Corvette
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
(split 2233)
The Chevrolet Corvette was a 20th century automobile used on Earth. They were later valued as antiques and at least one survived into the 23rd century.
In an alternate reality, James T. Kirk's stepfather owned a vintage red 1965 Corvette Stingray convertible.
Sometime during the mid-2240s, Kirk went for a joyride in the car, was chased by a police officer on a hovercycle, and bailed out just as the car fell into a massive quarry. (Star Trek)
[edit] Background
Triple vertical brake vents (behind the front wheels) identify it as a 1965/1966 Corvette C2. The lack of the "Corvette" name on the left front hood further identifies it as a 1965 model.
A critic for Slashfilm.com suggested that the destruction of a 1960s model Corvette symbolized J.J. Abrams jettisoning the original incarnation of Star Trek:
- "Is it just a coincidence that the car was released during the same decade that the original Star Trek television series premiered? I believe that by throwing the 1960’s era car off a cliff, Abrams was making a statement - “this is not your father’s Star Trek movie - we’re throwing all that stuff away, off a cliff no less. This is the new Star Trek.”" [1]
However, Abrams denied that this was his intention:
- "No, the idea was to show the renegade, young Kirk and have a wildly anachronistic scene where you had an earthbound, almost back-looking scene combined with a forward-looking futuristic scene technologically. It had nothing to do with that kind of metaphor." [2]
The backdrop for the Corvette's fall was filmed at the Rock of Ages E.L. Smith Quarry in the town of Barre, Vermont. This location—the world's largest deep hole quarry—was also used for Batman & Robin.
[edit] Apocrypha
In the film's novelization, the Corvette had been a prized possession of Kirk's father, and young Jim – who had been washing it – embarked on the joyride after being told by his brother that their stepfather planned to sell the car, behind their mother's back, while she was off-planet.
