It was 69 years ago today that thousands of Americans gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to catch a glimpse of Chevrolet’s new two-seater sports car. The EX-122 concept was such an instant hit with the public that GM rushed into production the revolutionary fiberglass-bodied car. Six months later, the first Corvette was completed at a makeshift assembly plant in Flint, Michigan. Just 300 Corvettes were produced in 1953 with a sticker price of about $3,500.
The genesis of the first American sports car came in 1951 following Harley Earl’s trip to Watkins Glen. Impressed with the small European Sports cars, he begins thinking about a 2-seater American sports car. Code named “Project Opel” the Corvette was known to only a few at the time. In 1952, Harley Earl showed his initial designs to Chevrolet engineering chief Ed Cole who was reportedly very enthusiastic about the project. Together, the two pitched the Corvette to the GM suits and were given the go-ahead to develop a prototype for the 1953 Motorama.
In late December 1952, the prototype was completed. It was officially known as the Corvette after being named by Chevy photographer Myron Scott. Chevy wanted the car to start with a “C” and supposedly rejected 1500 suggestions.
The Motorama Corvette was shown to GM executives in early January 1953. The only changes suggested was removing the American flag from the original logo. A new logo was designed in a hurry and featured two crossed flags – one being the Chevy bow-tie and the other being a fleur-de-lis which paid homage to the French background of Chevrolet namesake Louis Chevrolet.
You can’t see him in this crowd picture but one of the attendees of the GM Motorama show was a Belgium immigrant named Zora Arkus-Duntov. Zora was so taken with the Corvette and its potential that he wrote a letter to Chevrolet Chief Engineer Ed Cole. Ed Cole was so impressed with Zora that he offered him an assistant staff engineering position and the rest is history!
Related:
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I don’t recall, but I presume that EX-122, the 1953 Motorama concept Corvette, was subsequently destroyed? Or does Chevrolet have it tucked away somewhere?
You can see EX-122 inside the showroom at Ciocca Corvette of Atlantic City (formerly Kerbeck). You can also usually see it at Corvettes at Carlisle.
After touring the US for a year vin # 0001 was tested to see if the fiber glass body would burn. It took four hours and four attempts with dousing it in gasoline to destroy the body and the vin was then retired. Vin # 0002 toured Canada and in 1954 was fitted with a 265 cubic inch V8 and new body components and became a test mule for Chevrolet. 0002’s frame was later used as the platform for the 1956 Corvette by the Chevrolets styling department. Vin # 0003 was actually the 1st. 1953 Corvette to come off the assembly line in 1953 with 0001 and 0002 being hand built in 1952. Of interest is that 0003’s vin tag was removed in 1954 when, as a test mule the vehicle with less than 1000 miles was rebuilt using new body panels and a new chassis and rebadged as vin 0003.
Very interesting. Thank you both for the info!
Great story for a great car. I highly recommend Zora’s autobiography, “Zora Arkus-Duntov: the Legend behind Corvette”; an entire chapter is devoted to his first sight of the car, his impressions and resolution to make it the legend it has become.
Safe to say that he is up there, proud of what this car has become!
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