The Corvette as a nameplate is one of America’s most accessible forms of high-horsepower transportation, and it’s been that way for years. And these days, we can easily associate the Corvette with speed — that’s part of its DNA. There have been all sorts of hyper-fast Corvettes with a high top speed over the last few decades, and it seems like the sky’s the limit with the latest C8 platform. Chevy continues to raise the stakes with each new variant, and examples of the lengths they’ll go to just to prove the platform’s capabilities include the 1,250-horsepower Corvette ZR1X. But there are some low points in the Corvette’s history that prove the bowtie’s performance wasn’t always astonishing.
Over the past two decades, no Corvette has come from the factory with less than 400 hp, and since the introduction of the C8 Corvette in 2020, 490 horses has been the baseline. But none of the Corvettes on this list can muster even half that power thanks to the stifling regulations in their time. There were insanely fast models, and some that were slower than your average four-door compact car today.These were the least powerful and slowest.
1972 Corvette – 200 hp
The third-generation Corvette is one of the most stylish versions of the iconic American sports car. It lasted from 1968 until 1982, and there were several powerful engines available during that time. The third generation of the Corvette brought us the single-word Stingray name (previous models were Sting Ray), but it’s also the generation with the most cars on this list — almost all of which are under the 200-hp mark. The 1972 Corvette starts things off with a high water mark for our underpowered Vettes though.
In 1968, when the third-generation Corvette debuted, it was available with several different engines – all with over 300 horsepower. The L71 big-block V8 was even available with as much as 435 hp. Emissions regulations meant that by 1972, power was way down. The base engine, known as the ZQ-3, only produced 200 hp. It took the 1972 Corvette 8.5 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph. That might not seem like an eternity, but in the previous model year, a Corvette made the same sprint in 5.9 seconds.
1955 Corvette – 195 hp
The first V8 Corvette showed up in 1955. The Turbo-Fire V8, as it was known, made 195 hp. With that low output, the Corvette was only able to muster a zero-to-60-mph time of 8.7 seconds. It was one of the least powerful Corvettes ever and while it certainly wasn’t fast, the 1955 Vette represented a significant increase over the inline six from previous years. Eventually, the six-cylinder engine was removed from the lineup entirely, and it’s been all V8s for Corvette ever since.
In 1956, the Turbo-Fire Special V8 debuted, making 225 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque — another big leap forward. Then, in 1957, the Corvette got fuel injection, pushing power levels up to 283 hp. So, it was onward and upward for the Corvette and its V8 powertrains, at least for a while. The regulations of the 1970s would eventually pause horsepower growth for the Corvette, but modern versions prove that the restrictions couldn’t hold it back forever.
1981 Corvette – 190 hp
Part of the third generation of Corvette, the 1981 model arrived looking dated. The body was sleek and the looks were still appealing, but power was floundering, and the Corvette was in big need of an update. The fourth-generation Corvette was just around the corner in 1984, but the third-gen still had to work with the old look.
Under the hood, it had a 350 cubic-inch V8 (5.7 liters), but it couldn’t muster much power. Even with a big 5.7-liter powerplant, the 1981 Corvette was still amongst the least powerful Corvettes ever made, cranking out just 190 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. It turns out displacement isn’t everything. Accelerating from zero to 60 mph took about 8.3 seconds. This was the same year that Chevrolet moved production of the Corvette from St. Louis, Missouri, to Bowling Green, Kentucky, but the move didn’t make Corvettes any more powerful.
1975 Corvette – 165 hp
Like the 1972 and 1981 models, the 1975 Corvette was cursed by low horsepower. But 1975 was the lowest of the low third-gen years. It was the least-powerful version of the 5.7-liter V8 from the third generation and the least-powerful V8 ever used in a Corvette. It put out just 165 hp and 255 lb-ft on the base trim level. That’s less than most small sedans these days, let alone average sports cars. The ’75 Corvette went from zero to 60 mph in 9.6 seconds — which is about the same time it takes for the latest Chevrolet ZR1 to rip through the entire quarter-mile. An upgraded V8 known as the L82 had higher compression and a bit more power than the standard L48 engine – 205 hp and 255 lb-ft — but there wasn’t much in the way of acceleration from that model either. The 1978 C3 Corvette stepped things up a bit to 185 hp, and eventually the 1981 model reached its 190-horsepower level.
1953 Corvette – 150 hp
As you might expect, the first generation of the Corvette was the least powerful. It used a small 3.9-liter inline six-cylinder engine with triple side-draft carburetors and produced just 150 horsepower. The inline-six was paired with a two-speed automatic transmission known as the Powerglide, and it went from zero to 60 mph in 11 seconds. It might’ve looked sleek, but the first Corvette certainly wasn’t fast by today’s standards.
Thankfully, the first-generation Corvette got an update a few years later that came with a 4.3-liter V8 powertrain – though that engine wasn’t particularly powerful either. It’s not the first American sports car (that honor goes to the Crosley Hotshot), but the Corvette was certainly early to the game, and as such, it can almost be forgiven for its low horsepower numbers from the early days. It kicked off a nameplate that has lasted over 70 years, so no matter how slow it is, the 53 Corvette will always have our respect.