on this day in 1953

[bikeman564™]

the first Corvette rolled off the line

https://automotivehistory.org/june-30-1953-first-production-corvette/

 

[Razors Edge ★]

What's that one worth and who owns it now? The Corvette museum?

[bikeman564™]

1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

What's that one worth and who owns it now? The Corvette museum?

Wonder if #1 is still around? Be interesting to know. I'd guess it was sold, not held by GM.

[Razors Edge ★]

Interesting tory. Might have to google some more:

Of the three cars in those famous June 1953 photographs of the first Corvettes coming off the Flint, Michigan, assembly line, only one still exists. But it now exists as two separate cars. But one of the two cars is only half of a car. But it still carries enough unique history to warrant its recent donation to the National Corvette Museum, where it's since been installed as one of the museum's crown jewels.

 

"This is the oldest surviving production Corvette chassis," said Derek Moore, the curator for the museum. "It's a huge, huge donation for us. It's one of the most significant cars in the museum now."

 

The first two Corvettes off the assembly line didn't last long; Chevrolet destroyed each in the process of testing them. The third one, E53F001003, which carried the internal designation of ES-127, nearly suffered the same fate. According to Chevrolet's records, Chevrolet sent it off to GM's Harrison Radiator division up in Lockport, New York, for cold weather testing to see if its fiberglass body would hold up to jarring use in sub-freezing temperatures. As John Amgwert wrote in Corvette Restorer, the so-called "shake test" involved 14 hours of a dynamometer driving the wheels, each with a weight placed out of phase, all at negative 20-degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Once #003 passed those tests, Harrison then sent it to the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan, where it underwent 5,000 miles of testing on the Belgian block road. While the Belgian blocks didn't do the car in, the engineers who scrutinized #003 afterward found some chassis fatigue and so in August 1953 separated the body and chassis to study each further. According to Randy Leffingwell's Legendary Corvettes: 'Vettes Made Famous on Track and Screen, the engineers' inspections led to a number of improvements incorporated into the 1954 Corvette's chassis.

[ChrisL]

My neighbor has a new corvette.  I don’t know him well enough but damn I’d love to take it for a spin. 

[jsharr ★]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

Interesting tory. Might have to google some more:

Of the three cars in those famous June 1953 photographs of the first Corvettes coming off the Flint, Michigan, assembly line, only one still exists. But it now exists as two separate cars. But one of the two cars is only half of a car. But it still carries enough unique history to warrant its recent donation to the National Corvette Museum, where it's since been installed as one of the museum's crown jewels.

 

"This is the oldest surviving production Corvette chassis," said Derek Moore, the curator for the museum. "It's a huge, huge donation for us. It's one of the most significant cars in the museum now."

 

The first two Corvettes off the assembly line didn't last long; Chevrolet destroyed each in the process of testing them. The third one, E53F001003, which carried the internal designation of ES-127, nearly suffered the same fate. According to Chevrolet's records, Chevrolet sent it off to GM's Harrison Radiator division up in Lockport, New York, for cold weather testing to see if its fiberglass body would hold up to jarring use in sub-freezing temperatures. As John Amgwert wrote in Corvette Restorer, the so-called "shake test" involved 14 hours of a dynamometer driving the wheels, each with a weight placed out of phase, all at negative 20-degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Once #003 passed those tests, Harrison then sent it to the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan, where it underwent 5,000 miles of testing on the Belgian block road. While the Belgian blocks didn't do the car in, the engineers who scrutinized #003 afterward found some chassis fatigue and so in August 1953 separated the body and chassis to study each further. According to Randy Leffingwell's Legendary Corvettes: 'Vettes Made Famous on Track and Screen, the engineers' inspections led to a number of improvements incorporated into the 1954 Corvette's chassis.

Interesting.

So the body went on a new chassis and was sold as a 1955 and is still in private hands with vin number 003.

Chassis 003 was rebodied and sold as a 1955 as well and this is the chassis that is in the corvette museum with vin number 003 on the chassis but a cut away body from a 1954 Corvette on it.

So there were really 4 cars.  Two destroyed and one cut apart after testing and rebuilt as two cars.  I never knew this story.  I thought all three were gone.

And it turns out that the concept car, the EX-122, which was built in 1952, still exists, so it may qualify as the earliest Corvette.

https://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/ex122/index.html

[Razors Edge ★]

1 minute ago, ChrisL said:

My neighbor has a new corvette.  I don’t know him well enough but damn I’d love to take it for a spin. 

The new ones at the little car show are nutso.  Really cool looking, and because the have no manual shifters, the driver and the passenger are almost isolated from each other with the driver surrounded by screens and such.  This latest Z06 (I think) with the handbuilt near-700hp engine is pretty lustworthy.

[maddmaxx ★]

I grew up watching Route 66 in black and white.  When I became an adult I got my 62 Corvette.  It was fun for a while, was a chic magnet in VA Beach but I've owned much better cars.

On the other hand, the new ones are some refined world class cars.

[Road Runner]

My 25th Anniversary model.  

[Parr8hed]

 a 53

[Parr8hed]

I am more partial to the 1958 though.  That is a thing of beauty. 

[bikeman564™]

1 hour ago, Parr8hed said:

I am more partial to the 1958 though.  That is a thing of beauty. 

That's a true classic. Beautiful car.

[az_cyclist]

1 hour ago, Parr8hed said:

I am more partial to the 1958 though.  That is a thing of beauty. 

That looks similar to one we saw in Paradise Valley this spring, on a Tuesday - Thursday group ride.  I didnt have time to get a photo though

[Rattlecan ★]

I rolled off the assembly line later that same year.