1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1

The history of the Corvette dates back to 1953, as one of Harley Earl's projects at General Motors, eventually becoming an American icon in sports car history. When General Motors offered a V-8 for the Corvette in 1955, performance greatly improved and it became a fierce competitor on the track. Fuel-injection for 1957 moved performance to a whole new level. 1962 was the final year of the solid-axle Corvette and the company's 'Golden' 50th Anniversary. Chevrolet celebrated by offering a special paint scheme on the 1962 Impala in Anniversary Gold with Yellow-Gold interior. They had actually experimented with the Gold-on-Tan color combination on a Corvette before offering it on the 50th Anniversary Impala as an option. General Motors management felt the color scheme was better suited for the full-size line that would result in more sales, and subsequently, an estimated 350 Impala 50th Anniversary cars were produced for 1962.

Nonetheless, the 1962 Corvette was offered with a plethora of high-performance options, described in factory literature as 'special equipment for sports car meets.' Among the choices was the fuel-injected 327 cubic-inch V8 engine offering 360 horsepower and finding its way into 1,918 Corvettes. Of those, 246 were equipped with heavy-duty chassis equipment (RPO 687), which included fast-ratio steering, heavy-duty shock absorbers, and large sintered-metallic drum brakes with cooling fins, vented backing plates, and air scoops. Of those, just 65 were given the extra-large 24-gallon fuel tank (RPO 488), earning them the nickname 'tanker' Corvettes.

By 1962, the Corvette had scored international class victories at Le Mans and Sebring and was on its way to its sixth-consecutive SCCA B Production National Championship. The list of legendary drivers included Dr. Dick Thompson, Jim Jeffords, Bob Johnson, and Don Yenko. The original 265 cubic-inch displacement of 1955 had grown to 327 cubic inches in 1962, and the options list included the 'Duntov cam,' Rochester fuel injection, suspension packages, and competition brakes. New Chevrolet president Semon 'Bunkie' Knudsen, previously at the helm of the Pontiac Division, hired a new marketing team to help increase sales from 10,939 in 1961 to over 14,000 for 1962, a monumental task for an outgoing model. For this reason, Knudsen decided that only minimal changes were to be applied to the 1962 Corvette.

In 1961, the new 'ducktail' rear treatment foretold Corvette's dramatic 1963 Sting Ray. Styling Chief Bill Mitchell continued cleaning up the car's exterior, most noticeably removing the side cove trim and two-tone paint, a blacked-out grille, and adding ribbed rocker trim that would continue on the new 1963 models. Standard features included an electric clock, dual exhaust, heater and defroster, seat belts, windshield washer, tachometer, and outside rearview mirror.

The base engine was the 327 CID with 250 horsepower and 350 lbs-ft of torque. A three-speed manual all-synchromesh transmission with floor-mounted gear shifter was standard, and a two-speed Powerglide automatic was optional. A four-speed manual all-synchro was also available. Four-wheel hydraulic, internal-expanding, 11-inch diameter drums provided the stopping power.

1962 was the first year that the Corvette's base price exceeded the $4,000 mark. Total production reached 14,531, by far the highest number of Corvettes produced to date. 10,939 had been sold in 1961 and 10,261 in 1960. The 1963 Corvette would raise the bar even further, with over 21,500 examples sold.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2020