In 1951, GM’s chief designer, Harley Earl, fell in love with German sports cars and his wheels began to turn, leading to the birth of the Chevy Corvette in 1953. The iconic Polo White and Sportsman Red exterior were the colors of envy everywhere from then on.

The Corvette continued to improve throughout its first couple of years, getting more color options, a bigger engine, convertible styling, and a redesigned exterior. The C2 brought about the Corvette Stingray in 1963 and—with numerous changes—the C3 was introduced in 1968. The C4 debuted in 1984 and was significantly more powerful, and on the list of every sports car enthusiast for the next 12 years. To excite drivers even more, the Corvette ZR-1 debuted in 1990. To commemorate the Corvette’s success, the National Corvette Museum was opened in 1994. The C5 would go on to have a shorter life span (1997-2004) and the C6 just recently being replaced by today’s C7, introduced just last year.

Today’s Corvette is badder than ever before with the Stingray packing a 6.2-liter V8 that generates 455 horsepower, and the range topping Z06 supercar providing 650 horsepower. Its performance prowess is desired all-around the world.