Steve Magnante's 1001 Corvette Facts. Steve Magnante
Legend and Lore
Body and Interior
Engine and Driveline
Suspension and Brakes
Number Crunching and Press Commentary
Chapter 7: 2005–2013 C6: More of a Good Thing
Legend and Lore
Body and Interior
Engine and Driveline
Suspension and Brakes
Number Crunching and Press Commentary
Chapter 8: 2014–Present C7: Fighter Jets on Wheels
Legend and Lore
Body and Interior
Engine and Driveline
Suspension and Brakes
Number Crunching and Press Commentary
Steve Magnante has been an automotive journalist since 1992 and an on-air member of the Barrett-Jackson collector-car-auction TV broadcast team since 2002. In both realms, Steve has been exposed to Corvettes of every description and value. He says, “The unique thing about Corvettes is the huge option list and ever-evolving platform. No other special-interest car has been offered with so many possible combinations of engine, transmission, exhaust system, suspension, brakes, interior trim, paint, wheels, and tires. But while the Fuelies, L88s, and ZR1s grab headlines, I’m equally excited by oddball stuff including a 1965 drum-brake-equipped Sting Ray, a Powerglide-equipped 427 big-block, the 1980 California-only 305 V-8 step-down option, any pre-1970 3-speed stick model, or the few preproduction test and prototype cars that escaped the crusher. They’re all weird and cool. The Corvette is the trivia fan’s dream car.”
Steve Magnante’s 1001 Corvette Facts follows Steve’s 1001 Muscle Car Facts (CarTech Books 2013) and 1001 Mustang Facts (CarTech Books 2017) and, like those well-reviewed works, is meant to inform, educate, and entertain. Steve also reminds readers that every one of the 1,001 facts contained within is just the tip of an iceberg of related information, saying, “I hope this book spurs curiosity and triggers readers to dig deeper into the fascinating world of the auto industry, vehicle design, and vehicle marketing in general.”
Speaking of digging deeper, as this book was being written, spy photos and information leaks surrounding the rumored C8 mid-engine Corvette program began to surface. Although the book’s production deadline precedes the official announcement of this mystery Vette by at least a year, ignoring what is likely to be the wildest Corvette ever wasn’t an option. Steve says, “Since the beginning, when General Motors used the code name ‘Opel’ to fool the magazine snoops into thinking the 1953 Corvette was an obscure foreign car, each new generation of Corvette has attracted speculation long before it materialized.” To address the mystery, Steve used his industry contacts and Internet scuttlebutt to unearth as many interesting tidbits as possible. How the actual C8 turns out remains to be seen.
Thus, some of the information presented in the final chapter is based on speculation and may be proven inaccurate by the passage of time. However, the rest of the book strives to be as correct as possible. Dig in, have fun, and enjoy Steve Magnante’s 1001 Corvette Facts.
Although the act of sitting at a desktop computer and compiling 1,001 facts about any subject is a solitary endeavor, this book would not have been possible without the help and/or inspiration provided by Craig Jackson, Steve Davis, Gary Bennett, Roy Sinor, Ro McGonegal, Bob Wilson, Mike Antonick, Marty Schorr, Cliff Gromer, Jim Dunne, Gary Penn, and the late automotive journalists Roger Huntington, Tad Burness, and Gray Baskerville.
A special thanks goes to Cookies, my furry cat pal who visited me frequently during long hours at the keyboard. Critters are one of life’s gifts, and while I actually prefer dogs to cats, I travel too much to keep a pup. So, Cookies, you’ll have to do.
Author Steve Magnante’s only Corvette (so far) changed his life.
Owning a Corvette changes your life. I know; I lived it. Back in 2006 I was living in Los Angeles, California, and I drove a baby blue 1979 Ford Pinto every day. Yes, a Pinto. Sure, I had some cool cars in the garage (a 520-inch Hemi Dart, an altered-wheelbase 1963 Nova funny car, and others), but I intentionally chose the disposable Pinto for the daily 62-mile run to and from my job as tech editor at Hot Rod.
Aside from instinctively reaching for gauze bandages whenever I heard cars skidding behind me in traffic, the only things I care to remember about the Pinto were how slow it was and how other drivers generally treated it, and its occupants, like dirt. Getting cut off and passed in traffic were daily events, and I noticed distinctly that gals on the sidewalk averted their eyes when I drove by. No joke. Little did they know that the “loser” behind the wheel had a good job and owned two houses, five very cool other cars, and 14 cats. Their loss, right? But it was L.A., where “you are what you drive.”
And so, on February 25, 2006, I paid $6,062.74 for a nice, original, white 1985 Corvette hatchback with an automatic transmission and base-level suspension. Instantly, my world changed. Loading groceries into the hatch at Vons supermarket often triggered random conversations with female shoppers, freeway and surface traffic seemed to part around me, and, yes, gals on the sidewalk even gave me a second look. I’d like to think we’re all above such materialistic instincts, but in my opinion it cannot be denied: A Corvette adds excitement to your life. And mine was a 20-year-old model at the time! Based on that small taste of things, I totally understand why some folks buy Corvettes.
But the real reason is because of how they perform. With its 230-hp Tuned Port 350 and base suspension, my C4 wasn’t the 10-second thrill machine that my Hemi Dart was, but it cornered like nothing else I’d ever driven, and its big disc brakes were always up to the job. I grew to love late-night drives up the Angeles Crest Highway, a narrow two-lane twisting, turning route that led up into the mountains above L.A. Although the Gatorbacks were half-bald, the C4 had amazing grip, and mine was built one year before anti-lock brake systems were standardized, so stopping was never a concern.
Although my personal Corvette ownership experience didn’t revolve around a particularly rare big-block model or a much more advanced C5, C6, or C7, I get it. Corvettes are a breed apart from everything else on the road. Amazingly, Chevrolet didn’t build Corvettes by the dozens or hundreds like certain foreign supercars. Instead, Chevrolet cranked them out by the tens of thousands every year. Regular Joes and Jills with half-decent credit could actually own them.
Even exotic varieties with