The Only One

Corvettes have come in a variety of colors over the 47 year history of the car but there is one color that has been available in each and every year…………………white. What? You thought ‘all Corvettes are red’ as the book on the development of the C-5eries said. But in 1953, you had your choice of any color as long as it was Polo White with red interior. White was and has been continuous ever since. Although in 2001, it was only available on the Z-06 in speedway white. Some years, especially the mid seventies, the color ‘classic’ white(code-10) was the most popular color chosen. It was a crisp, bright vibrant white and my very first Corvette, a 1976 coupe, was adorned in this color with the oxblood (or firethorn red) interior, a very sharp combination. In fact I am pretty sure that a red interior has been offered every year as well to compliment and pay homage to the 1953 car. In 1977 the 500,000th Corvette rolled off the assembly line in St Louis and it was white with red interior. Likewise in 1991, when the 1 million milestone was reached, that car was white with red as well. In 2010 white and red is still an available combination, although i think back to when the interior was all red and not just the seats and lower door panels. The combination remains fairly popular and I recall a conversation I had with Wil Cooksey, then Corvette plant manager, he told me that there were several discussions over the years about deleting the color from the Corvette line-up, but in the end, white always prevailed. This says something for nostalgia while paying tribute to a timeless classic with a new car purchase.