1953 Corvette
1953 was the first year of production for the Corvette. It premiered at GM's Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria, January 17th, 1953. Only available as a white convertible with a red vinyl interior, there were no exterior door handles and no roll up windows. But it did have a tachometer.
People lined up for half an hour just to see it. Because of a lengthy aluminum strike, the car was made of a new material, Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP), known as fiberglass, which became a permanent part of the Corvette. The '53 also had a chromed-framed grill with 13 heavy vertical chrome bars, rounded front fenders with recessed headlights, no side windows or outside door handles, a wraparound windshield and protruding fender integrated tailights. The interior featured a floor mounted shifter, Powerglide 2 speed automatic transmission and a full array of gauges including a tachometer. Each 1953 Corvette was virtually handbuilt and a lot of minor changes were made during production run. Only two options were offered on this year Vette, an AM radio for $145.15, and a heater for $91.40.
Harley Earl was head of styling. In May of 1953, Zora Arkus-Duntov, a former race driver, was hired by Chevrolet Research and Development. The first Corvette was built on June 30th, 1953 at the Flint, Michigan plant.
300 were produced but only 180 sold. They were built by hand, and powered by a 235 cubic-inch, 6-cylinder engine with a modified three carburator engine dubbed the "Blue Flame."
The preformance wasn't great, by todays standerds. It topped out at 108, did 0-60 in about 11 seconds, and it did it on 150 horsepower. But if someone just gave one of these things to to you one day, would you really complain?
Factory price: $3,498
Overall Length: 167"
Wheelbase: 102"
Width: 69.8"
Hight: 51.5"
Weight: 2705 lbs.
Engine: 235 Inline 6
Carburetor: 3 Single barrels
Compression: 8.0 : 1
Transmission: 2 Speed automatic
Horsepower: 150 @ 4200 rpm