How the Corvette went from America's sports car to a competitor that could take on the world

The Z06 and ZR1 offerings haven't been officially announced yet. But if or when they come out, they'll probably make more than 1,000 horsepower.

That angered many purists.

Unfortunately, none of the C8 Corvettes will be offered with a manual transmission.

A V8 that makes about 500 horsepower in a mid-engine car that can be had for less than $60,000.

But it’s real, and it has a naturally aspirated V8 between its axles.

The 2020 C8 is sleek. Pointy faced. A little ungainly looking in profile, perhaps.

2020 Corvette. Chevrolet

More than six decades after the overheating race car and all of Zora Arkus-Duntov's dreaming, the car is real at last.

And in 2020, the world saw the first and official mid-engine Corvette.

It is currently the most powerful Corvette ever built from the factory.

The car made 755 horsepower and 715 pound-feet of torque from its supercharged, 6.2-liter LT5 V8.

I’d think 638 horsepower from the C6 was already enough, but clearly I don’t know anything.

And then came the C7 ZR1.

It produced 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque.

But this time it had a supercharged LT4 V8 engine.

The Z06 also appeared once more as a track weapon.

The C7 Stingrays had LT1 V8 engines that produced 460 horsepower.

Also, with the C7, GM brought back the "Stingray" designation for the base model.

The C7 also used an aluminum frame.

The rounded aesthetic it carried from the ‘50s was gone.

Its looks noticeably sharpened up.

The C7 Corvette spanned from 2014 to 2019.

Production of the C6 officially stopped on February 28, 2013.

It's two generations old, but it's aged very well.

The car is particularly striking in yellow.

There was also the Corvette C6.R, built for endurance racing.

Here are some Corvettes celebrating the brand's 50th anniversary of running at Le Mans at Laguna Seca Raceway.

2010 Corvette Racing Le Mans 50th Anniversary. Chevrolet

(Now called WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.)

It was so cool.

The car produced 638 horsepower and had a top speed of 205 mph.

The ZR1 had the same aluminum chassis structure found in the Z06 but also used more carbon-fiber body parts, including the roof panel.

In 2009 came the C6 ZR1 — a fire-breathing, supercharged monster.

It also weighed less than 3,200 pounds, so its power-to-weight ratio was excellent.

But the 2006 C6 Z06 was truly one of the coolest Corvettes ever made.

It was also the first Corvette to offer navigation.

It made 400 horsepower.

The C6 was powered by a 6.0-liter V8.

GM got with the times here and did away with the raised headlights.

The C6 generation spanned from 2005 to 2013.

The 2002 Z06 increased power to make a respectable 405 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque.

The 2001 C5 Z06 was a performance variant that had a 385-horsepower LS6 V8.

You can decide for yourself if that’s a good or bad thing.

This was because the C5 used way more plastic in its construction.

Despite it being larger than the C4, it was actually 100 pounds lighter than the car it replaced.

The C5 generation ran from 1997 to 2004.

The C4 Corvette was also incredibly aerodynamic.

The C4 ZR1's run spanned from 1990 to 1995.

Then came the ZR1, a Corvette made to take on the European sports cars.

These, according to GM, really "captured the zeitgeist of the circuit board era."

The car got an electroluminescent instrument panel with digital readouts.

The ‘80s and ‘90s signified the Corvette’s technology era.

The C4 generation ran from 1983 to 1996.

Still, something about the C3 worked.

Edmunds said it "overstayed its welcome by at least five years."

Maybe it's because the C3 was around for so long, but it's probably the least-liked generation by fans.

In 1981, GM moved Corvette production to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it remains today.

Corvette production had moved from Flint, Michigan, to St. Louis, Missouri in the 1950s.

The name was also slightly changed from “Sting Ray” to “Stingray,” but Corvette fans preferred to call the C3 a “shark.”

Regardless, the C3 was still cool, with its aggressive styling, long hood, and retractable headlights.

Industry changes and tightening emissions resulted in 165-horsepower small-block engines in 1975.

Early C3s came with powerful, ozone-destroying, 435-horsepower big-block engines.

This is also the Corvette that weathered the oil crisis in the 1970s, which devastated the muscle-car industry.

The C3 is currently the Corvette's longest-running generation, spanning from 1968 to 1982.

Because the Corvette was now offered as a coupe, GM was able to nearly double its sales.

Ultimately, the split-window design was abandoned after a time because it resulted in poor visibility.

It also had one of the most beautiful Corvette designs in history: the split rear window.

Whereas the C1 used a modified passenger-sedan platform, the C2 was built on a completely new and dedicated platform.

It was nicknamed “Sting Ray” after the influential concept car.

The C2 Corvette lasted from 1963 to 1967.

At the race's end, only one Corvette was still running and finished 8th overall.

Also in 1960, the model made its debut at the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France with three race-prepped Corvettes.

The 1960 Corvette was the last Corvette to feature the "teeth" looking front grille.

The 1959 Sting Ray Racer was a concept that embodied the aesthetics of speed in its day.

But no mid-engine car came.

The year the C1 Corvette came out, a Belgian engineer named Zora Arkus-Duntov began trying to shape it into something much more performance oriented.

All first-generation Corvettes were convertibles.

As of 1955, the car was available with a 265 cubic-inch small-block V8 and a three-speed manual transmission.

In those days, fiberglass was also more flexible than something that could be stamped out in a steel press, so the resulting Corvette's body was curvier than most had ever seen before.

It was the first mass-produced car to have an all-fiberglass body, making it very light.

On June 30, the first production-ready Corvette was built at an assembly plant in Flint, Michigan.

The Corvette logo bore two crossed flags: a checkered one and one with the Chevrolet bow-tie and a fleur-de-lis — a French symbol for purity.

1953 Corvette logo. Chevrolet

On January 17, 1953, the Chevrolet C1 Corvette was displayed as a "dream car" at the General Motors Motorama exposition at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.