“America’s Sports Car”, the Chevy Corvette, struggled to find its way in the beginning, but you have to credit the company for sticking with it. Production numbers were 300, 3,640, and 700 units for model years 1953, 1954, and 1955, respectively. It was a six-cylinder car at first and only offered with an automatic transmission, hardly the stuff sports cars are made of. The seller has a restored Pennant Blue 1954 ‘Vette, which only needs some finishing touches. Located in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, the asking price is $65,900 here on Facebook Marketplace.
The ’53 Corvettes were mostly hand-built in Flint, Michigan, which was a factor in the low production numbers. When they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1954, things picked up as automation was introduced, but supply still exceeded demand. A V8 would come along in 1955, but it would take years before Chevrolet was able to sell more than 10,000 Corvettes in a single year.
Another reason why sales were slow in 1953 was that the Corvette only came in one color, white. The palette was expanded to four in 1954, and the seller’s car is one of the non-white ‘Vettes to emerge. We’re told it has had a body-off restoration, but sat in a shop in Washington State for some time due to a death in the family. We assume all of that is past history as the running beauty is now in Pennsylvania.
The odometer reads just 40,000 miles and has triple single-barrel carburetors to help the “Blue Flame” six to maneuver. Finishing touches are still needed, which include finding and installing the radio, the soft top for the convertible, and side curtains (no roll-down windows yet). But it runs and drives well and can wow some folks while you continue to work on it. The seller is willing to entertain a trade for another Corvette. A salute to T.J. for this cool C1 tip!
Nice early Vette!! Like this style!!
Very nice. It’s great to see one of these early Vettes in blue.
Always been one of my favorites, I was 12 when it came out, I could not afford it then, and, I can’t afford it now, Just a Beautiful car, (next to my favorite 63 Avanti) But some day Just maybe :)
This is my favorite iteration of the first generation (C1?) Corvette, despite the six cylinder engine under the hood! Dave Kindig of Kindigit Designs, is making new versions of these, with the body made of carbon fiber, but so far, all of the ones he’s made have had modern LS or LT V8’s under the hood. If I ever hit the lottery, I’d like to do a tribute car that has a Vortec 4200, a.k.a. an LL8 straight six under the hood! The Vortec 4200 was an all-aluminum I6, with 24-valve, DOHC aluminum heads on it, used in the Chevy Trailblazer and its various siblings from GMC and Saab, and has been tuned to produce almost 500 hp!
These were beautiful looking Vettes. Though a 63′ split window would be my first choice, which I could never afford, or a nice 80’s C4 which I could afford lol.