CORVETTE

The star player, of course, is the car itself. Ludvigsen painstakingly traces the evolution of its design, its structural engineering, and its power and performance-including extensive coverage of Corvette racing at both the amateur and professional levels. Technical drawings and colorful promotional photos of each production model are wonderfully balanced with superb shots of racing Corvettes and their drivers in action.

Also new for this edition are the author's insights into competitors like the Bricklin and Pantera. Newly researched sidebars describe the influential LaSalle II concept cars, Bill Thomas's Cheetah, Zora Duntov's European years, custom bodies on Corvettes, the St. Louis plant, the author's impressions of CERV II and Bill Mitchell's personal views on the Corvette.

When it was published in 1973, 'Star-Spangled Sports Car' broke new ground as the first book devoted entirely to a single car model. It has since been credited with helping to kick-start the exciting Corvette hobby. Four decades after its original publication Classic and Sports Car declared, "Karl Ludvigsen's Corvette history remains the bible".

What makes 'Corvette - America's Star-Spangled Sports Car: The Complete History, 1953-1982' unique is the fact that Ludvigsen does not stop at recounting what happened or cataloging model-year changes, equipment options, etc. (though these facts are well covered). He has added depth to the Corvette story through his desire to understand why the Corvette evolved as it did. Drawing on his many years in the industry and his expertise as an automotive historian, Ludvigsen takes the reader behind the scenes to reveal an insider's view of the people and events that gave rise to America's favorite sports car.

Since the release of the first Corvette in 1953, Chevrolet’s flagship sports car has become a timeless part of American culture and a household name across the globe. No matter the model or year, one can instantly pick out a ’Vette—from the four chrome-ringed headlamps of the late-1950s models to the sharp edges of the 1960s Sting Ray, the signature curved wheel-well moldings on 1970s bodies, and up to the aggressive aerodynamics of the Corvette C6. But while all are undeniably beautiful machines, none approach the astonishing technology packed into Chevrolet’s latest: the seventh-generation 2014 Corvette Stingray, which marks the historic resurgence of the Stingray badge for the first time since the mid-1970s. In 'The Complete Book of Corvette', American automotive expert Mike Mueller details all of the generations, offering the definitive, all-encompassing volume showcasing over 60 years of Corvette history. Created in cooperation with General Motors and illustrated with 500 color and black-and-white photos from GM’s exclusive Design and Media Archives, the book highlights the development, tech specs, and visual prowess of the entire Corvette line. From that first 1953 ’Vette to the brand-new 2014 Corvette Stingray—the triumphant culmination of Chevrolet’s longstanding sports car expertise—'The Complete Book of Corvette' pays tribute to one of America’s proudest sports car traditions and the innovative company behind it.