Читать книгу Steve Magnante's 1001 Corvette Facts - Steve Magnante - Страница 9
Оглавление1953–1955 C1a: From Motorama to Main Street
1 Was the Corvette really America’s first mass-produced fiberglass-bodied sports car? Or did the Kaiser Darrin 161 beat it to the punch? It’s a common debate among car enthusiasts. Although Kaiser formally introduced its fiberglass Darrin on September 26, 1952, customers had to wait until January 6, 1954, for actual delivery. By that date, Corvettes had been cruising the streets of America for six months; the first regular-production units (as opposed to engineering/styling prototypes) rolled off the Flint, Michigan, line on June 30, 1953.
Heavy preproduction publicity was no substitute for cars in driveways. The fiberglass-bodied Kaiser Darrin trailed the Corvette into the showroom.
2 Oh, what might have been. In an official GM new-product press release dated January 16, 1953, the name Corvette is spelled Courvette. Had the odd spelling occurred once, we might chalk it up to a simple typographical error. But the Courvette nomenclature appeared several more times in the same document. Interestingly, 26 years earlier, on June 23, 1927, the General Motors Art and Colour Section was established, with creative genius Harley Earl in charge. The British spelling of the word “color” was intentional and added exotic flair. Although officially renamed the General Motors Styling Section in 1937, the memorable Art and Colour moniker is still used informally.
3 The man responsible for naming Corvette was a Chevrolet public-relations executive named Myron C. Scott. Despite his significant contribution to automotive history, Mr. Scott wasn’t compensated beyond his normal salary. By contrast, over at Ford, division manager L. D. Cruso initiated an in-house name-storming contest which Ford designer Alden Giberson won when he suggested the name Thunderbird. Initially, a new suit worth $250 was at stake, but records show Giberson accepted $95 cash and a pair of trousers from Saks Fifth Avenue, instead.
4 The Corvette’s first public unveiling took place on January 14, 1953, in the third-floor Grand Ballroom of New York City’s prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Part of the GM Motorama car show, one group of spectators frustrated the venue’s security detail by repeatedly slipping past the ropes and brazenly tape-measuring the show car’s dimensions and snapping numerous photographs. A little digging revealed the intruders to be product planners and engineers from Ford. Its two-seated rival, the Thunderbird, went on sale on October 22, 1954, more than 20 months later. Undoubtedly, details gathered by the Waldorf Astoria snoops helped shape the Thunderbird’s final configuration.
With more than 20 months to study and scrutinize Chevy’s new Corvette, the designers behind Ford’s competing Thunderbird drew plenty of clandestine, and overt, inspiration from GM’s groundbreaking triumph.
5 Hello, OnStar? Releasing the Corvette amid the paranoia of the McCarthy era, General Motors allegedly placed hidden tape recorders throughout the 1953 Waldorf Astoria Motorama display. Its purpose was to gather unfiltered comments about the cars from viewers. This technique is still used by automakers at car shows and media drive events seeking candid opinions about new products. Some say modern onboard security and navigation devices such as OnStar have similar capabilities . . . say nice things to your new Corvette. Somebody might be listening.
6 One visitor at the Corvette’s January 1953 NYC debut was a recently unemployed 43-year-old engineer who’d just returned home from a work sabbatical in England. There, he helped Sydney Allard develop and race his hand-built sports cars at Le Mans. However, the contract ended, so he returned to the United States seeking employment. Approaching middle age, this visitor was so taken with Corvette’s potential that he applied for a job at General Motors. This man’s name was Zora Arkus-Duntov.
7 Many Corvette fans mistakenly believe that Arkus-Duntov was the father of the Corvette. However, GM design legend Harley Earl deserves the credit. Deeply impressed by the post–World War II British sports cars that he saw during visits to his son’s affluent college campus, Earl decided that Chevrolet needed a sporty model to boost its image with younger buyers. Arkus-Duntov, on the other hand, can be seen as the man who steered the Corvette program in the right direction for the next 20 years. He wrote, “Since we cannot prevent the people from racing Corvettes, maybe it is better to help them to do a good job at it.”
8 Arkus-Duntov’s employment at Chevrolet spanned from May 1, 1953, to December 25, 1974, ending only due to GM’s policy of mandatory retirement at age 65. Among the speakers at his January 13, 1975, retirement banquet were GM design chief Bill Mitchell and the wonderful and ever-present Linda Vaughn, Hurst’s Miss Golden Shifter and general automotive ambassador.
9 The Corvette displayed at the January 1953 Waldorf Astoria show was a running prototype with an identification tag bearing number EX-122. After touring the United States on the 1953 Motorama show circuit, EX-122 remained at General Motors as an engineering “plaything” until it was sold to a private party in April 1956. As the car that attracted Arkus-Duntov’s eye and led directly to his employment at Chevrolet, this car’s significance cannot be overstated. It still exists and is in caring hands.
10 In his 84 years (born December 25, 1909, died April 21, 1996), Arkus-Duntov witnessed the Russian Revolution of 1917, joined the French Air Force, escaped from Nazi-occupied France, and even devised a hemispherical cylinder-head conversion kit for the Ford flathead V-8. Ever heard of the Ardun OHV Ford? Yep, that’s him . . . a decade before his 1953 switch to General Motors.
11 Despite erroneous reports to the contrary, Ford did not fund Arkus-Duntov’s Ardun flathead V-8 hemispherical cylinder-head conversion program. In fact, after an arranged meeting in about 1947 at which Arkus-Duntov demonstrated a converted flathead to Ford engineers, they declined becoming involved. The Ardun project was funded entirely by Arkus-Duntov and his backers. Ironically, the undoing of the Arkus-Duntov hemispherical head conversion package was the Ford flathead engine block that the heads were bolted to. With only three main bearings, it lacked the structural integrity to support the elevated power unleashed by the free-flowing heads. Anything over about 220 hp (around twice its stock output) could fracture the block.
12 If you’ve ever pondered the origin of the Ardun V-8 brand name or Zora’s hyphenated last name, here’s the scoop. Zora and his seven-years-younger brother, Yura, were the children of Rachel and Jacques Arkus, Russian revolutionaries. Later, their parents divorced, and Rachel met and married an electrical engineer named Josef Duntov. Out of respect for both male parent figures, Zora and his brother embraced both of their last names. The Arkus-Duntov brothers immigrated to the United States in 1940 and by 1941 had founded the Ardun Mechanical Corporation at 351 West 52nd Street in New York City. By 1944 they had 100 employees and Zora was making $40,000 per year. The Ardun company name was a play on their extended last names.
13 Ardun was making parts for corvettes 10 years before Corvettes appeared on the road. How can this be? Let’s look to the ocean. As a job shop, Ardun Mechanical Corporation took on a wide variety of machining, manufacturing, and design jobs during World War II. One was the development of a harmonic dampener for massive marine diesel engines. Some of these Ardun diesel engines powered a class of armed warships known as corvettes. Similar to destroyers, corvettes were suited to rough seas and were used primarily for hunting enemy submarines.
