Bloomington Gold Great Hall 2014: Design Milestone

Champaign IL, June 27 2014 - For the 5th and final year the Great Hall at Bloomington Gold recognized 10 people and 10 Corvettes that had a large impact on the Corvette phenomenon.

1983-1996 The C4 Corvette Design Milestone

A clean sheet of paper – For the first time in 15 years, Corvette updated its look and it’s engineering. The first generation Corvette (C1) was soft and rounded. The second generation (C2) resembled sharks. The third generation (C3) was swoopy. The new fourth generation (C4) looked like a wedge.

1983 held promise for a welcome relief from fourteen reiterations of the 1968 corvette. “Do something, even if it’s wrong.” Some who finally saw the new look of the C4 had second thoughts, but the C4 rejuvenated enthusiasm not seen since the hype surrounding the ’78 Pace Car.

Further, the C4 was a technically superior automobile on all counts except for the late 60’s horsepower. Still, top speeds were faster even though emissions standards were more stringent. C4s won so many SCCA showroom stock races, they were banned. Hence, a special race was created – The Corvette Challenge. Right after that, the potent 405 hp ZR-1 was introduced and has developed into any excellent mid-range collector car, today.

The new-fangled C4 was not for the hard core collector. Still isn’t. But the C4 served as the technological launch point for what made today’s world class sports car.