C1

Corvette C1
1953 to 1962

1953: Chevrolet reveals the Corvette dream car on January 17, 1953, at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, as part of the kickoff to that year’s GM Motorama. Named after small, highly maneuverable naval escort ship, the show car is also known as the EX-122.

On June 30 of the same year, the first production 1953 Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan. Production is capped at 300 units, all built mostly by hand, and all in the now iconic Polo White/Sportsman Red exterior/interior color scheme and powered by the 235 cu.in.,150-hp, three-carb “Blue Flame” inline-six and a two-speed Powerglide transmission. The only options are a heater and an AM radio.

1954: Corvette production begins at GM’s St. Louis, Missouri, facility on January 1. Chevrolet expands the exterior color choices to include Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, and Black. Beige is added as an interior option. All soft tops were beige. The straight-six engine gets bumped to 155 hp. All were built with powerglide automatic transmissions. Just 3,640 Corvettes are produced by year’s end and 1,100 were left unsold in January 1955

1955: The small block Chevy V-8 (256 cubic inch 155 hp) makes its first appearance between a Corvette’s fiberglass fenders, and a three-speed manual appears as an option. Corvettes with V8s were identified with an enlarged gold V over the small V in the Chevrolet script on both front fenders. The year closes with the six-cylinder bidding adieu. Production totals 700 units; 625 had automatic transmissions and 75 had three-speed transmissions. All options were not really optional, but required.

1956: Factory-installed removable hardtops are offered for the first time, and the exterior gets exposed headlamps, sculpted side coves, and roll-up windows (power were optional). Seatbelts make the scene as a dealer-installed option, and one-hundred and eleven buyers drop $188.30 on a high-lift cam (order code: RPO #449). Head Corvette engineer (and future legend) Zora Arkus-Duntov tells the brass to go racing, but his pleas for a racing program fall on deaf corporate ears. Two four-barrel carbs enhance the 265-cubic-inch (4.3-liter) V-8, and Sports Cars Illustrated deems the ’56 credible: “Without qualification, General Motors is now building a sports car.”

1957: The V-8 grows to 283 cubic inches, and can be ordered with fuel injection and a four-speed manual transmission. (Our original June 1957 test says the setup “works very well indeed.”) So equipped, the small block produces up to 283 horsepower, propelling the fiberglass wonder to a reported 132 mph. An optional column-mounted tach makes its first appearance on fuelie Vettes.

1958–1962: A redesigned hood with louvered vents and 160-mph speedo appear for 1958, while 1960 brings an aluminum radiator option. 1961 marks the Corvette’s first use of four round taillights, and the aluminum radiator becomes standard. That year’s mild styling tweaks mean the exhaust no longer exits through the bodywork. The engine grows to 327 cubic inches (5.4 liters) in 1962, which was also the last year for the solid rear axle and (until the C6) exposed headlamps.