14 Detroit had a long tradition of applying exciting military names to road-going vehicles including the Ford Mustang, Buick Wildcat, Dodge Hellcat, and many others, so when GM ad man Myron C. Scott suggested the Corvette nameplate (see Fact 3), public awareness of the name was strong. Less than a decade earlier, corvette-class warships made worldwide headlines stalking enemy submarines and surface vessels. Tapping into this gung-ho reputation was a natural move calculated to attract young, male customers, many of whom either likely served on corvette-class vessels not long before or knew someone who did. Today, nobody remembers the oceangoing version; the tail wags the dog.
15 Modern restorers of 1953 Corvettes seeking high-quality photographs of obscure details and unseen nooks and crannies owe a huge debt of gratitude to . . . Chrysler Corporation! The engineering division of Chrysler’s Technical Information Section acquired Corvette number E53F001076 (the 76th car from the 300-car run) and performed a deep-dive photographic investigation of its many unique details. Dated March 1954, Chrysler’s report contained 50 high-quality photos depicting overall views, panel fit irregularities, VIN locations, hinge design, trunk-compartment layout, convertible-top mechanism, and more. No doubt Chrysler was curious about Corvette’s novel fiberglass body construction.
16 Like Ford’s Thunderbird, the Corvette body was originally meant to be formed from steel. It was only the last-minute nature of the decision to put the EX-122 Corvette Motorama show car into production (the program was completed in a mere seven months) that made fiberglass the material of choice. Unlike the many months, and millions of dollars, needed to create the massive die-stamping equipment for steel body panels, as any small-boat builder or California car customizer knew, fiberglass molds could be made in days. It’s documented that Chevrolet only intended to use fiberglass for the first year or two, after which conventional steel construction would take over. However, as its fiberglass body became part of Corvette’s marketing strategy, General Motors embraced it more fully, and the steel-body takeover was cancelled.
17 Some have claimed that Corvette embraced fiberglass construction because of its supposed lighter weight than sheet metal. After all, Corvette was a sports car, and sports cars were light for enhanced power-to-weight ratios and svelte handling. In truth, unless carefully executed, hand-laid fiberglass parts can easily out-weigh identical parts rendered in stamped steel. Part for part, the early Corvette’s hand-laid panels generally weighed slightly more than steel stampings.
18 Without exception, 1954–present Corvettes were either built in Bowling Green, Kentucky (from 1981-on), or St. Louis, Missouri. The only exclusion was the first year, 1953. All 300 debut-year models were built on a dedicated line situated in the middle of Chevrolet’s huge Flint, Michigan, car-and-truck assembly plant. There, any assistance required from the engineering department was minutes away. Corvettes built in Flint wore VIN tags starting with E53F, the fourth character (F) denoting Flint, Michigan. When the St. Louis plant opened for business, the VIN prefix was changed to E54S, with the fourth character (S) representing St. Louis.
19 Long before the sleekly styled 1968 Opel GT triggered false rumors claiming the Stingray was about to get a major down-sizing, Chevrolet used the Opel name as a cover for the original Corvette development program, which started in June 1952. Let’s remember that in 1931, Adam Opel AG became a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors, so the link was natural. In addition, because it was a manufacturer of small, utilitarian cars at the time, its use didn’t attract hordes of spies and snoops to Chevrolet’s first sports-car development program.
20 Beyond Zora’s “imported” talents, the man tasked with transforming the 1952 Chevrolet passenger-car frame and suspension for Corvette duty was British-born Maurice Olley. He arrived at General Motors during the Great Depression, having previously worked for Rolls-Royce as a suspension engineer. It was Olley who broke Chevrolet away from decades of reliance upon torque tubes with the 1953 Corvette’s use of a modern, open driveshaft.
21 Ignoring aftermarket conversions and owner-built customs, Corvette’s only brush with a factory-authorized station-wagon-body offering (to date) came in 1954. Dubbed the Nomad, it appeared on that year’s Motorama car-show circuit and had a two-door fiber-glass body riding on a 115-inch wheelbase, a full 13 inches longer than a stock Corvette roadster. A year later, the legendary Chevrolet Nomad production model appeared. But instead of expanding the Corvette line, it was constructed of steel and shared its styling with the totally redesigned 1955 full-sized passenger-car lineup. General Motors built 8,386 models of the car destined to become a legend unto itself. As for the 1954 Corvette Nomad, two appear to have been built for the show circuit, one of which still exists today.
Despite teasing the public with two Corvette Nomad station-wagon show cars in 1954, General Motors smartly dropped the idea, allowing the Bel Air–based Nomad to thrive in 1955. This modern-era custom what-if proves the public is still fascinated with what might have been.
22 Hinting that Chevrolet briefly considered offering roadster, wagon, and coupe body types to attract a broader clientele, the 1954 Corvette Corvair coupe appeared on the Motorama show circuit alongside the Corvette Nomad. Much more than a Corvette roadster with a sloping fastback roof, the two-seat Corvair broke away from the distinctive reverse-angle windshield pillars seen on the Motorama Nomad and used on production Corvettes through 1962. Instead, GM stylists employed more traditional A-pillars with a 55-degree slant and wraparound windscreen. The Corvair fast-back would have offered occupants a truly weather-tight cabin with a permanently attached roof, something buyers were forced to wait for until the 1963 Sting Ray coupe.
23 As we all know, Chevrolet applied the Corvair nameplate to a very different line of compact cars just five years after its 1954 debut aboard the Motorama show-car twins. In the latter case, the “air” part of the name referred to the air-cooled, horizontally opposed 6-cylinder engine mounted at the tail of the chassis. So was the 1954 Corvair also air cooled? Nope, its power came from the same triple-carbureted 235-ci OHV 6 used in production Corvettes.
24 One of the biggest myths surrounding 6-cylinder-motivated Corvettes was their supposed sluggish performance. Magazine road tests of the day prove otherwise. With 150 hp and an agile 3.55:1 rear-axle ratio, the 2,850-pound 1953 Corvette turned 0–30 mph in 3.7 seconds, 0–60 mph in 11.0 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 18.0 seconds. These figures beat the contemporary Jaguar XK-120, Porsche 356 coupe, Aston Martin DB2-4 saloon, and Austin Healey 100. The others may have had higher top speeds and better corner-carving capabilities, but in a drag race the Blue Flame 6 Corvettes always came out on top against factory-stock challengers from these competitors.
25 The 1953 Corvette cylinder head is among the rarest Corvette parts in circulation. It was the only head in the Blue Flame 6 engine family with casting number 3836066. Only 300 were installed in cars (plus perhaps two dozen service replacement parts for warranty coverage), and it was not shared with any other passenger-car or pickup-truck application. Tricksters have come up with epoxy-enhanced cheater heads, but the revised digits are not magnetic. General Motors changed the casting number to 3836241 in 1954, so there’s no relief there. Looking on the bright side, at least the Corvette’s inline 6 only takes one of these hen’s teeth head castings.
26 The Corvette’s iconic dual-hump instrument panel was designed to emulate the siamesed cowl effect seen on the British MG TC sports car. Chevrolet interior stylist Joe Shemansky was responsible for adopting the layout.
27 As with other Motorama dream cars, many of the Corvette’s styling features trickled down to lesser, more pedestrian GM offerings. Shemansky’s MG-inspired double-hump dashboard layout reappeared inside every one of the 1,775,952 Chevrolet passenger cars built in 1955, as well as each of the 1,623,376 cars built for 1956. It also reappeared inside every Corvette through 1967.
