1953, Early Production......

• On June 30, 1953, Corvette production began and the Corvette #1 Serial number E53F001001 rolled off the assembly line.

• The first five Corvettes to come off the assembly line lacks an outside rear view mirror.

• The 1953 Corvettes only options were a heater and an AM radio.

• Susan Coleman, 16 years old at that time, was the first civilian to drive a production Corvette

• Flint, is the birthplace of the Corvette.

• The early Corvettes were a stock Chevrolet with almost the same frame components and running gear, except for the body and the interior.

• The introduction of 265 cubic inch, 195 hp V-8 engine and 3-speed manual transmission, the 1955 Corvette finally achieved a "true" sports car status.

• The F-85 Starfire, a Corvette spin-off was created by Oldsmobile, it was powered by a 324 CI V8, but it never made it to production because of the low sales of the Corvette.

• The first Corvette looks the same with the 1952 Chevrolet, it differs only on the fiberglass body which was really new.

• Because of the "average" performance that it shows, its lack of options and with a high price of $3513 while Jaguar XK120 were sold at $3345, $168 less than the Corvette, only 183 Corvettes were sold out of the 314 that were built.

• There was a report that because of the bad sales, several of the 1953 Corvette were given to movie stars, to increase public sales.

• The 1953 Corvette's only available color top was Black.

1954

• For the first time in Corvette history the price was lower than the last year, the 1954 Corvette base price offers $2,774 which is cheaper than the $3,498 of 1953.

• The production for the 1954 model was moved to a new plant in St. Louis plant that has a capacity of producing 10,000 Corvettes per year. 

• Only 3,640 were built in 1954.

• Because of the new camshaft, the 150 horsepower was raised to 155 horsepower.

• The 1954 Corvettes offers other color other than the polo white.

• Among the color that were offered by GM were Corvette in Black, Blue and Red.  And for the interior instead of red you could have a beige.

• The 1954 Corvette is just the same with the 1953 Corvettes except for its colors.

• The V8 made its first debut in the 1954 Corvette in September prototype but still the 1954 Corvette has no V8 with it.

1955

• It was in 1955 that changes were made to Corvette.

• The introduction of the Thunderbird, a two seater American made sports car with a V8 engine, by Ford push GM to work hard and finally after years of testing the V8 engine was made available in the Corvette.

• The 265 CI 195 HP V8 gave Corvette what it needs and for the first time people recognize the Corvette as a true sports car.

• The 1955 Corvette has a weight of only 2,805 lbs when equipped with the V8, it was the lightest Corvette ever produced.

• The "Corvette", that was scripted on the front fenders was changed and an enlarged "V" to denote the new V8 has been added.

• The base model with the six cylinder engine combined with the standard 3 speed manual transmission was one of the most unusual Corvettes in 1955.

• People in the sports car market began noticing Corvette with its combination of the new more powerful V8 and the 3 speed manual transmission.

• A new record has been set by Zora Arkus-Duntov at the Dayton "Measured Mile" at just over 150 MPH driving a prototype 1955 V8 Corvette.

• The changes and improvements that the 1955 Corvette had did not change the production, it was still to be the lowest production year since 1953.