The Chevrolet Corvette was the first American production car to use fuel injection.
Chevrolet introduced Rochester mechanical fuel injection as an option for the 1957 Corvette. The system replaced a conventional carburetor and helped the Corvette’s 283-cubic-inch V8 produce the famous one-horsepower-per-cubic-inch figure when equipped with the highest-output version.
Fuel injection improved mixture control and supported higher performance, but it was more complex and expensive than a carburetor. Chevrolet therefore offered it as an option rather than making it standard across the Corvette range. The 1957 Corvette also benefited from a new four-speed manual transmission option.
This fact is sometimes confused with the later widespread adoption of electronic fuel injection. The Corvette’s 1957 system was mechanical, not modern electronically controlled injection, and it was an optional performance technology.