[RIDES] Bill’s 1954 Corvette Named Desire

In November of 2021 we met Bill Mulder and his award winning 1953 Corvette at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals. Since that time, Bill has kept in touch with us and recently shared his new-to-him 1954 Corvette. Sadly, the car had been stored for about 10 years after the previous owner’s passing, but on the bright side, the car has a great story which Bill has shared with us and elsewhere in Corvette Community.

Below is a portion of what Bill shared with us as well some great historical photos of his special 1954 Corvette.

Original 18 Year Old Owner – Rebecca Walker

“My involvement with the car started 7 years ago when my wife and I decided to buy an original 1954 Corvette. To help find an original car, I turned to noted restorer, Steve Newsom, who knew of an original 1954 Corvette located in California. It belonged to another noted restorer, Dave Ferguson. Steve and Dave knew each other as they were co-authors of the NCRS manual on how to restore 1953 to 1955 Corvettes. Both men knew the cars inside and out and appreciated and restored only 1953-1955 Corvettes. Although Dave had died 10 years earlier, his widow, Jan, still owned the car. After a few years of talking with Jan, my wife and I flew from St. Louis to Los Angeles to look at the car. We agreed on a price and brought the car home.

We started tracking the ownership backwards beginning with Dave Ferguson who bought the car in 2008. Dave was the chief NCRS judge for 1953 – 1955 cars and recognized the originality of the 60,900 car. He had acquired it from another noted LA car collector and expert named Mel Winer. Mel owned the car from 1998 to 2008 but did not know who owned it prior to 1998. I searched Google News and vintage newspapers online like NewsPapers.com in hopes of finding it listed for sale or maybe an article on it. But, no luck. The trail went cold so I registered my name on the C1 Corvette Registry in hopes someone would contact me.

In the years that I owned it, I took it to NCRS local, regional and national events where it earned Top Flight. I drove the car regularly including to work on occasion. It ran as well as it looked. But I was always on the search for the original owner.

Every classic Corvette owner dreams of learning who the original owner of their car was and learning about the person and hoping for a great story to go along with a great car. My dream came true on September 1st, 2022. I was at work when I received a call from Robert Smith who called to tell me his mom, Rebecca Walker, was the original owner of my 1954 Corvette. He had tracked me down through C1 Registry just I had hoped.

Robert informed me that Corvette #2933 was rather famous. His mom, Rebecca, was the very first owner in 1954 while she was only 18 and still in high school. Rebecca and her sister, Martha, drove the car to high school in Jackson, Mississippi. The car and the two blonde occupants were famous when they showed up unexpectedly in Jackson having just moved there from Natchez, MS.

The Corvette Twins

Rumor spread quickly in school about the car and the occupants as it was hard to believe two such beautiful girls could exist AND that they were sisters AND they drove a brand-new Corvette. To the dismay of many of the girls, and to the delight of the boys, the car and girls did exist and what a sight it was to see such a rare car as there were none in Mississippi or Texas. At that time, there were still less than 2,500 total Corvettes in existence. Rebecca and Martha became known as the “Corvette twins”.

Got a great personal Corvette story like this that you would like to feature on RIDES? You can use our Contact Form or email the story to [email protected] along with your pictures.

Source:
Photo credit: Bill Mulder

Related:
[RIDES] Jennifer’s One-Owner 1966 Corvette Sting Ray Sport Coupe
[RIDES] 2023 Corvette Z06 is Named Crystal After New Owner Meets LT6 Engine Builder Crystal Strickland
[RIDES] Bill’s 1953 Corvette at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals