The 1953 Corvette was rolled off the Line Just Months After its Introduction
It’s hard to believe that it is 2010 and the Chevrolet Corvette is now only a few years away from it 60th anniversary, but it all got its start with the 1953 Corvette which created a true American revolution. What started out as concept car just months earlier would turn into a sports car that would not only stand the test of time, but would flourish as well.
After the Corvette concept car debuted at the 1953 Motorama in New York the public opinion and the media attention was so big that GM decided to fast track the production and set out to create no more than 50 per month with a maximum run of 300. What would ultimately happen was many of the 300 first run Corvettes being built literally by hand because the new design of a fiberglass body was still being perfected.
The first Corvette was driven off the line on June 30, 1953 by an assembler named Tony Kleiber. This was amazing considering that just six months earlier it was on display as a concept. Even more impressive was the fact that the 1953 Corvette that went into production changed very little from that of the concept version.
All 1953 Corvettes were painted a Polo White and had Sportsman Red interiors with Black tops to go along with the color scheme. The top was not power operated but it did fold flushly under a cover that could easily be operated by one person. The 1953 Corvette featured a Powerglide automatic transmission and a six cylinder engine that was still capable of going 0 to 60 miles per hour in 11 seconds and would reach speeds in access of 105 miles per hour, which was very stout for the time.
However, for all the fuss that was generated at the Motorama the first reviews of the machine were mixed at best. Many didn’t like the fact that the only available transmission was an automatic and the car got a lot of flak for being too gimmicky sporting small fins on the back, grill teeth, and even mesh headlight stone guards. Another drawback to the classic icon was the fact that there was no way to open the doors from the outside of the vehicle as the 1953 Corvette lacked exterior door buttons which meant that the only way to open the car was by reaching your hand inside and activating the release.
Unfortunately for the public all 500 of the first run of the 1953 Corvette were spoken for and went to figures of genuine stature within the company. It is widely speculated that cars 001001 and 001002 were destroyed and indeed Chevy never really intended on selling the 1953 Corvette to the general population. That however would change just one year later as GM was in fact gearing up for the production of the 1954 Corvette in a brand new plant. The time of the Corvette had arrived, it would just take another year for everyone to begin to figure out the pure joy that it would represent.
Tags: 1953 Corvette, first run, Motorama