28 Before 1956, the only Corvette with roll-up side-window door glass was the 1954 Motorama hardtop show car. All others had empty doors without any glass whatsoever. Poor-weather protection called for stopping the vehicle, then extracting the door curtains from the trunk compartment and clipping them into place. Like the manually operated canvas soft top, the Corvette was still drafty and suffered from water leaks around the side windows.
29 Although technically an extra-cost option, heaters were installed on all 1953–1955 Corvettes, adding $91.40 to the retail sticker price. A non-recirculating design, it was simply a miniature water-to-air radiator mounted beneath the dashboard. It warmed the existing air inside the cockpit with no blending of fresh outside air.
30 The non-recirculating nature of the heater resulted in stale, dry, and stuffy cockpit conditions. With the folding canvas top erected into position and the side curtains in place, refreshed cock-pit air was only available by opening a door, at speed, to access the passing airstream. When the cowl-mounted flip-up interior air scoop appeared in 1956, Corvette occupants rejoiced.
31 Like the heater (RPO 101A), the signal-seeking AM radio was technically an option (RPO 102A). Radios were installed in all 1953–1955 Corvettes, adding $145.15 to the retail price.
Lacking the Conelrad 640- and 1240-kilocycle markings added to radio faceplates in early 1954, the owner of this Corvette received his duck-and-cover instructions elsewhere.
32 Instead of the traditional retractable mast-type radio antenna fitted to most cars of the time, the 1953–1955 Corvette used a rectangular meshed-screen antenna that was embedded into the underside of the trunk lid. Trapped between layers of fiberglass matting and resin, they were durable and theft proof.
33 In 1954 the signal-seeking AM radio was the same as that used in 1953 except for the addition of Conelrad National Defense System signal-identification markings on the faceplate at the AM 640 and AM 1240 positions. Established by the Truman administration in 1951, Conelrad stood for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation and was intended to be a reliable source for public safety information in the event of war. Conelrad was replaced by the now-familiar Emergency Alert System on August 5, 1963. A handful of early 1954 Corvettes were built with leftover non-Conelrad radios from 1953.
34 Because GM’s go-to body supplier (Fisher Body) had no experience with fiberglass construction, Chevrolet went to the Molded Fiberglass Company (MFG) of Ashtabula, Ohio, for the Corvette project. Not surprisingly, MFG was already working with the Kaiser-Frasier auto company on its fiberglass-bodied Darrin 161 sports-car project. MFG supplied Kaiser with 10 of the 13 major fiberglass parts used in each body. A miniscule competitor in the grand scheme of things, General Motors allowed MFG to fulfill its obligations to the Kaiser Darrin program while simultaneously supplying bodies for the new Corvette.
35 In a move reminiscent of Henry Ford’s plastic-bodied Ford test car from the previous decade, Chevrolet built a fiberglass-bodied Bel Air convertible in 1952. However, although Ford’s body relied on soybean-sourced material, the Chevrolet was made of more traditional glass-fiber matting and resin. Neither vehicle proposal made it to the showroom floor.
36 One unfortunate side effect of Corvette’s fiberglass-body construction was a lack of occupant protection from exploding flywheel and clutch assemblies. The stock cast-aluminum clutch housing was not capable of containing failed cast-iron flywheels at the elevated RPM levels sometimes achieved after hot rodding. Many a drag racer suffered foot and leg injuries due to the burst trajectory of flying shrapnel passing through the fiberglass firewall and floorpan. Fortunately, this hazard didn’t affect the automatic-only 1953–1955 models (excepting approximately 75 1955 V-8 cars equipped with the new 3-speed manual transmission).
37 Although all 300 Corvettes built in 1953 were painted Polo White with red interiors, black canvas tops, and red painted wheel rims, the color palette was expanded for 1954. Of the 3,640 second-year cars built, approximately 300 were Pennant Blue, 100 were Sportsman Red, and 4 were Black. The remaining 3,230 were Polo White. Unfortunately, factory documents indicating precise shipments are lacking, and because the Corvette’s trim tag lacked any sort of body–color data up until 1962, verification of factory-applied body color on 1953–1962 cars is only possible via the original window sticker.
38 Although General Motors was collaborating with MFG to produce the massive matched-metal dies used to produce 1954 Corvette bodies, the slower, more labor-intensive hand-lay vacuum-bag method was used in 1953. However, when Corvette production was transferred to St. Louis, the conversion process to matched-metal dies wasn’t complete. As the 1954 model run progressed, more and more fiberglass subassemblies transitioned to the superior molding process. This created a situation in which the early 1954 models contained numerous hand-lay panels; the final 1954 models had almost none. Modern-day restorers must take the lengthy transition process into account before condemning any 1954 as being flawed for containing lumpy body panels.
39 The largest one-piece fiberglass panel in Corvette’s makeup was the floorpan. It weighed 75 pounds and measured 9.5 × 6.0 × 2.0 feet. Combining the base of the firewall, transmission tunnel, passenger footwell and seat platforms, rear-wheel houses, spare tire well, and trunk floor into one piece, this huge part was also the last component to transition from the hand-lay technique to the use of matched-metal dies. 1954 Corvettes built between December 28, 1953 (first day of production), and early July 1954 received the handmade pans.
40 Period photographs show MFG employees at the Ashtabula, Ohio, plant working up various exterior body panels on huge 15-foot-tall rotating platforms. The male sides of the body-panel molds were rendered in fine meshed screen that allowed suction to be drawn through the surface. Chopped fiberglass bits mixed with resin were blown under pressure onto the rotating screen mold for even coverage. The resulting fuzzy-textured panel was then boxed inside an oven and finely woven fiberglass matting was applied, along with more liquid resin. Then the panel was placed between the metal dies (steam heated to 220 degrees F) and compressed at 120 psi. The cured panel emerged 7 minutes later, ready for trimming. The method used on all 1953 bodies required 24 hours for curing.
41 Subjected to rough handling by service-station attendants and under constant attack from gasoline fumes, the Corvette’s hinged fuel-fill door was one of the very few body parts not made of fiberglass. It was a conventional steel stamping painted to match the body.
Corvette’s only stamped-steel body panel hid the fuel filler cap. A spring-loaded over-center hinge held it open while in use.
42 Although all 300 examples of the 1953 Corvette were fitted with two hood-release latches (one on each side of the cock-pit), Chevrolet sought to simplify the mechanism in 1954 with a single latch. That said, the two-part 1953-style latches were installed on approximately the first 500 1954 models before the single latch was phased in.
43 In 1955, changes were made to the material used to make the folding top. Vinyl-coated fabric replaced the canvas used in 1953–1954, and some early 1955 bodies. Softer and less prone to wrinkles, the vinyl-impregnated material was part of an industry-wide trend away from the more utilitarian canvas.
44 The third Motorama Corvette offering for 1954 was a roadster fitted with a removable fiberglass hardtop and roll-up door glass, details that would not appear in regular production until the 1956 model year. Until then, all Corvette roadsters had awkward snap-in side windows and manually operated folding soft tops.
