Chevrolet recently released an image of the first C8 Corvette rolling off the assembly line; this particular example of the new 2020 Corvette was sold to Rick Hendrick for a charity bid of $3 million. That sent us digging through our archives, as well as the GM Media Archives, where we discovered these amazing pictures of the 1953 Corvette on its Flint, Michigan, assembly line. According to the picture captions, these pictures were taken on June 30, 1953. Compare that with the picture of the C8 taken on February 3 from the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.
Rumors of a mid-engine version have swirled for more than 50 years, and while we’ve driven and tested preproduction cars, poked and prodded many examples, and even watched the car race at Daytona’s Rolex 24 Hour race, seeing an actual salable mid-engine Vette roll off the line struck us as altogether very, very cool. It’s really, truly, no-doubt real, and arguably the most highly anticipated Corvette since the car’s introduction. Enjoy a quick trip down C1 memory lane, as well as another look at the C8 in the gallery below:
