Supercars.net

In the 1950s, American motoring culture found a launch point to new performance credentials with iconic cars such as the Corvette and Ford Thunderbird. These were built as a response to European imports such as the MGB and the series of Triumph TRs or Jaguar XKs that had a huge sports/racing impact in America. Both Ford and GM wanted to create an ideal roadster that would introduce motoring performance into brands.

Harley Earl, GM's head of styling, was a major player in development of the project and was inspired by the small size of the European imports. His department created a complete car that was made as tight as possible around existing GM components. The body consisted of 54 plastic-reinforced Fibreglass panels that helped the Corvette achieve a low weight.

The completed car debuted at at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City in 1953. Then it toured with GM's Motorama show and made a huge impact on both the public and the GM executives. Unfortunately, it was also a complete product of GM Styling, which meant that performance was seemingly considered as an afterthought.

While the Corvette looked good, was toured extensively on the show circuits and flaunted an all fiberglass body, its performance was pedestrian and well below that of the Thunderbird's. GM was cheap to invest money in tooling so they reverted to the eighteen year old 'stovebolt six' and a production chassis that relied on the steel body for rigidity.

This lackluster performance would change for the better after Zora Arkus-Duntov from Allard saved the car. Duntov was the first to do the obvious: he motivated Chevrolet to install a manual transmission and larger engine into the Corvette, turning the 1956 version into a genuine sports car. Duntov would later convince GM to race, and upgrade, the Corvette into a world class supercar.

The Corvette was one of the first American showcars that went into series production. Almost all the funds went into the styling and marketing which were its initial strong points. The 1953 version of the Corvette was only sold in polo white with red interior and made in 300 copies. They all had power glide transmissions mated to 150 hp inline-6 engines.

Story by Ricahrd Owen