Record-shattering Corvette moments

July 20^th marks 52 years since Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew took one giant leap for mankind. Not only were astronauts like them able to go where no one had gone before, they were also gifted some of the best performance cars of the time. 

Last week, Chevrolet teased the newest model of the Z06 with a fierce sound clip of its roaring crankshaft V8 engine. Let's take this opportunity to look back at how far the Z06 has come, while we wait for its official reveal. 

In 1956, the sands of Daytona Beach served as a fast first public outing for the Chevrolet Corvette to demonstrate its new personality as a true performance machine. Joining Corvette icon Zora Arkus-Duntov and John Finch was an accomplished lady who had already soared to championship titles. Betty Skelton’s speed run at Daytona in a 1956 Corvette cemented herself as a pioneering figure behind the sports car.

Pickup trucks have proven their worth as practical haulers through almost the entire history of the automobile. However, with performance and speed so tempting, sport trucks have emerged with the Ford F150 Raptor and the Ram 1500 TRX being extreme modern examples. Decades before the current crop of high performance pickup truck, Dodge's Li'l Red Express succeeded to show up sports cars of its time.