The History of the Chevrolet Corvette.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a part of American history. The Corvette is America's first and longest lasting sports car, however it was not an immediate success when it first debuted 1953. The Corvette has been through many changes over the years but has developed the reputation of being the American dream machine. The history of the Chevrolet Corvette and Chevrolet's unique changes to it over the years is an interesting part of American automotive culture.
In September of 1951, Harley Earl, the General Motors chief stylist, began designing a new sports car for Chevrolet. Earl's dream began production in June, 1952 and debuted in January, 1953 as the Chevrolet Corvette. In its first year Chevrolet produced 300 fiberglass-bodied cars in Flint, Michigan. The car came had a 102-inch wheelbase and a slightly improved Chevrolet passenger car chassis. Standard equipment included a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission and a straight six, 235.5 cubic inch engine with three carburetors and a total of 150 horsepower. The assembly plant produced no more than three cars a day. Options were practically non-existent as all of the cars were painted white and had red vinyl interior with a black canvas soft top. Chevrolet sold the first Corvette models for $3498. Chevrolet produced 300 1953 model Corvettes but only sold 183 of them they ended production for the year on December 24, 1953. Chevrolet moved production of the Corvette from the Flint, Michigan plant to the St. Louis, Missouri in December, 1953. .
The 1954 model was a duplicate of the 1953 except for the additional exterior colors of black, red, and blue. Out of all the Corvettes produced in 1954, 80% were white and 16% were blue with the remaining 4% being either red or black. Chevrolet sold the 1954 model for $2774.00. The 1954 model ran the quarter mile in 18 seconds and did 0-60mph in 11 seconds reaching a top speed of 106mph.