45 Chevrolet finally improved Corvette’s image with hard-core sports-car fans with the 1955 introduction of an available Saginaw 3-speed manual transmission. All previous thoughts of adapting passenger-car column-shift equipment were dropped in favor of a simple, fast-action, floor-mounted shift lever. A new fiberglass floor hump with a boxed tower was added to the floorpan to suit the new shifter. About 75 manual transmissions were factory installed in 1955; all were teamed with the new 265-ci V-8.
46 Corvette’s distinctive wire-mesh headlamp covers were originally intended to be rendered in clear Plexiglas to match the clear license-plate enclosure on the trunk lid. Concerns over fogging and diminished light efficiency prompted the switch to the chromed “fencing masks” that appeared in production.
The 1961 Jaguar XKE may have realized Harley Earl’s original vision of clear headlamp coverings, but the wire mesh “fencing-mask” alternate has become even more iconic.
47 At the rear, the enclosed license-plate compartment did exactly what Harley Earl’s design team feared the enclosed headlamps would do: It fogged up in humid weather and created dribbles of moisture on the inside of the clear plastic lens. In 1954, Chevrolet added a small chamber behind the license plate to accommodate two small bags of absorbent desiccant.
Looks like it’s time to replace the desiccant material behind this fogged-over rear license plate.
48 Anticipating a steady flow of Corvette-body business, MFG built a massive factory in Ashtabula, Ohio, which was the largest of its kind in the world at the time. However, the unexpectedly poor sales of 1954 Corvettes (27 percent of the cars produced, or 1,076, were still at the factory by January 1955), spelled potential disaster. To help activate the idle MFG workers, Chevrolet saved the day with a contract to make the fiberglass quarter panels, tailgate, and spare-tire carrier for the new-for-1955 Cameo pickup truck. Throughout its four-year production run, MFG produced 10,621 Cameo cargo beds (5,520 in 1955, 1,452 in 1956, 2,244 in 1957, and 1,405 in 1958).
49 In a move that would have given the not-yet-organized National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fits, the delightfully styled bumperettes affixed to each end of the Corvette body were virtually useless. Bolted directly to the fiberglass body with no connections to the frame of the car, they gave way instantly in collisions and were essentially ornamental. The NHTSA was formed in 1970 and was responsible for the controversial 5-mph bumper mandate that later compromised Corvette styling.
50 It took a sympathetic consumer to overlook the many bodywork flaws seen on factory-fresh Corvettes. With a body made up of more than 60 individual parts that were bonded together, joints, flanges, and other visible surface unions were rampant. It was up to the skill level of the worker, and diligent quality supervision, to deliver blemish-free results. That said, poor door fit and visible bonding strips and seams beneath the paint were par for the Corvette’s course. Today’s restorers generally achieve surface perfection, but a look at any verified survivor reveals the lumpy truth.
51 Chevrolet took a lot of heat for launching Corvette with an automatic transmission and waiting until 1955 to offer a more sporting manual transmission. But a look below the speedometer hints at something most critics failed to see. Of all the possible places to mount the parking-brake warning lamp, the stylists stuck it directly above the steering column. It just so happens that Chevrolet’s column-shift-type steering column (as used in passenger cars) has its actuator rod positioned in this same location. Could the Corvette’s chrome-plated steering-column finish plate have been designed to accept the passenger car’s 3-speed column shifter as an alternative to the Powerglide automatic?
The parking-brake-warning lamp lens sits exactly where a column-actuated manual-transmission shift rod would pass through the dash. Is this a coincidence?
52 I couldn’t photograph it, but trust me, it’s there (I felt it with my hands). Directly behind the instrument cluster is a horizontal structural brace supporting the steering column and dash assembly. Directly behind the parking lamp lens, and precisely where a 3-speed column-shift actuator rod would pass, this brace is formed with a hump that serves no purpose except to allow passage of a shift actuator rod. These clues suggest Chevrolet considered offering a column-shifted 3-speed manual transmission, but held off. Was there concern that the balky three-on-the-tree would be as unpopular as the Powerglide automatic?
53 The eventual shifter used to manipulate the two-speed Power-glide was a floor-mounted lever set conveniently next to the driver’s right leg. Much more sporting than the column-mounted handle used on Powerglide passenger models, it was a step in the right direction. It also cut costs and complexity compared to the maze of links, pivots, and bell cranks that would have been required for a passenger-car-style column shifter, whether manual or automatic.
Offsetting its stodgy Powerglide transmission, the first Corvette tapped into the cool factor, and utility, of a floor-mounted shift lever. All subsequent Corvettes shared this detail.
54 To increase output from 115 to 150 hp for 1953 Corvette duty, the venerable 235-ci Blue Flame inline 6-cylinder engine was fitted with a trio of horizontally mounted (side draft) Carter YH carburetors, with high-flow split-outlet iron exhaust manifolds, full-length dual exhaust, a mechanical cam with .405/.414-inch lift (intake/exhaust), dual valvesprings, and aluminum 8.0:1 compression pistons to deliver 150 hp at 4,200 rpm and 223 ft-lbs of torque at 2,400 rpm. Unlike later years where certain Corvette engines were shared with passenger cars, the triple-carbureted 6 was not offered elsewhere.
55 To achieve a respectable 53/47 (front/rear) static distribution of Corvette’s 2,850-pound curb weight, the engine and transmission were positioned 3 inches lower and a full 7 inches farther back in the chassis as compared to a Chevrolet sedan.
56 The low-slung body shell hugged the top of the engine and called for a special rocker cover with a sloping leading end. The traditional upright radiator was too tall, so the expansion tank was separated and positioned alongside the engine’s rocker cover, on the passenger’s side. This began a long tradition of Corvette-specific cooling systems with remotely located radiator expansion tanks.
57 A quick way to tell a 1953 Corvette 6 from a 1954–1955 unit is to check the valvecover hold-down bolts. First-year engines used two centrally mounted acorn nuts to secure the cover to the cylinder head, while 1954–1955 engines switched to four pan-head screws, positioned lower, around the flange meeting the cylinder head. The revised layout better clamped the gasket to prevent oil leaks. This valvecover and head redesign also applied to GM’s passenger cars and light trucks during the same time period.
You’re kidnapped and the captors command you to tell a 1953 Corvette from a 1954 just by looking at the engine. Fact 57 could save your life.
58 The 1955 Corvette stands as a transitional model. It wore the early body but stepped up to V-8 power. Although General Motors became conservative with production to ward off an inventory glut, all but 7 of the 700 1955 Corvettes easily bruised European sports cars thanks to the new 265-ci OHV V-8. Arkus-Duntov obtained one of the first V-8 Corvettes and presented it to his wife, Elfie, for daily use. It wore special silver paint and a central racing stripe. Silver didn’t join Corvette’s option list until the 1957 arrival of Inca Silver.
59 Frugal buyers did not special-order the seven 6-cylinder Corvettes built in 1955. Rather, the St. Louis plant had leftover engines and had to “build them out” (as they say in the biz). It was up to dealers to find them homes. Still, buyers saved $135 ($2,774 versus $2,909 for the 195-hp 265 V-8). The seven 6-bangers carried VINs starting with E55. The new V-8s received VINs starting with VE55. In the 1978 Petersen Deluxe Series book Corvette: An American Classic, John Amgwert (of the National Corvette Restorer’s Society/NCRS) reported that five of the 6-cylinder 1955 Corvettes were still in existence at the time of publication, an amazing survival rate.
