C1 Corvette - 1953-1962
1953
1953 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1953 Corvette Review; Motor Trend, November 1953 - page 1
1953 Corvette Retrospective; Motor Trend, March 1993 - page 1
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1954
1954 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1954 Corvette Review; Motor Trend, April 1954 - page 1
1954 Corvette vs. 1955 Thunderbird; Motor Trend, June 1954 - page 1,
2, 3,
4, 5
1954 Corvette vs. Kaiser-Darrin; Special Interest Autos - page 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6, 7,
8
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1955
1955 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
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1956
1956 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1956 3spd; Road and Track, March 1956 - page 1,
2
1956 Corvette Engineering Report; Auto Age,
May 1956 - page 1, 2,
3, 4,
5, 6,
7
1956 Corvette Review; Motor Life, March 1956
- page 1, 2,
3
1956 Corvette SR2; Motor Life, September 1956 - page 1,
2
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1957
1957 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1957 Corvette SS; Hot Rod Magazine, June 1957 - page 1,
2, 3,
4
1957 Dual Quad and Fuelie Tests; Sports Car Illustrated, Yearbook 1958 - page
1, 2,
3, 4
1957 Corvette Review; Cars and Parts Corvette, October 1982 - page 1,
2, 3,
4
1957 Corvette SS; Special Interest Autos, October 1988 - page 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6, 7,
8, 9,
10
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1958
1958 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1958 Corvette; Road and Track, December 1957 - page 1
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1959
1959 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1959 Corvette vs. Porsche; Motor Trend, April 1959 - page 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6
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1960
1960 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1960 Corvette, First Impressions; Sports Car International, November 1959 - page
1, 2
1960 Corvette Review; Car and Parts Corvette, January 1960 - page 1,
2, 3,
4
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1961
1961 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
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1962
1962 Corvette Magazine Ad - page 1
1962 Grand Sport; Automobile Magazine, August 1987 - page 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6
In 1953 the Corvette was debuted at the Motorama display at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. It was conceived by Harley J. Earl. It was a two seat convertible built by GM aimed at capturing the small car market from manufacturers like Jaguar and MG.
All 1953 Corvettes were convertibles with black canvas tops, Polo white
with red interiors, and built by hand.
Power came from an existing Chevrolet 235 cubic inch 6 cylinder engine. Modifications
were done to it such as a three carburetor design and dual exhaust which resulted
in higher horsepower ratings. The 150 hp 'Blue Flame Special' engine was paired
with a a2-speed automatic gearbox. The first twenty-five vehicles used the
standard Chevrolet 'baby moon' passenger car wheel covers due to a shortage
of wheel covers.
During the 1953 production year, 300 Corvettes were produced making it the rarest Corvette. 248 are believed to still be in existence. In 1953 the base price for the Corvette was $3,498 with a heater and AM radio offered as optional equipment. The heater could be purchased for $91.40 and the AM Radio for $145.15.
