Today is National Corvette Day, Celebrate Accordingly
For people who love celebrating the relatively obscure anniversaries of popular car models, this is truly the holiday season.
Not only are we in the midst of the Honda Accord’s 40th anniversary and the Chevy Camaro’s 50th, but today is also National Corvette Day! Hooray… I suppose!
The first production Corvette rolled off of the Flint, Michigan, assembly line exactly 63 years ago today, on June 30, 1953. And on June 26, 2008, the US House of Representative officially designated June 30th as National Corvette Day, in a move that Politico characterized at the time as the “stupid House resolution of the week.”
The resolution reads, in full:
H. Res. 970
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
June 26, 2008.
Whereas the Chevrolet Corvette is America’s first sports car;
Whereas the first production Corvette rolled off a Flint, Michigan, assembly line on June 30, 1953;
Whereas the Corvette is now manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky;
Whereas the Corvette is the most widely respected production sports car in United States history;
Whereas the Corvette is truly a symbol of American pride;
Whereas General Motors is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008; and
Whereas the 30th of June would be an appropriate day to designate as `National Corvette Day’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives supports the designation of a `National Corvette Day’ to honor the Chevrolet Corvette.
As “America’s Sports Car,” the Corvette is a vehicle that enjoys truly bipartisan support. The House resolution to create National Corvette Day was introduced by Republican Representative John Shimkus (R-Ill), but the current Democratic administration has also embraced the Vette, with Barack Obama driving an original 1963 Stingray at the White House and Joe Biden declaring the car better than Porsches during a commencement speech at Yale.
Much like patriotism and love of country, Corvette fandom is something that all Americans can appreciate, regardless of political persuasion. So go ahead and crack open a beer, invite your friends over for a cookout, and shoot off some fireworks—it’s National Corvette Day!
Patrick Grieve was born in Southwestern Ohio and has lived there all of his life, with the exception of a few years spent getting a Creative Writing degree in Southeastern Ohio. He loves to take road trips, sometimes to places as distant as Northeastern or even Northwestern Ohio. Patrick also enjoys old movies, shopping at thrift stores, going to ballgames, writing about those things, and watching Law & Order reruns. He just watches the original series, though, none of the spin-offs. And also only the ones they made before Jerry Orbach died. Season five was really the peak, in his opinion. See more articles by Patrick.