What was the name used during the development of the 1953 Corvette before it was officially named Corvette?

Development of the Corvette began in late 1951 as "Project Opel" and was the brainchild of General Motors designer Harley Earl. On January 17, 1953, the Corvette concept would be unveiled during the General Motors Motorama at New York City's Waldorf Astoria. Six-months later, production versions began rolling off the Flint Michigan assembly line.

300 Corvettes were producing in 1953, all powered by a 235 CID inline "Blue Flame" six-cylinder engine putting out 150 horsepower. All cars were painted Polo White with red interiors and carried a sticker price of $3,490. Performance figures were at a modest pace needing 11.5 seconds to hit 60 mph. Things got better in 1955 when a 265 CID V8 making 195 horsepower connected to a three-speed manual gearbox became available thanks in large part to an engineer named Zora Arkus-Duntov. His work on the sports car would eventually earn him the nickname "Father of the Corvette."

The correct answer: Opel