The quote is from the 1953 Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York city, but it could have been today in Calgary. The all-original 1953 Corvette was an amazing sighting at the Corvette show at Capital Chevrolet. Only 300 were produced, and we have one right here in Calgary. You can see the proud owner, Earl, in my photos.
Only one colour was available, polo white with sportsman red interior. Dual exhaust was standard equipment and the only options available were a radio and heater.
The car has the original engine, a 235 cubic inch six cylinder, with three single-barrel side-draft carburetors. Chev was trying to squeeze as many HP out of the old stovebolt six as they could, seeing as they didn’t have a V-8 until 1955. The tranny was the renowned powerglide.
Earl installed new tires on the car but didn’t have a chance to clean off the protective blue coating on the whitewalls.
More from the 1953 show in New York: “There, under the lights, sat a sports car the likes of which had never been seen before. It was lean. Low to the ground. Curvy. A toothy-grilled roadster with rocket-ship taillights and just enough room in the open cockpit for two adults and their ear-to-ear grins. It didn’t have exterior door handles; it didn’t even have roll-up side windows. It could have been another low-slung European bullet. But it wasn’t. This sexy, svelte dream machine was from Chevrolet.”
More photos from the Corvette show:
