2003 50th Anniversary Corvette Illustrated Series No.117

I’m certain that by the end of 1953, no one in GM imagined that the Corvette would still be in production 50 years later, or that it would have evolved into a world-class sports car. When you look back at what a parts-bin car the ‘53 Vette was, it’s amazing it lasted even a few years, let alone 50-plus. The Corvette was GM Chief of Styling Harley Earl’s home-grown answer for the many GIs who had just returned from the front with a taste for European sports cars. There wasn’t a single American-made sports car in 1953, and frankly, most Americans just didn’t understand the little Chevy.

Were it not for a new material called fiberglass, the Corvette would never have been more than a color rendering. While it was more labor intensive to hand-build all of the body components from fiberglass, it was much less expensive than making tooling for a steel body. Even if the car was a flop, GM’s investment in the project amounted to little more than some wooden molds and a few improved off-the-shelf Chevy parts. What initially looked like a big gamble for GM was really a low-risk wager.

Not everyone inside GM was thrilled with the Corvette, and many wanted to see it go away. Fortunately for the struggling Vette, a passionate Russian engineer named Zora Arkus-Duntov was hired to apply his considerable skills to the car’s development. In short order, Duntov whipped the Corvette into shape and issued a resounding call to action: “Let’s go racing!” Almost overnight, the Corvette went from being a beauty queen to a street-fighting tough guy.

Thanks to his passion for road racing, Duntov was able to imbue the Corvette with a performance bent that never went away. By the time the ‘63 Sting Ray came along, sales were in the 20,000-per-year range, more than enough to ensure the Corvette’s continued existence at GM. With the arrival of the big-blocks in ‘65, Corvette performance achieved legendary status. The Mako Shark-inspired ’68 to ‘82 Corvette was the longest-running of the five generations, and the ’79 model sold an all-time record of 53,807 units. The C4 cars were the ultimate comeback Vettes. Their domination of showroom-stock racing was so complete that they were forced to run in their own series, the Corvette Challenge. In ‘90 we saw the most outrageous production Corvette ever - the double-overhead-cam ZR-1. Costing just over $68,000, it was also the most expensive Vette to date.

When the fifth-generation Vette arrived in ’97, it was like the Sixties all over again. The lightweight, 345hp C5 was as quick as (and much faster than) a ‘66 427 model, got much better gas mileage, and was a lot quieter and more refined. Incredibly, the design of the C5 used some 1,200 fewer parts than the C4. Unlike the ’86 C4 convertible, the C5 was designed from the beginning to be a convertible, making the topless car as rigid as the coupe version. Road testers were astounded at the rigidity of the C5 roadster. The hardtop model that came along in ‘99 as the “affordable” Vette became the “performance Corvette” in ’01, as the 385hp Z06. Corvettes had never been quicker, faster, or better.

The $5,000 ‘03 50th Anniversary option was available on all coupes and convertibles, but not on the Z06. Although the car didn’t have loud, pace-car graphics or add-ons, you couldn’t miss the special Anniversary Red paint, which was designed to glow, rather than sparkle. The exterior included unique front-fender emblems and champagne-color painted wheels. The package also included GM’s latest active-suspension option, the $1,695 Magnetic Selective Ride Control System, as well as the 1SB Preferred Equipment Group. This sub-package included the heads-up display, power telescoping steering column, electro-chromic mirrors, memory package, and Twilight Sentinel.

From the driver’s seat, you couldn’t miss the Anniversary package’s interior trim. The shale-colored cabin featured lighter gray-beige seats and carpeting along with a darker gray-beige console, instrument panel, and upper door panels. Also included were special embroidered logos on the seat headrests and floor mats. Somewhat confusingly, all ‘03 Corvettes had the 50th Anniversary emblems on their hood, rear deck, manual, and key blanks, as well as on the tachometer and speedometer.

Despite the option’s $5,000 price tag, an astounding 11,632 50th Anniversary specials were sold. That’s 32 percent of all ‘03 Corvettes. A loaded Anniversary coupe cost just over $52,600, while the roadster went for just over $58,700. The 50th Anniversary Corvette may not have been the baddest Vette ever made, but it had top-shelf trim and 350 horses under the hood. Sweet!