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Under the leadership of Harley Earl, 1958 saw the first major redesign of the Corvette since the all-new version was launched two years earlier. While the 1957s were famous for introducing the legendary ‘Fuelie’, the 1958 Corvette brought a new twin headlight look which would remain largely unchanged until the Stingray made its debut in 1963. 1958 was also the year that the Corvette first featured the louvered "washboard" hood and the chrome trunk "suspenders." The interior was also thoroughly modernized, with a dashboard layout that put all of the important instruments directly in front of the driver.

Not only was 1958 an important year for styling, the Corvette was finally starting to find success in motorsport. That year, a Corvette finished first in the sports car class at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb; Glen Minder drove a ‘Vette to 153 mph at Bonneville, and Jim Jeffords took home the SCCA National B-Production Championship in the ‘Purple People Eater,’ a Corvette SR-2. These successes greatly contributed to the Corvette legend and have made the ‘58 a true collector’s piece.