The revised Corvette was the car that Arkus-Duntov thought it should have been from the beginning. Ed Cole's V8 received a higher compression ratio, to provide a much healthier 225bhp and 270lb ft of torque at 3600rpm. Top speed was 120mph, and 0-60mph acceleration took just 7.5 seconds, though the Americans preferred to compare times for quarter-mile sprints - 14.2 seconds, with a terminal speed of 93mph. In a 240bhp model fitted with his own-design camshaft, Arkus-Duntov reached 150.583mph, a new flying mile record, at the NASCAR Speedweek on Daytona Beach. Driven by John Fitch and Walt Hansgen, a similar Corvette scored its first major motorsport victory, a class win in the Sebring 12 Hours. Privateer racer Dr Dick Thompson, one of Chevrolet's first motorsport clients for the Corvette, won his class at Pebble Beach, and took the SCCA C-Class national championships.
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Arkus-Duntov also revised the Corvette's suspension for these updated models, with modified spring mountings for more precise handling, though the old sturdy-but-basic set-up, and the recirculating ball steering, remained. Four-speed transmission debuted in 1957, along with fuel injection, which bought the 0-60mph time down to 5.5 seconds. By 1959, the V8 had been bored out to 283 cubic inches (4.6 litres), and developed 1bhp for each cubic inch. Dual headlamps with separate high and low beams were introduced in 1958, the year 9,168 Corvettes were sold, marking its impact on the American sports car scene. A win for Thompson at Sebring - by a clear 20 laps - and success in the SCCA sports car championships helped the car's image, though GM was hampered by the influence of the National Safety Council, which insisted that participation in motorsport encouraged dangerous driving on the roads; from 1957, the Auto Manufacturers Association had banned 'works' teams from racing. However, privateers such as Thompson, and numerous NASCAR racers, were unofficially supported by the factory, and Briggs Cunningham's three-Corvette team scored a very creditable eighth overall placing in the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman. On the production side, 1960 models with the Arkus-Duntov high-lift cam gained an aluminium radiator, and Corvette sales tipped the 10,000 mark for the first time (10,261 sold, priced from $3,872).
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In 1961, new Chief of Design Bill Mitchell started to move away from Earl's '50s heritage, and more chrome crept onto the Corvette's bodyshell. The rounded rear end was restyled, and a sharper tail with four circular taillights hinted at the overhaul to come, as well as giving a bit more boot space. The toothed grille was replaced by a blacked-out mesh, and the white-walled tyres and two-tone paint were discontinued. The final C1 models of 1962 boasted further power upgrades, too: the V8 expanded to 327 cubic inches (5.3 litres), giving 360bhp and a top speed of around 150mph. This was a lot of power for the chassis to handle, with its dated leaf-sprung solid rear axles. Time for major modifications.
