Most people couldn't name all 8 Corvette generations if you put a gun to their head. Here's the cheat sheet. 1. The C1 almost killed the nameplate before it started — the Blue Flame six with a Powerglide auto was nobody's idea of a sports car. Zora Arkus-Duntov literally saved the program by shoving a V8 in it. 2. The C3 gets romanticized way too hard. Yeah, the Mako Shark styling is iconic, but the smog-era cars from '75-'79 were making embarrassing power. Know which years to hunt and which to avoid. 3. The C5 is still the most underrated generation. LS1 power, sub-3,400 lb curb weight, and you can find clean Z06s for under $30K. That's insane value for a car that ran 12s stock. 4. Every generation has at least one model year that owners quietly warn each other about — bad head gaskets, electrical gremlins, early production QC issues. The trap years are real and they'll cost you. 5. The C8 moved the engine behind the driver and divided the community harder than anything since the...