What brand of car is there with two crossed flags?

American movies pursue large-scale productions; American cars pursue high horsepower and large displacement, but the effects they present are quite consistent, that is, they are completely luxurious. Corvette, as the first sports car in the United States, has been around for 50 years and half a century since its birth in 1953, with its powerful power, outstanding performance, dazzling style and comfortable rides. The driving experience has conquered countless demanding sports car enthusiasts. Today, the Corvette has become a flag for American sports cars.

After World War II, the British Jaguar XK120 and MG TD sports cars successively entered the United States. This was undoubtedly a new thing for the free and unrestrained Americans, and its influence was beyond people's imagination. imagination. Rich people such as movie star Clark Gable will choose Jaguar, while ordinary people will favor MG sports cars.

GM’s legendary design master Harley Earl (1893-1969) saw the potential market for this new model in the United States. Unlike today's large and complex GM management model, GM's decisions in the 1950s were made by a few people. Earl is one of them. In 1951, Earl's son Jerry (Jerry) was very obsessed with Jaguar sports cars when he was in college. Earl then spent a lot of effort studying this European machine. After several visits to Europe, Earle decided that the United States also needed a two-seat high-speed sedan (sports car). In 1951, Earle organized the General Design Department to produce a large two-seater concept car called the Saber, but soon Earle discovered that a real sports car needs to have an elegant appearance. So he separated a group from GM's design department and they were responsible for the appearance design of the two-seater sports car. The two-seater sports car was named Project Opel at the time.

In order to have a beautiful shape, Earl used fiberglass materials in the Opel plan, which is easier to process complex shapes. In 1952, the Opel project was announced to be completed, and GM's sports car was officially displayed at the 1953 New York Auto Show. It is today's famous Corvette. The original meaning of Corvette was a fast escort gunboat in Britain in the 17th century. GM chose this name to deliberately emphasize its identity as a sports car and to challenge the popular British sports cars at the time.

GM initially produced the Corvette to satisfy a very small number of distinguished customers. The first Corvette launched in 1953 only produced 300 units before being discontinued. GM once wanted to give up, but in 1954 Ford launched the Thunderbird convertible two-seat sports car at the Detroit Auto Show. GM wanted to compete with it, but the Corvette brand persisted and remained standing for half a century. . With the development of the Corvette brand, today it is classified as GM's Chevrolet Division (sports car division).

The first-generation Corvette left us with a suspense. The first sports car in American history actually used an automatic transmission. From a common sense, a sports car that emphasizes sports should use a manual transmission. The emergence of this phenomenon shows that Americans do not understand the essence of sports cars. On the other hand, it may be that Earle estimated that the market for pure sports cars was not big enough at that time, and the use of automatic transmissions could broaden the market. Regardless, the first-generation Corvette was a success, with 300 units produced. Compared with GM's Corvette, Ford's Thunderbird sports car was more "civilian" and sold better. However, in order to compete for a larger market after 1957, the Thunderbird became a 4-seat sedan, thus gradually fading out of the sports car market. . In the following decades, the rivalry between Corvette and Dodge Viper became the main theme of American sports cars.

After J Mays assumed the position of Ford design director, he began the revitalization of the brand. The dynamic new Bronco and new Thunderbird are brought to the forefront. Faced with Ford's increasing pressure, GM was naturally not to be outdone. After the 50th anniversary celebration version of Corvette 50SE (Special Edition) was launched in 2003, it once again launched the sixth-generation Corvette C6 at the 2004 North American Auto Show. .