History

In 1953, three hundred of the "radical" new Corvettes were somewhat hand built while a factory was being readied for the first mass produced fiber-glass sports car. All of these early cars were white with red upholstery. In 1954, 3,640 of these cars were built. Of these, the majority was again white with red interiors, but approximately 500 came in blue with tan interior and a handful in black with red. The very rare example, on display here, is one of only 100 all red on red versions which were produced in 1954.

These original Corvettes lacked performance and they did not display good body fit/quality. By late 1955, Dr. Zora Arkus Duntov, persuaded GM to install the same basic car, the new 265 cubic inch V-8, 195 horsepower, and 3 speed transmission. This created a very formidable sports car. The original 1953/1954 Corvettes were the forerunners of today's state of the art Corvette which has been in production for 60 plus years.