It was 63 years ago today, June 30, 1953, that the first production Corvettes rolled down Chevrolet’s Flint, Michigan assembly line. Little did they know then what they had started. The first cars were simple enough, as they came without options (technically there were 2 options, but you could not order a car without them). You could only get the new fiberglass sportsters in white with a red interior, a 235 ci “Blue Flame” inline-six with a whopping 150hp, Powerglide 2-speed automatic, heater and AM, signal seeking, radio.

Only 300 largely hand-built cars were made the inaugural year, but after a few tweaks the Corvette gained acceptance, and speed. A V8 was added in 1955 to give the Sportster the power people asked for and in 1956 there was a styling update that added roll up windows.

Here are two fun videos to [...]

It was a Sunday afternoon drive that Sam Schmidt will not soon forget.

And that was before the rain and snow and hail.

Two weeks after Schmidt drove to the summit of Pikes Peak during a practice run in a specially equipped Corvette, the quadriplegic IndyCar team owner from Henderson attempted to do it on race day at the 94th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Schmidt and co-pilot Robby Unser, a nine-time winner of the Hill Climb, were last up the mountain Sunday. They made it about halfway to the summit before Mother Nature intervened.

Rain, snow and hail are formidable obstacles for even the most able-bodied of racecar drivers to deal with during the Race to the Clouds. The annual Hill Climb is contested on a 12.42-mile course featuring 156 turns and few guardrails.