Chevrolet Corvette (1953)

The Corvette was America's first two-seat sports car. The outer body was made out of a revolutionary new composite material called fiberglass, selected in part because of steel quotas left over from the war. Underneath that radical new body were standard Chevrolet components, including the "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder truck engine, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, and drum brakes from Chevrolet's regular car line. Though the engine's output was increased somewhat, thanks to a triple-carburetor intake exclusive to the Corvette, performance of the car was decidedly lackluster.

In 1954, sales were still low, and GM was seriously considering shelving the project, but the influence of a Soviet emigré in GM's engineering department, Zora Arkus-Duntov, changed all. Arkus-Duntov simply took the new V8 and backed it with a three-speed. That modification, probably the single most important in the car's history, helped turn the Corvette from a two-seat curiosity into a genuine performer. It also earned Arkus-Duntov the rather inaccurate nickname "Father of the Corvette."