, plentiful and well-chosen for both appearance and historical importance, it was the accompanying text that I really came to enjoy as much as the images.
While not a detailed history of the Corvette, that would take a large volume since it would involve everything from design and engineering, financing, company politics, and who knows what else, this does a very good job of offering some narrative to the story rather than simply information about each model. From what the competition was doing (think the first Thunderbirds) to what features were tested but didn't make it into the production models (though they often did for later models, witness the last entry in the book, the mid-engine model).
Highly recommend this to everyone with an interest in the Corvette, from the diehard fan to the casual fan. I only owned one in my lifetime ('63 split window) so fall some place between the extremes on the spectrum, but always appreciate learning about the evolution of a product.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I was expecting a book with wonderful photographs and a little bit of information about each model. I would have been perfectly happy with such a book. While the pictures were as expected, plentiful and well-chosen for both appearance and historical importance, it was the accompanying text that I really came to enjoy as much as the images.
While not a detailed history of the Corvette, that would take a large volume since it would involve everything from design and engineering, financing, company politics, and who knows what else, this does a very good job of offering some narrative to the story rather than simply information about each model. From what the competition was doing (think the first Thunderbirds) to what features were tested but didn't make it into the production models (though they often did for later models, witness the last entry in the book, the mid-engine model).
Highly recommend this to everyone with an interest in the Corvette, from the diehard fan to the casual fan. I only owned one in my lifetime ('63 split window) so fall some place between the extremes on the spectrum, but always appreciate learning about the evolution of a product.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
October 28, 2020
I have all the Complete book of Corvettes and Now I have the 2020 Version featuring the nose of the 2020 C8 Corvette on the cover and beautiful c3 roadster stingray on the back, it covers up to the C8 or Mid-Engine Corvette of 2020 and includes the C8.R , Beautifully done Large Hardcover with Dustjacket coffee-table book and written brilliantly as is typical of Mike Mueller's work. You will not be disappointed.This Revised and Updated book is a just to any Corvette collection.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews