On This Day

Monday 1st June 1981

39 years ago

Production of Corvettes began at a new plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, US and the facility has remained the exclusive home of the Corvette ever since. Known around the world as America’s sports car, the Corvette exemplifies the definition of innovation. The Corvette is the world’s longest-running, continuously produced passenger car. When the first Corvette rolled off the line over 60 years ago, it was born an icon. GM has continued this reputation for the car with six decades of refinement and innovation, raising the bar for performance cars with each generation. The Corvette Stingray is no exception; man and machine work in harmony to bring to life the perfect balance of technology, design and performance. Corvette didn’t always call Kentucky home, however. In 1953, the first 300 were built by hand in Flint, Michigan, just after General Motors unveiled the Corvette as a “dream car” in the Motorama show in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. The following year, production moved to St. Louis. In June of 1981, Corvette production transferred from St. Louis to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Previously a Chrysler air-conditioning unit factory, the building was completely renovated within 14 months into a modern automotive facility twice the size of the previous structure. At the conclusion of the 1996 production year, the entire plant was gutted to make way for a totally redesigned manufacturing facility for the fifth generation Corvette. Production of the XLR began in June 2003 and ceased on April 30, 2009. The plant built the 1 millionth Corvette on July 2, 1992 and the 1.5 millionth on May 28, 2009. The 50th anniversary of the Corvette was celebrated in June 2003, marked with a special 50th anniversary Corvette package, and the 30th anniversary of Bowling Green Assembly was celebrated in June 2011.