In the early 1950s, General Motors (GM) was trailing behind its rivals. Ford and Chrysler, in sales terms, it didn’t even offer a V8 engine in its staid family Chevrolet range. So it was while searching for a more sporty image that Chevrolet launched the Corvette at Motorama in 1953. When this dazzling road show for General Motors’ latest models opened at the Waldorf Hotel in New York in January of that year, this new sports car took certain stage. For the first time, chief stylist Harley Earl had created a ‘dream’ car that looked as if it was going to go into production. So enthusiastic was the public reaction to this goes ahead right away, and the Corvette went from a city model to the Showroom in just 15 months. Under its awesome skin, though, enthusiasts were so disappointed by the car’s specification in its performance. The ‘Stovebolt’ six cylinder power unit barely produced 150 bhp. Worse still, the two speed Power glide automatic transmission was rightfully decided by sports car buffs, who wanted sporty, European style ‘slick’ shifts. What is more, the car was too expensive, its price was only a few dollars short of a Cadillac’s and with its credibility shattered, sales were poor. Only 700 were sold in 1965.
Basically, it was the released in the Ford’s fashionable Thunder-bird that spurred GM into making a proper excellent sports car form the Corvette, and from the 1956 model year new V8 engines became available to give the car the performance it deserved. Sales took of and the Corvette now a match for imported sports-cars in a straight line.
