1953 Corvette

Each 1953 Corvette was virtually hand-built and a lot of minor changes were made during the production run.

The new 1953 Corvette had

a fiberglass body
chrome-framed grille with 13 heavy vertical chrome bars
rounded front fenders with recessed headlights with wire screen covers
no side windows or outside door handles
a wraparound windshield
protruding, fender-integrated taillights.

The interior featured

a floor-mounted shifter for the Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission
oil pressure gauge
battery gauge
water temperature gauge
fuel gauge
tachometer
clock

All of the first-year cars were Polo White with Sportsman Red interiors.

All had black canvas convertible tops which manually folded into a storage space behind the seats.

Other 1953-only features included

special valve covers
a one-piece carburetor linkage
a small trunk mat

Short exhaust extensions were used on all '53s (and early '54s) because they were prone to drawing exhaust fumes into the car through the vent windows.

A black oilcloth window storage bag was provided to protect the 1953 Corvette's removable plastic side windows when stowed in the trunk.

Series No.	Body/Style No.	Body Type	Factory Price	Shipping Weight	Production Total
2934	2934	2-dr. Roadster 2 passenger	$2774	2705 lb	300

Engine type	six-cylinder, inline, overhead valve unit
Block	cast iron block.
Displacement	235.5 cid (3.9 liters)
Bore & Stroke	3.56 in. (90mm) x 3.93 in. (100mm)
Compression	8.0:1.
Power	150 brake hp @ 4200 rpm.
Ignition	single breaker point.
Carburetor	Three Carter Type YH one-barrel Model 2066S on the early models and Model 2055S on later models.

Wheelbase	102 inches (2.591 m)
Overall length	167 inches (4.242 m)
Front tread	57 inches (1.448 m)
Rear tread	58.8 inches (1.494 m)
Wheels	steel disk
Tires	6.70x15
Front suspension	coil springs with tubular shock absorbers and stabilizer bar
Rear suspension	Leaf springs, tube shocks and solid rear axle
Brakes	Drum on all four wheels
Axle ratio	3.55:1

1953 Corvette Notes

The first Corvette was built on June 30, 1953 at the Flint, Michigan assembly plant.
These Corvettes were constructed in an area at the back of Chevy's customer delivery garage on Van Slyke Ave.
They are not only the first, but also the rarest Vettes.
300 cars were produced and about 200 are still in the hands of collectors.
The first two cars are missing.
By early 1954, Chev said that 315 Corvettes had been built and that production had moved to the assembly plant in St. Louis, Missouri.
They predicted that 1000 Corvettes per month would be built in St. Louis by June 1954 and that 10,000 per year could be built and sold.
Zora Arkus-Duntov joined Chevrolet Motor Division in 1953 and would become the chief engineer of Corvette.

1953 Automotive Notes

Production tops 6 million, half have automatic transmission
Charles E. Wilson was president of GM until January 26 when Harlow H. Curtice became president
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was chairman of the board at GM
The average motorist drives 16,000 km a year
There are two motels for every hotel
Battery voltage begins the change from 6 volts to 12
Chrysler finally adopts a one-piece windshield
Buick introduces the new Skylark convertible
All Buicks, except the Special, have V-8 engines
Because of GM's fire, Oldsmobile use Buick's Dynaflow transmission
Some Pontiacs get Powerglide
Chevrolet introduces the Corvette
Chrysler gets two-speed fully automatic transmission called PowerFlite
Dodge gets a Red Ram "Hemi" V-8 producing 140 hp
Virgil Exner leaves Studebaker to design Dodge
Last year for the Ford flathead V-8
Hudson gets Twin H-Power dual carburetors; the "7-X" race engine produces 210 hp
Hudson introduces the compact Jet
Packard's Caribbean convertible outsells the Eldorado

Top American Automobile Corporations for 1953

1. General Motors	...	2,599,344	... increased 902,335
2. Ford	...	1,594,167	... increased 723,076
3. Chrysler	...	1,272,569	... increased 495,099
4. Others	...	616,785	... increased 61,218

Top model year production for 1953
1. Chevrolet . 1,341,475 ... increased 523,000
  - Special ... 176,579
  - DeLuxe ... 649,821
  - Bel Air ... 514,760
  - Corvette ......... 315
2. Ford . 1,247,542 ... increased 576,000
  - Mainline... 305,714
  - Customline... 761,662
  - Crestline... 180,166
3. Plymouth ... 647,451 ... increased 251,000
  - Cambridge ... 201,955
  - Cranbrook ... 445,496
4. Buick ... 486,812 ... increased 185,000
  - Series 40 Special ... 217,170
  - Series 50 Super ... 190,514
  - Series 70 Roadmaster ..... 79,128
5. Pontiac ... 418,619 ... increased 147,000
  - Chieftan Six ..... 38,914
  - Chieftan Eight ... 379,705
6. Oldsmobile ... 334,462 ... increased 121,000
  - 88 Deluxe ..... 32,800
  - Super 88 ... 201,332
  - Ninety-Eight ... 100,330
7. Dodge ... 320,008 ... increased 114,000
  - Meadowbrook ... 120,924
  - Meadowbrook Suburban ..... 15,751
  - Coronet Eight ... 183,332
8. Mercury ... 305,863 ... increased 134,000
  - Custom ... 149,524
  - Monterey ... 156,339
9. Chrysler ... 170,006 ... increased 83,000
  - Windsor ..... 30,950
  - Windsor Deluxe ..... 52,277
  - New Yorker ..... 47,914
  - New Yorker Deluxe ..... 27,205
  - Town & Country ....... 2,641
  - Custom Imperial ....... 8,859
  - Crown Imperial ......... 160
10. Studebaker ... 151,576 ... decreased 16,000
  - Champion ..... 93,807
  - Commander ..... 76,092
11. DeSoto ... 132,104 ... increased 44,000
  - Powermaster ..... 43,902
  - Firedome ..... 86,502
12. Nash ... 121,793 ... decreased 32,000
  - Rambler ..... 36,231
  - Statesman ..... 56,300
  - Ambassador ..... 32,900
13. Cadillac ... 109,651 ... increased 19,000
  - Series 62 ..... 70,364
  - Coupe deVille ..... 14,550
  - Eldorado ......... 532
  - Series 60 ..... 20,000
  - Series 75 ....... 4,205
14. Packard ..... 90,252 ... increased 27,000
  - Clipper ..... 33,169
  - Clipper DeLuxe ..... 30,715
  - Clipper comm. ......... 380
  - Cavalier ..... 10,799
  - Packard comm. ......... 166
  - Patrician ....... 7,481
  - other ....... 7,577
15. Hudson ..... 66,143 ... decreased 4,000
  - Jet/Super Jet ..... 21,143
  - Wasp ..... 17,792
  - Hornet ..... 27,208
16. Willys ..... 42,224 ... increased 11,000
17. Lincoln ..... 40,762 ... increased 13,000
  - Cosmopolitan ..... 14,122
  - Capri ..... 26,640
18. Kaiser ..... 27,652 ... decreased 4,000
  - Dragon ....... 1,277
  - Deluxe ....... 8,300
  - Manhattan ..... 17,950
  - Carolina ....... 1,800
19. Henry J ..... 16,672 ... decreased 14,000
  - Corsair ....... 8,500
  - Corsair DeLuxe ....... 8,100
20. Metropolitan .......... 743 ...
21. Allstate .......... 797 ... decreased 769

1953 CORVETTE

V.I.N. NUMBERS

IDENTIFICATION

ENGINE

CHASSIS

OPTIONS

HISTORICAL NOTES

1953 CORVETTE PHOTOS

LITERATURE & LINKS