Chronology of Events in the History of Corvettes

1970

1971

(month unknown)

• Tony DeLorenzo's Corvette finishes first in GT category and fourth overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona race. This will stand as the Corvette's best placing at this race. [104.151] [35.37] [175.84]

June

• A full-size fiberglass model of a Wankel-engined Corvette prototype is completed, and shown to top management of General Motors. General Motors President Ed Cole approves construction of a complete running car. [47.57]

(month unknown)

• Car and Driver magazine's Readers' Choice Poll votes the Corvette "Best Sports/GT Car (Category III)", and "Best All-around Car". [43.61]

(month unknown)

• General Motors' president anticipates the upcoming Clean Air Act by ruling that all of General Motors' cars should be designed to run on no more than 91-octane gas, which would be lead-free. [6]

1972

(month unknown)

• An L88-equipped Corvette driven by Heinz/Johnson finishes first in GT category and fourth overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona race. [104.151] [172.51]

March

• At the 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida, Dave Heinz and Bob Johnson race Toye English's 1969 L88 convertible to first in GT class. [104.151] [147.19]

(month unknown)

• Dick Gerstenberg puts a final stop to current mid-engine Corvette projects, on the basis that the car is selling well enough without need for such a radical change. [5]

(month unknown)

• John Greenwood races Corvettes at the Le Mans race in Europe, setting a Mulsanne straight-away record of 211 mph. [79.72]

(month unknown)

• General Motors donates the CERV I and CERV II research cars to the Briggs Cunningham Museum, in Costa Mesa, California. [11] [17]

1973

March

• The driving team of John Greenwood, Ron Grable, and Mike Brockman drive a Corvette to a win in its class at Sebring, and taking third place overall, the best ever showing for a Corvette at Sebring. [79.72]

June

• Corvette Corral, forerunner to Bloomington Gold, is first held, in Bloomington, Illinois. [131.77] [167.65] [169.36] (1972 [103])

September 13

• General Motors show a 266ci two-rotor Wankel-engined test Corvette at the 45th German Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany. The car is called Corvette 2-Rotor, (code name XP-897GT) with a steel body. [5] [45.34] [104.139]

October 4

• General Motors premieres the 390ci mid-engined Corvette Four-Rotor prototype at the Paris Automobile Salon in France. The Corvette Two-Rotor is also shown. Both use rotary engines based on Wankel technology. [5] [90] [117.55] [147] [158.32]

1974

(month unknown)

• Chevrolet contracts Reynolds to build an all-aluminum show car, code-named XP-895. [88.49]

(month unknown)

• Jerry Palmer is given responsibility for all production Corvette design starting with the 1976 model. [152.29]

September 24

• General Motors president Ed Cole announces that the company is postponing the introduction of a Wankel-based rotary engine, due to difficulties in meeting proposed emissions standards. [52.53] [65.53]

1975

January 1

• Zora Arkus-Duntov officially resigns from Chevrolet; David McLellan takes over as chief engineer. [3] [5] [6] [104.81,84] [152.27] [173.73] (December [48.39])

May

• A Car and Driver Reader's Choice Poll names the Corvette as "Best All-around Car". [16]

July

• The last 1975 model-year convertible Stingray rolls off the assembly line. [141.42] [148.64] (June [42.72])

(month unknown)

• Jerry Palmer's Chevy Three design studio proposes a mid-engine Corvette design, using a V6 engine. [86.45]

1976

(month unknown)

• The Four-Rotor Corvette is given a small-block V-8 in place of its rotary engine, and renamed Aerovette. [79.60] (1975 [104.140])

1977

March 14

• The 500,000th Corvette drives off the assembly line. [4] [53.22] [79.55] (March 15 [5] [84.13])

July

• Bill Mitchell resigns from General Motors. [3] [6] [32] [34]

(month unknown)

• General Motors' Chevy 3 Studio begins sketching an all-new Corvette. [137.44]

1978

March 27

• The Wall Street Journal runs a front-page article about the 1978 Corvette Indianapolis 500 Pace Cars, indicating they would be excellent investments. [9]

May 28

• The 62nd Indianapolis 500 race begins, with a 1978 Corvette as official pace car. [26] [61.22] [140.81]

June

• The movie "Corvette Summer" premieres, in Maumee, a suburb of Toledo, Ohio. Terry Michaelis, of T. Michaelis Corvette Supplies, Inc. arranged to have the world premiere there, and raffles off a 1978 Corvette Indy pace car replica. Plus, every Corvette in the country was invited to the party. The Corvette parade set a new mark in the Guiness Book of Records, at somewhere between 5000 and 7000 Corvettes. [9] [63.53] [130.95] (May 20 [135.9]) (1973 [177.41])

June

• The first Bloomington Gold Corvette show is held. It was formerly called Corvette Corral. [27.B63]

1979

(month unknown)

• At the Bonneville Speed Week on the Utah Salt Flats, Duane McKinney's 1968 Corvette takes B/GT Class with a record 210.762 mph, with a 468ci big-block engine. With its single four-barrel normally aspirated carburetor, this speed record makes it the fastest carbureted car in the world. [129.100]