Throwback Thursday – “Corvette-Powered” Exhibit at the National Corvette Museum

Bowling Green has been the home of Corvette since 1981, and home to the National Corvette Museum since 1994. The museum’s exhibit hall features rotating displays a couple times a year. For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we visit the current exhibit: “Corvette-Powered.” Perhaps the most interesting part of this exhibit is that none of the vehicles on display are Corvettes!

The “Corvette-Powered” exhibit is all about Corvette engines and drivelines being utilized in other vehicles. Cars in this display are specifically not Corvettes, and some weren’t even manufactured by General Motors. The Corvette engine was a motor marvel of its time, and several auto and boat makers from around the world asked General Motors for permission to use Corvette engines or drivelines in different vehicles from the 1950s thru the 1970s.

According to the Corvette Museum staff, the Chevrolet small-block V8 engine was unlike anything American auto companies had ever produced. European and American sportscar makers sought out the design, and even boat builders were interested. The word “Corvette” was originally the name of a small type of warship used during the Second World War.

Some car that visitors will find on display in this exhibit include a 1958 Scarab, 1967 Bizzarini Strada, 1965 Impala, a 1966 Excalibur, 1969 Mangusta, 1977 Avanti II, and more. These Corvette-powered vehicles will be on display until the Michelin NCM Bash event at the end of April. Bash is the museum’s largest springtime event and always includes Corvette celebrity appearances, unique seminars, road trip tours around Kentucky, and more.