A Dream Fulfilled: National Corvette Museum’s 25th Anniversary

A quarter-century after it opened, the National Corvette Museum throws a big birthday party for itself and thousands of its friends.

Corvettes have been a part of my life in some way for as long as I can remember. One of my middle school English teachers owned a red C4, which she drove to work every day. One of my high school English teachers had a late C3 in gray that she would drive on occasion, until a house fire melted her car away. And of course, my dad has a green ’79 C3 in his garage, equipped with a t-top, functional side pipes, a 350 V8 attached to an automatic, and its stock wheels.

While I was growing up with the Corvette, a wonderful thing happened over in Bowling Green, Kentucky, not far from where America’s beloved sports car was made: the birth of the National Corvette Museum. It would be 25 years before we would meet at last, but what a meeting it was, one I’d like to share with you.

Upon pulling into the grassy lot not far from the museum, I found myself a behemoth among Corvettes with the Dodge Challenger R/T I was given at the rental counter in Louisville (I would have liked to rented a Corvette for the trip, but alas, the rental counter I needed to make that happen down in Nashville has no after-hours returns, and is also closed on the weekends). I did receive some lighthearted teasing from the owners parked near me, but they appreciated that I at least showed up with a big V8 under the hood.

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As far as my eyes could see, there were Corvettes of every stripe and generation parked upon the green grass under the blue skies over Bowling Green. One could spend more than a few hours alone just lost in the splendor of V8s wrapped in fiberglass and carbon fiber; most of them from the C3 generation on. But of course, there was a whole museum’s worth of Corvette waiting to be explored.

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After a few minutes of walking, I happened upon a special red C4 parked not too far from the biggest Corvette happening alongside the museum’s silver celebration–more on that in a moment. Under the long hood of this 1989 model was not a V8, but a V12. Yes, this was the Corvette ZR-12, created from an early production ZR-1 as a response to the then-upcoming Dodge Viper.

The long, 600 cubic-inch mill, built by Ryan Falconer Racing Engines, was originally for cigarette boats and kit planes, but instead gave the ‘Vette 686 thunderhorses and 680 lb-ft of torque to the rears; the ZR-1’s V8 (boasting its own ties to powerboats) made 375 horses and 370 lb-ft of torque to the rears. But this red C4 was only the opening act for the headliner just a few feet away.

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That’s right: the C8 Corvette travelling display was parked next to the museum, where guests waiting in line could check out one in Ceramic Matrix Gray.

The day before, a white C8 blew past me on I-65 South on my way back to my hotel in Bowling Green, which I would have had someone else snap on my phone…if someone was in the passenger seat next to me. This time, though, all I had to do was wait in line to check out all that this new era would bring.

“I’m down here from Detroit with a bunch of the C8s here,” said General Motors chief creative designer Brian Stoeckel. “The reception’s been fantastic. Everybody seems to really love it. We’re really happy to be talking to all of our customers, showing them all of the great work that the team has done.”

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Seeing the C8 Corvette in person for the first time was astounding. Right away, I looked down into the frunk (front loading trunk) and noticed just how deep the rabbit hole really went. I could drop a couple of my favorite duffle bags in there, and still be able to close the hood.

The interior looked lovely covered in gray suede and leather with red stitching. It is the perfect place to be when all you want to do is have some fun cruising on the boulevard. And of course, the removable roof locks into place in the rear trunk area, for those when you want to praise the sun.

“The main goal on [the C8 Corvette] was to get the cockpit as lean as possible,” said Stoeckel. “We tried to really push all the shapes and volumes down, give more space for the customer…we have an inch more legroom on the C8 than we did on the C7, and the seats recline more. The cockpit is much more spacious, and it’s also very futuristic. We also worked very hard to make sure that all of the materials felt really nice. Everything that you can touch is wrapped [in leather], aluminum, stainless steel, carbon fiber…[we] put a lot of work in to try to remove plastic from the interior.”

And all of that is, of course, so you and yours can enjoy not only a better view of the road ahead, but the power of the 6.2-liter, naturally aspirated LT2 V8 behind you. The centerpiece of the new Corvette delivers up to 495 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque to the rears via an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, the only transmission currently available.

“It’s [the] perfect evolution of what a Corvette is,” said Stoeckel. “Zora [Arkus-Duntov] was always trying to push the mid-engine [idea] through the years, but GM management knew that a Corvette had to be more than just a performance machine: it had to be usable every day. The time is right where we can make it mid-engine, but still make it attainable on a price standpoint, and usable every day.”

Next up: We tour the National Corvette Museum, guided by yours truly. Until then, here’s a nice gallery of everything thus far. I’ll see you inside.

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Photos for for Corvette Forum by Cameron Aubernon 

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