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On June 30, 1953, the first Chevrolet Corvette was manufactured. From the article:
"1953 was the first year the Corvette was produced, it is the original "Classic Corvette". It debuted at the 1953 GM Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. It was outfitted with a 6 cylinder "Blue-Flame" engine that produced 150 hp mated to a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. All 300 Corvettes that were produced in 1953 came with the same options and they were all painted "Polo White" with a red interior. Also included on all 1953's were whitewall tires and two-spinner hub caps. They also did not have outside door handles. To get in the car you must reach inside to open the door. 301 1953 Corvettes were built in Flint, Michigan at a temporary facility in the rear of Chevrolet's customer delivery garage on Van Slyke Ave. The first production 1953 Corvette was built on June 30, 1953. Because of the short production run the 1953 model it is the rarest of all Corvettes. After the first 301 were assembled, production moved to the new St. Loius factory. Zora Arus-Duntov joined Chevrolet this year, he would eventually become the Chief Engineer for Corvette."
"1953 was the first year the Corvette was produced, it is the original "Classic Corvette". It debuted at the 1953 GM Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. It was outfitted with a 6 cylinder "Blue-Flame" engine that produced 150 hp mated to a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. All 300 Corvettes that were produced in 1953 came with the same options and they were all painted "Polo White" with a red interior. Also included on all 1953's were whitewall tires and two-spinner hub caps. They also did not have outside door handles. To get in the car you must reach inside to open the door. 301 1953 Corvettes were built in Flint, Michigan at a temporary facility in the rear of Chevrolet's customer delivery garage on Van Slyke Ave. The first production 1953 Corvette was built on June 30, 1953. Because of the short production run the 1953 model it is the rarest of all Corvettes. After the first 301 were assembled, production moved to the new St. Loius factory. Zora Arus-Duntov joined Chevrolet this year, he would eventually become the Chief Engineer for Corvette."
The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette
Posted from vettefacts.com
Classic Cars
Sports Cars
World History
American History
Posted 3 y ago
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SGT (Join to see) Slick looking car!
THE LAST FIRST CORVETTE – 1953 CHEVROLET CORVETTE #300
AMERICANCARSCLASSIC CARS
This is the last 1953 Chevrolet Corvette that was built, 1953 was the first year the Corvette was offered for sale which makes this car the last of the first Corvettes.
Chevrolet first showed the Corvette concept car to the general public at the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show. The overwhelmingly positive response from the American car buying public convinced Chevrolet to put the car into production, which they managed to do by later the same year.
This would be the first car made by a major American automaker with a fibreglass body, this was still considered a new material at the time, and new uses for it were being discovered on a regular basis. A number of other low volume American car makers had been using fibreglass bodies for a few years, as it allowed them to build complex, curved body shapes without needing expensive metal stamping machinery, or even more expensive craftsmen to shape it by hand.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette Grille
The 1953 Corvette had a full fibreglass body with a steel chassis, and running gear taken from elsewhere on the Chevrolet production models in order to reduce expenses and rapidly accelerate the car’s development.
The engine chosen to power the new car was the Blue Flame inline-six cylinder, although we would later associate Corvettes with thunderous V8s the model started out as a straight six. This made a lot of sense in the 1950s as world famous sports cars like the Jaguar XK120 were powered by inline-sixes, and it was these exotic European cars that Chevrolet was hoping to compete with in sales.
The first 300 Corvettes built in 1953 were offered in Polo White with a red interior, and a two-speed automatic transmission. The automatic was chosen as it was felt that it would be more appealing to an American consumer base, but manual transmission options appeared in 1955, and the first V8 was offered earlier the same year.
The early first generation Corvettes are considered by many to be some of the most beautiful American sports cars ever made. They set the style language for the model range going forward, and all future Corvette models would be able to trace their lineage directly back to the 300 original cars from 1953.
THE LAST FIRST CORVETTE – 1953 CHEVROLET CORVETTE #300
AMERICANCARSCLASSIC CARS
This is the last 1953 Chevrolet Corvette that was built, 1953 was the first year the Corvette was offered for sale which makes this car the last of the first Corvettes.
Chevrolet first showed the Corvette concept car to the general public at the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show. The overwhelmingly positive response from the American car buying public convinced Chevrolet to put the car into production, which they managed to do by later the same year.
This would be the first car made by a major American automaker with a fibreglass body, this was still considered a new material at the time, and new uses for it were being discovered on a regular basis. A number of other low volume American car makers had been using fibreglass bodies for a few years, as it allowed them to build complex, curved body shapes without needing expensive metal stamping machinery, or even more expensive craftsmen to shape it by hand.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette Grille
The 1953 Corvette had a full fibreglass body with a steel chassis, and running gear taken from elsewhere on the Chevrolet production models in order to reduce expenses and rapidly accelerate the car’s development.
The engine chosen to power the new car was the Blue Flame inline-six cylinder, although we would later associate Corvettes with thunderous V8s the model started out as a straight six. This made a lot of sense in the 1950s as world famous sports cars like the Jaguar XK120 were powered by inline-sixes, and it was these exotic European cars that Chevrolet was hoping to compete with in sales.
The first 300 Corvettes built in 1953 were offered in Polo White with a red interior, and a two-speed automatic transmission. The automatic was chosen as it was felt that it would be more appealing to an American consumer base, but manual transmission options appeared in 1955, and the first V8 was offered earlier the same year.
The early first generation Corvettes are considered by many to be some of the most beautiful American sports cars ever made. They set the style language for the model range going forward, and all future Corvette models would be able to trace their lineage directly back to the 300 original cars from 1953.
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I also read where they nearly stopped making them because they were not selling very well. Then Ford came out with Thunderbird and Chevy decided to continue to produce the Corvette
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