Corvette celebrates 60th anniversary in music

This year is the 60th birthday of the Chevrolet Corvette muscle car, the iconic motor that rivals the Ford Mustang as the ultimate American performance symbol.

However, some of us are wondering if Chevrolet has got its dates right, as the Corvette is generally said to date 1953…

On Bing: see images of the Chevrolet Corvette

First Drive: Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible (2011 onwards)

How do we know this? Firstly, the original ‘Vette was shown to the public in January of the same year at General Motors Motorama in New York, with production starting six months later.

Secondly, at the 2003 24 hours of Le Mans, the Chevrolet Corvette C5 R race cars were painted in a special red, white and blue livery to celebrate the vehicle’s 50th birthday – one wore number 50 to highlight this, the other 53, pertaining to its year of ‘birth’.

All the same, in its 59 or 60 years of existence (and to be fair, the original “EX-122” prototype was given the Corvette name in 1952, even if it didn’t actually appear in public until the following year) Chevy is keen to point out the influence the Corvette has had on music.

Yes, music.

The American manufacturer reckons the car has inspired plenty of pop songs, with over 600 tunes mentioning the famous manufacturer.

Aside from Prince’s classic hit ‘Little Red Corvette’, there are also references to the marque in the famous Don McLean track, ‘American Pie’ and Eric Clapton’s ‘I’ve Got A Rock ‘N’ Roll Heart’. It’s quite the pop culture icon. Ahem.

Anyway, to celebrate the firm’s influence on music history and the 60th (or 59th) anniversary of the Corvette, the American manufacture has put together a top 10 playlist for summer, featuring:

-> Prince – Little Red Corvette

-> Bon Jovi – 99 In The Shade

-> Don McLean – American Pie

-> Elton John – Crocodile Rock

-> Eric Clapton – I’ve Got A Rock ‘N’ Roll Heart

-> Taylor Swift – Tim McGraw

-> Kings Of Leon – Camaro

-> OMC – How Bizarre

-> Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Greeting Song

-> The Who – Water

10 points for the first person to spot the Chevy related lyric in each song…

Find out how much a used Chevrolet Corvette is worth on Auto Trader

On Bing: see images of the Chevrolet Corvette

First Drive: Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Convertible (2011 onwards)