60 The 1955 arrival of the 265 V-8 brought a superior 12-volt electrical system. That said, the handful of 6-cylinder Corvettes built retained the 6-volt electricals used in 1953 and 1954. This point was crucial during battery, generator, and lamp service and replacement. The 6-cylinder Corvettes were the only 6-volt passenger cars built by Chevrolet in 1955; everything else, even 6-cylinder taxicabs, were upgraded to 12-volt layouts that year.
61 The Corvette’s fiberglass firewall was ineffective at preventing electronic energy from interfering with radio reception. To prevent energy released by the ignition distributor, spark plugs, and spark-plug wires from reaching the radio antenna, an elaborate, multi-piece, stamped-steel shield encased the ignition system on the passenger’s side of all 1953–1955 6-cylinder Corvettes.
62 For 1953, the two-piece ignition-shield stamping was painted blue to match the rest of the engine. For 1954, chrome plating was added for extra eye appeal. However, as supplies varied, many cars were built with half of the shield rendered in chrome and the other half painted blue. There was no rhyme or reason to what was installed by the St. Louis assembly workers other than what was available at the moment. In today’s restoration world, most 1953–1954 Corvettes are shown with chromed shields despite the fact that chrome is incorrect for 1953 production models.
Keeping a lid on radio static, this elaborate chamber encased the distributor and spark-plug wires. The chromed, remote expansion tank was separated from the radiator for hood clearance.
63 When the 265-ci V-8 arrived in 1955, the radio interference issue was even more pronounced, as the distributor now sat less than 20 inches away from the radio receiver. Enclosing the distributor in a chrome-plated metal canister and adopting spark-plug wires with braided metal sheaths solved the problem. This was the first of several different shielding strategies applied to V-8 Corvette ignition systems through the successive years.
64 Chevrolet had running V-8 engines on hand when the Corvette was introduced in 1953. However, they were preproduction forebears of the mighty 265-ci small-block engine that wouldn’t be ready until the 1955 model year. One of these experimental V-8s, with 231 ci, was installed in one of the 1953 Corvette Motorama show cars after its show duties were over. Delays in the official release of the small-block V-8 were the only factor preventing the Corvette from arriving with a V-8 power plant from the start.
65 To improve acceleration, the Corvette-spec cast-iron Powerglide automatic was reprogrammed to remain in Low gear right up to 47 mph under full throttle and not to upshift from Low to Drive before 4,500 rpm. It was also set to kick down from Drive to Low gear at any speed below 50 mph.
66 The Powerglide transmission used behind the new 265-ci V-8 shared the same 1.82:1 Low gear ratio as the Blue Flame 6 but had a different stall speed and improved friction faces to suit the increased torque. Because it lacked an intermediate gear ratio between Low (1.82:1) and Drive (1:1), flooring the gas pedal of any Powerglide Corvette at speeds below 50 mph resulted in a sudden jump in engine RPM that frightened some riders.
67 An early spate of carburetor fires afflicting 1953 models triggered a redesign of the air-cleaner configuration. The trio of bullet-shaped units initially used could drip raw gasoline onto the hot exhaust manifolds below if flooded. To remedy this for 1954 and 1955, the three carburetor mouths were sealed to a horizontal tube that was fed clean air by two chromed circular filter units. A revised camshaft brought power up to 155 hp in 1954.
68 Despite its inline 6-cylinder engine, Earl’s stylists added a touch of V-8 imagery to the 1953 Corvette’s tail by splitting the exhaust system and capping the dual outlets with chrome tips. Although some inline 6-cylinder cars of the mid-1950s (certain low-line Studebakers) emulated dual exhaust tips with stylized rear bumpers incorporating a second dummy outlet, the Corvette dual exhaust tracts were real and fully effective.
69 With use, owners of 1953 Corvettes noticed their cars’ 1-inch tailpipe extensions sucked exhaust fumes into the cabin and deposited soot around the trunk. A remedy appeared midway through the 1954 production run when the length of the tips was extended to a full 4 inches. The extended tips were implemented on 1,523 of the 3,640 roadsters built in 1954 and on all 700 cars built in 1955.
The Corvette featured these slim 1-inch-long exhaust tips in 1953-on in just under half of the cars built in 1954. The 4-inch-long replacements solved exhaust fuming and staining problems.
70 Through the years, Corvettes have worn many legendary external engine-callout emblems. The first arrived in 1955 on 265-ci V-8 cars. To tell the world a V-8 was on board, the standard diecast chrome Corvette fender emblems were enhanced with an oversized, gold-toned “V” applied atop the small V in the Corvette nameplate. Interestingly, the chromed die-cast metal inscriptions were the same items used in 1953 and 1954. The enlarged V was an add-on component. Removing it revealed a standard 6-cylinder emblem with the smaller, integral V.
71 Although it might be easy to make the assumption, the Ardun Mechanical Corporation was not the source of the Duntov cam that grabbed headlines at the 1956 Daytona Speed Week. There, a preproduction Corvette ran a two-way average of 150.583 mph with Arkus-Duntov himself at the wheel. With its .404/.413-inch valve lift, this solid cam was available as Regular Production Option (RPO) number 449 and helped unlock the 265-ci small-block V-8’s breathing potential. The Duntov nomenclature was assigned to the cam because he designed it while he was a GM employee. For a decade afterward, hobbyists loosely applied the term “Duntov cam” to describe small-block Chevy cams with hotter-than-stock specifications. After a decade of (mostly) misuse, the term has passed from the popular lexicon of today, except when used to describe a correctly restored early Corvette equipped with RPO 449. Beyond that, the Ardun Mechanical Corporation was no longer active when General Motors released the cam in 1956. A few years later, at Pontiac, engine development engineer Malcolm “Mac” McKellar was immortalized when a series of his camshaft designs were celebrated with his last name attached.
72 The Corvette’s low, sloping nose and hood line forced the use of a special water pump on 6-cylinder models. To allow clearance between the fan blades and hood underside, the cast-iron pump housing was designed to position the fan pulley shaft’s horizontal axis lower than the pumps used in any other Chevrolet model. Today, reproduction housings are available, but the laws of supply and demand set the price at almost $2,000. Rebuilt original pumps can run as high as $3,000.
73 Tire spin was a problem for racers and overly enthusiastic street drivers thanks to the open-style differential fitted to all 1953–1955 Corvettes. Although Positraction was not officially added to Corvette’s option list until 1957 (a $48.45 upcharge), a handful of Posi cars trickled out in 1956.
74 The 265 V-8 of 1955 was big news, but like 1953 and 1954, less sporty Powerglide automatic transmissions dominated production. Records show that between 70 and 80 of the 700 Corvettes built in 1955 received 3-speed manual transmissions. As for the final Blue Flame 6 models, even though GM sales literature hints that a 3-speed manual was available (the combination was used to establish the printed catalog base price), closer examination of the fine print shows the $178.35 Powerglide automatic to have been a “mandatory option.” The few manual-equipped V-8s were constructed in the second half of the model year.
75 In later years, Corvette assembly workers were faced with a multitude of possible rear-axle ratios to install. But things were simple from 1953 to 1955, when open-type carriers and 3.55:1 gear sets were the rule. The first deviation came in 1955 when a 3.27:1 ratio arrived for late-year V-8 cars with the 3-speed manual transmission.
