50 Years of the Chevrolet Corvette

1999

From the start of Chevrolet’s development of the C5, they looked at making a budget variant of their vehicle. They stripped amenities, gave it manual windows, and cloth seats. Initial surveys for their proposed car received adverse reactions from participants at a research center, causing the company to go back to the drawing boards. For the 1999 Corvette, their less expensive version released. Instead of focusing on luxury, Chevrolet stripped features and centered the design on performance. Chevy titled the vehicle the FRC Corvette (Fixed Roof Coupe). It weighed 92 pounds less than the standard coupe and came with a set hardtop. The car was basically a convertible with a fixed fiberglass roof. Surprisingly it only cost $394 less than the standard coupe and was only slightly faster. Besides the FRC, the 1999 Corvette came with a magnetically variable power-steering system that helped the car from “wandering” at higher speeds. Chevy also offered a “Heads-Up-Display” and “Telescoping Steering Column.”