"The History of the Corvette" It all started in September of 1951, when General Motors chief stylist Harley Earl took a ride to Watkins Glen sports car race. He was impressed with the Jaguars, Ferraris and Alfas, which made him decide to begin designing a new American sports car. Later on that year he assigns Bob McLean to draw a layout for a sports car for General Motors. 1952 arrives and the first plaster model two-seater convertible goes on display in General Motors' private viewing auditorium. At the end of April, Harley's crew completed a full-size plaster model of his sports car proj