76 Corvette was the first Chevrolet passenger car to deviate from the division’s traditional torque-tube driveline, which was used from the start. Lead chassis designer Maurice Olley (a former Rolls-Royce employee) knew that passing a tube through the frame’s central X-member would force unacceptable drive-tunnel enlargement and infringe on space available for the bucket seats, a sports-car must. Corvette’s open driveshaft also simplified the art of driveline modification, quickly endearing it to hot rodders who began swapping engines, transmissions, and axles almost immediately.
77 Another strike against the torque tube was the Corvette’s slight 102-inch wheelbase and severe engine setback. Less than 3 feet stood between the tail of the transmission and differential pinion. Attempting to stuff a rigid drive tube in the space was not workable on a car with sporting intent, where severe cornering loads triggered major shifts in the body-to-axle distance.
78 The open driveshaft let the chassis designers take full advantage of the hypoid gear set’s positioning of the pinion gear on a lower axis than the center line of the ring gear. This lowered the driveshaft trajectory and allowed reduction of the driveshaft tunnel size for more interior room.
79 Unlike previous Chevrolet practice that put the rear leaf springs inboard of, or directly below, the frame rails, Corvette springs were set outboard of the frame on outriggers. This allowed for much lower body placement and lowered the center of gravity for improved handling.
80 The Corvette and its larger pre-1955 passenger-car siblings shared the same rear axle type but with alterations to the differential case to seal off the pinion bearing and accommodate an externally positioned universal joint and drive yoke. The “banjo” housing and bolt-on inspection cover were essentially unchanged except for variations to track width and spring mounts.
81 For 1955, Chevy’s all-new passenger cars broke free from the torque-tube era. To handle the growing horsepower and torque of the V-8 age, a new rear axle housing with an integral (welded on) rear cover replaced the previous double-open housing of 1954. Interestingly, the new 1955 axle housing was not used on Corvettes until 1956. They retained the 10-bolt rear inspection cover for this final year.
82 Ask any chassis designer and he’ll tell you: after jounce (downward force) comes rebound (upward bounce back). When proving-grounds tests revealed excessive rear-axle drop on Corvettes launched over steep moguls at speed, fabric rebound straps were added to limit damage to shock absorbers and universal joints. These straps ran from the ends of the axle tube to frame-mounted anchor points.
83 Unlike most leaf-sprung American passenger cars with the rear shackles set under compression, the Corvette’s rear shackles were anchored to the frame below the leaf-spring eye. This put them in tension (as if being pulled apart rather than squashed). It was part of Olley’s recipe to set the leaf springs so their leading bushings/mounts were lower than their rearward counterparts (when viewed from the side). This manipulated the thrust angle of the axle and gave the Corvette a tendency toward predictable oversteer, which remained through the 1962 model run.
84 By arranging the rear leaf springs as far outboard as possible and positioning the transmission high, Chevrolet was able to route the Corvette’s driveshaft high enough to avoid conflicts with the frame’s vitally important central X-member. Deviations in the design would have necessitated a driveshaft passage opening and a less rigid frame.
85 The Corvette’s ladder-type steel frame featured fully boxed side rails not just in the middle region under the cockpit, like Chevrolet convertible passenger cars, but all the way to the horns on each end. The total weight was 213 pounds. For comparison, the fully assembled Corvette bare body weighed 340 pounds.
86 To cut costs, the Corvette’s front suspension shared many passenger-car components. Again, it was ex–Rolls-Royce chassis guru Maurice Olley who oversaw adapting the Bel Air parts for use on the new sports car. Notable changes included specific steering linkage and revised front anti-sway bar positioning. Like all pre-1955 Chevrolet passenger cars, the Corvette employed kingpins instead of ball joints, a detail that hampered ideal handling until 1963 with the arrival of the Sting Ray.
87 Power steering wasn’t offered on any Corvette until 1963, but to give the Corvette better reflexes in 1953, the Saginaw manual steering box was given a faster 16:1 ratio. The passenger-car steering ratio of the day was 19.4:1.
88 The passenger-car parts bin also contributed major brake components to the Corvette program. The same 11 × 2.00/11 × 1.75-inch drums (front/rear) remained, but the piston in the brake master cylinder was 1/8-inch larger for quicker application. The brake proportioning valve was adjusted to deliver 3 percent less forward bias. This switch from the passenger car’s typical 56/44 (front/rear) to 53/47-percent proportion ratio was needed to complement the Corvette’s more even front/rear weight distribution.
89 Chevrolet correctly predicted that “Midnight Auto Supply” crews would be highly attracted to the exciting new Corvette. To ease law enforcement’s efforts to identify purloined Corvettes, a hidden VIN stamping was applied to the top of the 1953 frame in addition to the stainless-steel VIN tag affixed to the driver-side door-hinge pillar. Visible through the driver-side rear wheel opening, the entire 10-character identification sequence was stamped atop the main frame rail where it transitioned upward over the axle. For 1954 and up, the hidden VIN was moved atop the central X-member near the driver’s seat and is almost impossible to read with the body in place.
90 Long before the advent of cast- and forged-aluminum wheels, Corvette shared its unadorned 15 × 5-inch Kelsey Hayes steel rims with standard Chevrolets. The only detail setting them apart was color. All 1953 and 1954 rims were painted Sportsman Red to complement the interior. For 1955, Chevrolet shuffled the deck to suit the growing body color palette. Cars painted Gypsy Red (a different shade than Sportsman Red), Harvest Gold, and Corvette Copper received color-keyed rims. 1955 cars painted Polo White or Pennant Blue reverted to Sportsman Red wheels.
91 The front side of Corvette’s steel wheels wore pretty shades of paint, but what about the reverse side? In a seemingly random fashion, some rims were painted to match the outboard face, and others were merely sprayed with a hasty coat of semi gloss black to prevent surface rust.
92 A production hiccup forced the use of simple, bulbous 1953 Bel Air wheel covers on the first 25 Corvettes built in 1953. Or did it? Although there exist many GM photos of Bel Air–capped 1953 Corvettes, research indicates few, if any, reached showrooms with them. General Motors likely replaced them with the correct spinner-type covers before retail shipment.
93 Although the bodies they carried differed dramatically, the frames underneath the Corvettes were almost the same from 1953 to 1962. The 11 body-mount locations, suspension geometry, and general characteristics remained unchanged. The most note-worthy change came in 1955 when the passenger-side frame horn received a stamped notch to clear the V-8’s protruding mechanical fuel pump.
94 You had to stop and look for it, but the Corvette’s 58.8-inch rear track width was almost 2 inches wider than the 57.0-inch front measurement. This seeming mismatch is actually common throughout the automotive world and exists to allow front-tire-to-body clearance at full steering lock. Remember, the rear axle doesn’t steer.
95 Although Corvette suspensions were historically more advanced than those installed on Chevrolet passenger-car models, in 1955 Chevrolet elected to retain the compromised kingpin-style front suspension rather than upgrade to the more advanced ball-joint front suspension fitted to the all-new 1955-on passenger cars. It was one of the few times Corvette technology lagged behind.
