When the battle-weary soldier came home after saving Europe in 1945, he wanted a few well-earned American comforts for his trouble.  The open roads and highways were calling, and 1946-1960 was a golden era in American motoring.

But a soldier wanting a sports car had one problem.  He looked to his left, and he saw flimsy little European two-seaters like the MG and the Jaguar.  He looked to his right, and he saw Detroit models like the 1955 Chevy V-8 - basically a family sedan with a mammoth engine under the hood.

American ingenuity solved the problem, and LeMay Auto Museum's "60 Years of ‘Vette" exhibit celebrates the iconic U.S. sports car.  Walk into the main showroom, and a 1954 Corvette, in its stock polo white with red interior, leads off a dazzling array of mint-condition ‘Vettes.  

The 1953-54 Corvettes, with their 150-hp V-6's and Chevy sedan suspensions, were nothing to write home about ... er, scratch that; you were home now, weren't you?  But the personality of the vehicle made it an instant smash hit.  The two-seat fiberglass body radiated confidence and somehow looked nothing like English or Italian design.  One glance pinned the car buff to the wall:  this was individuality, toughness and American strength on four wheels.

LeMay has a 1957 Corvette "Fuelie" in high-gloss gray with red interior; the car looks like it has been towed off the factory line and oxygen-sealed in a time capsule.  By 1957, Zora Duntov had persuaded Chevrolet that the Corvette was worthy of world-class performance.  The 283-cubic inch V-8 is fuel injected, and the small-block V-8 delivers 283 horsepower.  The 1-hp per cubic inch was staggering at a time when 50 percent of that efficiency was doing well.  

Road and Track tested the 1957 "Fuelie," and reported 0 to 60 MPH in 5.7 seconds - not many stock cars can do that in the year 2013.  Chevy's small-block V-8's went on to dominate automotive history for decades to come.

Also in high-gloss gray, with black interior, sits a 1963 Corvette in the flesh. This is the fixed-roof and split-rear-window design that many still consider the most beautiful ‘Vette of all time.  Its "teardrop" tail shape, fin-like fenders and shark-like mouth took American aggressiveness to its logical end.  The 1963 chassis was all new, the car boasted independent suspension, and it offered true race-car handling.

The 1960s saw a kind of arms race in Detroit, as the engines grew larger and larger in sheer cubic inches.  The 1967 Corvette at LeMay, green with tan interior, somehow crammed the 427-cubic inch V-8 into the chassis of a two-seat sports car.  Chevy wasn't kidding around when it came to power.  The compression on this engine was reportedly 12.5 to 1, and some mechanics rate the L88 engine at 550+ horsepower.

As the 1970s rolled on, the third-generation C3 Corvettes got softer and more suburban, and by the mid-1980s, the Corvette had become a bit of a parody of itself.  One wag wrote, "the Corvette could no longer run with Porsches and Ferraris, but had become a mushy boulevard cruiser - the left seat for the middle-age driver, the right seat for her lap dog."  

LeMay has several of the C4 80s ‘Vettes that got Chevy back on track.  The lines became blade-like again, the wheels grew to 16 inches and the digital dash was a sensation for its time.  The ‘Vette was back as a sports car to reckon with, and it has never looked back.  A purple 1998 Indy 500 pace car, with yellow interior, is on display.  The C5 ‘Vettes delivered real touring comfort along with performance, and would frequently do 0 to 60 MPH in a tick under 5 seconds.

The modern sixth-generation "C6" Corvettes are on display, too, of course.  A midnight-blue 2013 model makes you want to sell your house, mortgage the car instead, and take it home to stash away from other men.  The ZR1 ‘Vettes cruise with Cadillac-style comfort, and detonate the quarter-mile in 11+ seconds at 128 MPH.  You could drive a date to the opera with it on Tuesday, and literally win a road race with it on Saturday.

The Aug. 9 to 11 celebration weekend kicked off the exhibit by featuring three historic models:  the 1959 Stingray, the 1961 Mako Shark and the 1965 Manta Ray.  All other Corvettes remain on display at the museum, along with 200+ other cars.

Admission is $12 for active military; youth (under 12) is $8 and children under 5 are free.