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The first-generation Corvette may have started a 70-year legacy, but the C1 just barely survived a rocky start.
First of Many
Today, the Chevrolet Corvette is one of the most storied nameplates in all of automotive history with a full eight generations under its belt. But turn back the clock and you’ll find the Vette was lucky to see a third year of production, and ironically, its survival can be credited to Ford Motor Company.
The idea of a dedicated American sports car had its genesis with Harley Earl, GM’s styling chief. In the early 1950s, Earl felt the market was ripe for an American built alternative to the European sports cars of the day. And thus, “Project Opel” was born (Opel being GM’s European brand).
The EX-122 Corvette prototype debuted in early 1953 at GM’s Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. The Corvette’s curvaceous body looked the part of the next big thing in motoring and generated enough buzz for GM’s higher-ups to greenlight the project.
Incidentally, the Corvette’s body was built from fiberglass, then a new material in automotive production. Though it would cut production costs, the real reason for fiberglass was the speed of production and weight savings.
1953
Part of the Corvette’s mission was to be built using a lot of existent GM parts (Harley Earl’s hope had been to hit a target of a $2,000 MSRP on the car). Combined with the fiberglass body, the 1953 model year Corvette would get GM’s “Blue Flame” straight-six engine, a two-speed Powerglide automatic, and drum brakes at all four wheels. The car came only in Polo White, with red interiors, and a black soft-top.
Largely hand-built, the car’s fit and finish weren’t great. The fiberglass panels tended to shake. Owners complained of water leaking into the body of the car and uneven doors not staying latched properly. But worst of all was the basic lack of performance. To be honest, GM had hamstrung the Corvette with the anemic “Blue Flame” (making just 150 hp) made worse by the lack of a manual transmission and, though typical for the day, lackluster drum brakes. Worst of all, GM overshot Earl’s target price of $2,000 with a significantly higher $3,513 MSRP.
Just 300 C1 Corvettes were produced in 1953, making them the rarest and most collectable model year.
1954 and ’55
The Corvette didn’t see many changes for 1954. Production increased but sales did not follow, leaving a glut of unsold cars heading into 1955. The big wigs at GM were losing faith in Earl’s vision of an American roadster. But one person at GM, engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, felt all the Corvette needed was the proper performance treatment to turn around its fortunes. Arkus-Duntov wrote a memo to GM brass entitled “Thoughts Pertaining to Youth, Hot Rodders and the Corvette” in which he argued for the Vette to get a proper V8.
If GM’s leaders weren’t yet convinced, they would be once Ford debuted their new Thunderbird sports car, complete with a V8 engine. The nascent two-seater sport car segment had a new entrant, and this got the competitive juices flowing at GM.
The result was a new 4.3L small-block V8 for the C1 Corvette in 1955. A three-speed manual was also added to the mix, along with a new four-barrel carburetor (as opposed to the original three-barrel). The new V8 was in fact GM’s first dating all the way back to 1919. Due to the backlog of ’54 models, only 700 1955 models were built.
Arkus-Duntov was ambitious about proving his concept that a V8 powered Corvette could get real “street cred.” In December of 1955, he took a stripped-down prototype V8 Vette to the Mesa Proving Grounds and achieved a purported top speed of 156 mph. That’s 6 mph faster than the current fastest production car, the aforementioned Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Arkus-Duntov wasn’t done though. He also took the car to Pike’s Peak and Daytona Beach the following year, setting records at both events.
1956
Major changes arrived for the Corvette in 1956. The six-cylinder engine was dropped, and the three-speed manual became the default transmission (with the two-speed Powerglide as an option). A new performance camshaft could be optioned and would up the power of the V8 from 210 to a full 240 horsepower.
A new body was also introduced. The position of the headlights was shifted forward. The small fin taillights were inverted to recessed lights. And new side cove body paneling further accentuated the C1 Corvette’s good looks, especially in its two-tone paint scheme. A new factory-installed bubble hardtop was also available.
1957
For 1957, the Corvette got an all-new 4.6L V8. The Corvette’s new tag boasted one horsepower for every cubic inch of displacement (283 cubic-inches and 283 horsepower). A new four-speed manual was now an option, but even more important was the new fuel-injection option, then a new technology. The only other car using fuel-injection at the time was the Mercedes-Benz 300SL. (Read more about the 300 SL here.)
1958 and ‘59
A facelift arrived for the C1 Corvette in 1958. More chrome was added to a more ornate grille and rear bumper. New quad headlights were also added, as well as new ducting below them to funnel more air to the front drum brakes. The interior also received a refresh, including a new center positioned tachometer reading all the way to 8,000 rpm. Factory installed seat belts were also available for the first time (as opposed to a dealer installed option). In 1959, the hardtop Corvette’s gained the option of a larger 24-gallon fuel tank.
1960, ’61, and ‘62
Little changed for 1960. That is aside from a major racing achievement for the Corvette at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the car netted a class win and an eighth overall finish. Output increased in 1961, with fuel-injected variants topping out at 315 horsepower. The following year, with the introduction of hydraulic lifters, the 327 V8 version could produce 360 horsepower. Despite the impressive output, most buyers still went for carbureted engines due to their relative simplicity. Sadly, the final year of the C1 Corvette’s production also saw the elimination of the killer two-tone paint option.
Zora’s Vision Continues
By 1962, the Corvette had morphed from a beautiful yet compromised roadster to a legitimate performance car notching major racing wins. Over the subsequent seven generations, the Corvette remained largely singular among American sports cars, staying true to the dedicated two-seater-with-a-big-engine ethos. The C1 Corvette may be a far cry from today’s C8 Corvette, a mid-engine supercar on a budget, but the C1’s roots as a contender against the Europe’s best sports cars remained a consistent through line, at least from 1955 onwards.