96 The kingpin/ball-joint controversy centers on the union between the A-arms and front-wheel spindles. Ball joints have swiveling studs with far greater range of motion than kingpins. This was at the core of Corvette’s compromised front-suspension geometry through the 1962 model run. It is noteworthy that General Motors declined to invest in a ball-joint upgrade for Corvette despite the fact that 1955-on passenger-car parts could have easily been adapted.
97 In keeping with the general theme of “lower, wider, longer” that prevailed in 1950s Detroit, the Corvette’s 57-inch front and 58.8-inch rear track widths were 6 and 9 inches wider, respectively, than the front and rear track widths of the Jaguar XK120, one of the British sports cars General Motors “benchmarked” to help guide Corvette development.
98 The Corvette’s worm-and-sector steering box may have been given a quicker ratio than its passenger-car forebears, but drivers knew to keep rolling slowly when parking. Optional power assist didn’t arrive until 1963.
99 Despite the jump from 155 to 195 hp that came with the V-8 in 1955, Corvettes continued to use the same four-leaf rear leaf springs fitted since 1953. And unlike certain subsequent V-8 models that came with traction bars, the 1955 rear suspension wasn’t bolstered to ward off axle hop.
100 With the vast majority of 1955 V-8 Corvettes equipped with Powerglide automatic transmissions (about 630 of 700), the need to curb axle hop wasn’t urgent. That’s because the Powerglide’s torque converter cushioned the delivery of power to the axle more effectively than a clutch-equipped manual transmission. The abrupt jolts generated by a vigorously operated manual transmission could upset the tire/road contact patch and lead to axle tramp. Because only a small population of 1955 Corvettes had manual transmissions, the one-size-fits-all rear suspension/axle strategy enjoyed a final year in 1955.
NUMBER CRUNCHING AND PRESS COMMENTARY
101 Legendary magazine road tester Tom McCahill tested a 1954 model in the May 1954 issue of Mechanix Illustrated and squashed the myth that 6-cylinder Corvettes were slowpokes in their day. He said the 1954 Corvette could “whip up to 60 mph in 11.2 seconds, which is fast enough to embarrass a 1954 Cadillac by several lengths.”
102 Every mass-produced automobile model on the face of the planet was first built in small quantities as assembly line workers learned assembly details in slow motion. Typically, the first few dozen to 100 units of any new model fall into this “pilot car” category. However, in the case of the 1953 Corvette, because General Motors was working with an unfamiliar medium, fiberglass, the process was magnified. Every one of the 300 Corvette roadsters built in 1953 at the Van Slyke Avenue plant in Flint, Michigan, was hand assembled, and it can be said that no two were strictly identical. By contrast, the 1954 Corvette assembly plant in St. Louis benefitted from the many lessons gleaned during the six-month-long pilot run. The same 300 cars that took almost six months to assemble in Flint could be completed in St. Louis in 10 days!
103 In an early 1955 issue of Motor Life, writer Ken Fermoyl wrote of the new 265 V-8 1955 Corvette, “The engine fits so nicely, in fact, that one suspects that the possibility of using a V-8 was considered when the Corvette was designed.” Was a V-8 even available in late 1952 when the Corvette concept was taking shape? Yes. When Ed Cole became chief engineer at Chevrolet in 1952, he scuttled a nearly finalized V-8 design, complete with running prototypes. Details are scarce, but the 231-ci V-8 likely had roots in the 1949 Caddy and Olds V-8s and was thus rather heavy for its displacement. The small-block 265-cube “mouse” V-8 that arrived in 1955 was likely a clean-slate restart with few links to the stillborn pre-Cole V-8 design.
104 Only a decade after the last of 3,172 hostile German V-2 rockets landed during World War II, Chevrolet magazine ads proclaimed the 1955 265-cube small-block as the “V-8 that goes like a V-2.” Making reference to the terrifying German A-4 “vengeance weapon” (the root of its V-2 name in popular culture) likely touched a few raw nerves among military veterans, and Europeans, who’d have preferred to forget about them.
105 Although not as highly guarded as the Coca-Cola soda formula or Kentucky Fried Chicken’s seasoning recipe, Corvette body supplier MFG perfected the ideal ingredients for its nonsteel panels: 30-percent glass fiber, 29-percent aluminum silicate filler, and 41-percent isophthalic resin. Each 340-pound 1953–1955 body shell contained 136 pounds of fiberglass, 153 pounds of resin, and 51 pounds of filler.
106 After selling every single 1953 Corvette and sensing deep consumer demand, Chevrolet increased production twelvefold in 1954, to a total of 3,640 units. Unfortunately, a soft economy soured the plan, and by the planned start of the 1955 production cycle, 1,100 unsold 1954s remained on dealer lots. To avoid a worsening glut, Chevrolet trimmed the 1955 Corvette output to a mere 700 cars. Luckily, dealers were able to clear unsold inventory in time for the arrival of the totally restyled 1956 model. It cannot be overstated: Corvette came within inches of being discontinued in 1955.
107 Corvettes and engine swappers have always gone hand in hand, usually with a crashed (or stolen) Corvette donating its 327 or 427 to some non-Corvette recipient in the name of quicker quarter-mile performance. But for many 1953–1954 6-cylinder models, swapping went the other way around. One of the earliest documented V-8 swaps was chronicled in the August 1953 issue of Motor Trend, where the 322 “nail head” and Dynaflow automatic from a Buick Century found a new home in a fresh 1953 Corvette. Motor Trend staffer Walt Woron reported, “From a standing start using Drive, I got to 60 mph in 10 seconds (versus 11.5 for the standard Corvette); using Low, then shifting into Drive at a relatively low 4,000 rpm, I chopped this time to 8 seconds.” Curb weight grew from 2,940 to 3,100 pounds.
108 The same August 1953 issue of Motor Trend found Woron at the wheel of another V-8 Corvette, this one directly from Chevrolet. “The first difference I felt between the Corvette 6 and the V-8 was in the idle. The V-8 sounds more potent, somewhat like a race engine with its tough idle and exhaust tone like that from a boat. The first time I took off from a light was when I noticed a distinct difference.” The automatic test car ran 0-60–mph in 9.0 seconds and 0-80–mph in 15.8 seconds (2.6 and 4.4 seconds quicker than a typical 6).
109 Although it was listed as an option, a radio was built into all 300 1953 Corvettes. The RPO code 102A signal-seeking radio added $145.15 to the total price and $43,545 to Chevrolet’s till for that model year.
110 It happened again in 1954, with the RPO 102A signal-seeking radio installed in every Corvette and still priced at $145.15. But with 3,640 cars built in this second year of production, Chevrolet’s bottom line swelled by $528,346!
111 And finally, in 1955, the RPO 102A signal-seeking radio remained a $145.15 “mandatory option.” With uncertain clouds looming overhead, Chevrolet only built 700 cars, with radio-equipment sales adding $101,605 to the bottom line. The radio’s optional status was finally realized in 1956, when 750 of the 3,467 new C2 Corvettes were built without a radio. Interestingly, that same year Chevrolet increased the price of the signal-seeking AM radio to $198.90, a hefty $53.75 jump.
112 Heaters followed a similar pattern, listed as an option with no choice to exclude them. Retail priced at $91.40, heaters brought in an extra $27,420 in 1953 (300 cars built), $332,696 in 1954 (3,640 cars built), and $63,980 in 1955 (700 cars built). In total, 1953–1955 heater sales added $424,096 to corporate coffers. Radio sales for the same period totaled $673,496.
