“Sportscar Named after a Naval Warship” and “VCR vs. Hollywood” - This Day in History – Jan 17th

Sports car named after a “Naval Warship” is premiered at Waldorf-Astoria

Back in 1953, General Motors’ (GM) Motorama unveiled the prototype of a new Chevrolet sports car, which is was named after a Naval Warship called the “Corvette,” at NYC’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

According to history.com “In the early 1950s, Harley Earl (1893-1969), the influential head designer for GM, then the world's largest automaker, became interested in developing a two-seat sports car. At the time, European automakers dominated the sports car market. Following the debut of the Corvette prototype at the Motorama show in January 1953, the first production Corvette was completed at a Flint, Michigan, plant on June 30, 1953. The car featured an all-fiberglass body, a white exterior and red interior, a relatively unremarkable 150-horsepower engine and a starting price tag of around $3,500 (not including taxes or an optional AM radio and heater). In an effort to give the Corvette an air of exclusivity, GM initially marketed the car to invitation-only VIP customers.”

However, the Corvette was not well received in America and had lackluster sales.  In 1955, General Motors was losing their sport car production to their competitor, Ford with their successful selling sports car, the two-seater, “Thunderbird.” 

General Motors fought back with a redesigned Corvette with the help of their new head engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who developed a sports car legend. 

History.com stated that, “Duntov had applied to work at GM after seeing the Corvette prototype at the 1953 Motorama show. According to The New York Times: "Once hired, he pushed through the decision to turn the Corvette into a high-performance sports car with a succession of more powerful engines. Chevrolet offered a 195-horsepower engine on the 1955 Corvette, a 240-horsepower engine on the 1956 Corvette and a 283-horsepower engine on the 1957 model."

The Corvette was feature on the 1960’s television show, “Route 66,” and by 1977 General Motors had sold its 500,000^th sport car.  In 2009, the 1.5 1.5-millionth Corvette was produced in the assembly line in Bowling Green, KY.

Links to videos regarding this article: 

http://youtu.be/HC8bwEQFx6M

http://youtu.be/eKqupcmTjWo

http://youtu.be/n2tEndWTifA

U.S. Supreme Court determines "VCR" ruling of Universal v. Sony

Back in 1984, the videocassette recorder known as the “VCR” faced objections from Hollywood as a way to record programs and for consumers to make a profit.  This accusation started the court battle eight years earlier between Sony’s Betamax VCR and MCA/Universal Pictures.

According to history.com, “Universal vs. Sony eventually made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the appeals court’s decision on January 17, 1984. Two years later, 50 percent of American homes had VCRs and the sales of movies on videocassette were greater than the annual theatrical box-office haul. In the end, though Disney lost the lawsuit, new management led by the young Michael Eisner (hired just months after the verdict was in) spearheaded the release of classic Disney movies on videotape. Within a decade, seven of these had entered the list of Top 10 bestselling videos of all time, and Disney had an entirely new stream of profits.” 

Links to videos related to this article: 

http://youtu.be/trGHImUwrrA

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/corvette-unveiled-at-gm-motorama?catId=17