1997 Saw the Birth of the C5 Corvette

  Production of the C5 Corvette began in 1997 and ended with the 2004 model year. The C5 was a major change from the long running C4. The transmission was moved to the rear of the car to form an integrated rear mounted transaxle assembly and was connected to the engine by a driveshaft. Gone were most of the squeaks and rattles of the C4. The new Corvette  was judged by the automotive press as improved in nearly every area over the previous Corvette design.

  Also introduced with the C5 Corvette was GM's new LS1 small block. This third generation small block was a completely new design, including a distributor less ignition and a new cylinder firing order. It was initially rated at 345 horsepower and 350 ft•lb torque, but was increased to 350 horsepower in 2001.

  In its first year, the C5 Corvette was available only as a coupe, even though the new platform was designed from the ground up to be a convertible. The convertible returned to the lineup in 1998, followed by the predecessor to the Z06, the fixed roof coupe, in 1999.

  The 50th Anniversary of the Corvette was celebrated June 20 and 21, 2003, in Nashville, Tennessee. The venue provided a bonanza of flawlessly restored Corvettes. Also, a worldwide caravan of over 10,000 Corvettes gathered at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. with every model year of the Corvette along with engineering and restoration seminars. Participants were also invited to visit the factory located across from the museum, with special tours not provided to the general public. The anniversary also brought some Chevrolet Concept Vehicles into focus including the approved for production Chevrolet SSR. Also on hand were several Corvette race cars, including the Corvette SS built by Zora Arkus Duntov and the C5R that won its class at Le Mans. Among the many displays were examples of the 2003 50th Anniversary Edition as well as a few 2004 "Commemorative Edition" and Indy Pace Car Corvettes.

  Recently, the factory was expanded to build the Cadillac XLR roadster, which shares its platform with the sixth generation Corvette. Bowling Green is also home to the Corvette Museum, which celebrates this American automotive icon by displaying in chronological order the various regular production models as well as some unique one off versions created by Chevrolet. Bowling Green is also the home of the National Corvette Homecoming, a large annual gathering of Corvettes and their owners.

  The building in Flint in which the first cars were assembled was spun off with GM's Delphi Electronics division and later donated to GMI and or Kettering University in the late 1990s. The building has since been remodeled and is now the C.S. Mott Engineering and Science Center, housing the Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry programs. In the garage housing the school's Society of Automotive Engineers club is a plaque commemorating it as the place where the first Corvette was built.