113 “Bill Mitchell, director of GM styling, likes to point out that engineers have really bent over backward to help the stylist. The new V-8 engines allow lower, shorter hoods.” So wrote Motor Trend magazine’s Don MacDonald in a July 1954 story called “Behind the Styling Curtain.” At the time of his quote, Chevrolet’s small-block V-8 was still a secret, and the upright Blue Flame 6 powered the second-year Corvette. But comparing the Corvette-specific version of the 6-cylinder and its triple side-draft induction to the down draft and high-hat oil bath used on passenger cars validates Mitchell’s premise. Without the engineers’ cooperation with Corvette body stylists, the low-profile sports car wouldn’t have been possible.
114 The April 1954 issue of Motor Trend provided further evidence that 6-cylinder Corvettes weren’t as sluggish as many assumed. “It doesn’t have a fantastic power/weight ratio (18 to 1), but [it] is still better than every stock car except [for the] Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe.” Four years later, Road & Track tested a fresh Porsche 1600 Super Speedster for its April 1958 issue. Its 88-hp flat-4 engine moved 2,110 pounds with a power/weight ratio of 24:1. Everything is relative.
115 The December 1952 issue of Motor Trend exposed the fiber-glass-bodied sports- and kit-car craze that swept the nation. With a main cover image featuring a Glasspar roadster and the blurb “New Wonder Material: Sports Car Builders Turn to Fiberglas,” it is odd that there was zero mention of the Corvette, which debuted only weeks later in January 1953 at the Waldorf Astoria showcase in New York City (see Fact 4). Writer Jim Potter’s seven-page exposé featured 29 pictures including the Kaiser Darrin, Woodill Wildfire, Testaguzza La Saetta, Viking-Craft Skorpion and Cheetah (not to be confused with Bill Thomas’ offering a decade later), and others. The only mention of Chevrolet came in reference to using a scavenged chassis for construction of the La Saetta (page 28).
116 Potter’s December 1952 Motor Trend exposé even said, “Although the Ford Motor Company pioneered the first all-plastics car, they dropped their announced production project after considerable money was spent on experimentation.” This refers to Henry Ford’s various pet projects from 1930 to 1941, some of which involved soy-bean-sourced resins and publicity stunts involving sledgehammers.
117 The Motor Trend fiberglass article’s complete ignorance of the Corvette is bizarre, especially because it included no less than four pictures of a preproduction Kaiser Darrin. The article said, “Negotiations to go into production of 2,000 complete cars are, at this writing, still being worked out with the Kaiser-Frasier Motor Car Company. Price is expected to be about $2,800.” In the end, actual Darrin sales didn’t begin until 1954 (see Fact 1).
118 One final bit of relevant trivia appearing in the December 1952 Motor Trend fiberglass story was news that a fiberglass body shell was offered to transform the 1945–1949 MG TC roadster into a sleek, slab-sided closed coupe. Atlas Fiber-Glas Inc., a partnership between Roy Kinch and a (then-unknown) 24-year-old hot rodder named Mickey Thompson, manufactured the shell. Potter wrote, “This is reported to be the first coupe body ever built out of fiber-glass.” Within a decade, Mickey Thompson set a world land speed record, was managing the famed Lions Drag Strip, and sponsored many competitive Corvette road racers, including some of the first Z06s on the West Coast. A picture of a youthful Mickey Thompson hoisting a bare coupe body with business partner Kinch appeared on page 29 of the issue. If this product was indeed the first fiberglass coupe, it’d be just one of many of “Sir Mickey firsts.”
119 News of Corvette’s game-changing new V-8 appeared in the May 1955 issue of Motor Trend. In the “Spotlight on Detroit” column, writer Don MacDonald wrote, “A 195-hp V-8 is available as an option in the more weatherproof 1955 Corvette. The engine is basically the power-pack job which makes other Chevrolets the hot rodders’ delight this year, but it gets 15 extra horsepower from a higher-lift camshaft.” True enough, while the hottest passenger-car-based 265 V-8 served up 180 hp, Corvette retained ultimate bragging rights with 195. MacDonald’s use of the word “option” was surprising; it must have led some readers to assume that a mix of V-8s and 6s would be produced going forward.
120 Judging from the wording of a full-page Corvette ad that also appeared on page 15 in the May 1955 issue of Motor Trend, certain factions within Chevrolet management may have been on the fence about eliminating the 6-cylinder engine altogether. It read, in part, “Now the Blue-Flame 6 is joined by a very special 195-hp version of the astonishing Chevrolet V-8 engine, the version will stun you.” Hmmm. The wording “joined by” instead of “replaced by” certainly implied that there were plans to move forward with both engine offerings. In the end, only seven Blue Flame Corvettes were built in 1955. The other 693 were V-8s.
121 Bumping backward two months to page 15 of the March 1955 issue of Motor Trend we see another full-page ad for the 1955 Corvette that’s even more confusing. There is zero mention of the V-8 engine! A beautifully designed ad with hand-drawn sketches of the car and its details, the headline reads “For experts only!” and the only referenced engine is, “The special Blue-Flame engine fueled by three side-draft carburetors.” A close look at the Corvette script rendered on the front fender of the drawn Corvette reveals an omission of the telltale exaggerated golden V in the Corvette emblem.
122 My take on the lack of V-8 reference in this early 1955 Corvette magazine ad is that it was intentional. Remember, 1954 Corvettes sold very poorly, and thousands of unsold cars lingered on dealership lots well into 1955. To advertise the new V-8 would have made the leftover 1954s sales proof.
123 Of the many small automotive businesses advertising their wares in the back pages of magazines like Motor Trend, one stood out to C1 owners seeking a quieter cabin. Plasticon of San Gabriel, California, ran an ad in the May 1955 issue of the magazine for a one-piece fiberglass top for 1953–1955 cars. It read, “Give your Corvette the additional style and distinction it deserves. Takes only seconds to install or remove, it is detailed very nicely, with stainless rain gutter, interior of rayon flocking, large wraparound Plexiglas rear window, and is completely weatherproofed.”
124 When Chevrolet finally offered a removable hardtop in 1956, companies including Plasticon didn’t dare compete. Nevertheless, with 4,640 C1a Corvettes built, there were enough buyers to keep the orders coming in for a few years. Plasticon retailed its lid for $225, about $10 more than the $215.20 Chevrolet charged for the RPO 419 hardtop in 1956.
125 If aftermarket companies such as Plasticon predicted enough demand to produce Corvette hardtops for 1953–1955 cars, one wonders how much potential revenue Chevrolet lost by ignoring the market. We can’t turn back time, but a look at 1956–1958 RPO 419 auxiliary hardtop sales can give clues. In 1956, 2,076 of 3,467 buyers chose the $215.20 top; in 1957, 4,055 of 6,339 took the option; and in 1958, 5,607 of 9,168 Corvettes left St. Louis with it. So with roughly 2/3 of Corvette buyers taking the hardtop from 1956 to 1958, it’s conceivable that Chevrolet turned its back on $658,942 in potential hardtop sales during the 1953–1955 period (assuming 2/3 of all 1953–1955 buyers took the option at $215.20).
