Chevrolet Corvette C3 (1968 - 1981)

The C3 Corvette carried the Stingray idea into a longer, lower and more dramatic era. Inspired by show-car styling, it arrived with sweeping guards, hidden headlights and a cockpit set far back over the rear wheels, giving it one of the most recognisable silhouettes of any Corvette.

Its long production run means the C3 reflects several very different periods in American motoring, from late-1960s muscle through the emissions-constrained 1970s. That contrast is part of its story: the same body shape came to symbolise both raw American excess and the challenges performance cars faced during a changing regulatory era.