1954 Corvette

For all practical purposes the 1953 and 1954 Corvettes were the same.

Minor changes were made to the window storage bag, air cleaners, starter, and locations of the fuel and brake lines.
Unlike the previous year's model (which offered only Polo White), the 1954s were also available in Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, and Black.
The soft top was now offered in beige.
A new style of valve cover was used. It was held on by four bolts through the outside lip instead of two center studs.
The valve cover decals were different with larger lettering.
The optional radio had Conelrad National Defense System icons on its face.
In early 1954, the original two-handled hood latch was changed to a single-handle design.
Six-cylinder Corvettes after serial number E54S003906 had integrated dual-port air cleaners.
A clip to hold the ventiplanes closed was added in late 1954 and also used on all 1955 models.

Series No.	Body/Style No.	Body Type	Factory Price	Shipping Weight	Production Total
2934	2934	1954 Corvette 2-dr. Roadster 2 passenger	$2774	2705 lb	3640

Engine type	surprisingly, a six-cylinder, inline, overhead valve unit with a 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
Camshaft	Later in the model year, a new camshaft increased the horsepower to 155

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

Production of 1954 Corvettes began December 23, 1953.
Approximately 80 percent of the 1954 Corvettes were painted white.
About 15% had a Pennant Blue exterior with Shoreline Beige interior.
About 3% were Red with a Red interior and some Black cars with Red interiors were built.
In addition, Metallic Green and Metallic Brown cars are thought to have been built.
The 1954 Corvette did not achieve its sales target of 10,000 cars.
In fact, over 1100 were unsold when the year ended.
A 1954 Corvette could go from 0 to 60 mph in 11 seconds and from 0 to 100 mph in 41 seconds.

1954 Automotive Notes

Harlow H. Curtice was president of GM
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was chairman of the board at GM
The horsepower race has begun
Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson join to become American Motors Corporation, George Romney is CEO
Studebaker and Packard join to become Studebaker-Packard Corporation
Henry Kaiser buys Willys-Overland
GM cars sport wraparound windshields
Buick introduces the Century
Dodge Royal 500 convertible has a "continental" spare tire and wire wheels.
Last year for 6-cyl in Chrysler and DeSoto
Ford's low-price car has ball-joint front suspension
Plexiglas roof panels appear on the new Ford Skyliner and Mercury Sun Valley hardtops
Nash introduces the Metropolitan
Packard is first to use tubeless tires, the other makers wait until 1955
Plymouth gets PowerFlite automatic transmission to replace Hy-Drive semi-automatic

Top American Automobile Corporations for 1954

1. General Motors	...	2,330,235	... decreased 269,109
2. Ford	...	1,462,240	... decreased 131,927
3. Chrysler	...	799,406	... decreased 473,163
4. Others	...	276,460	... increased 340,325

Top model year production for 1954
1. Ford . 1,165,942 ... decreased 81,000
  - Mainline... 233,680
  - Customline... 674,295
  - Crestline... 257,967
2. Chevrolet . 1,143,561 ... decreased 198,000
  - Special ... 129,459
  - DeLuxe ... 524,222
  - Bel Air ... 486,240
  - Corvette ....... 3,640 ... increased 3,300
3. Plymouth ... 463,148 ... decreased 184,000
  - Plaza ... 113,266
  - Savoy ... 199,517
  - Belvedere ... 150,365
4. Buick ... 442,903 ... decreased 44,000
  - Series 40 Special ... 190,884
  - Series 50 Super ... 118,630
  - Series 60 Century ..... 81,982
  - Series 70 Roadmaster ..... 50,571
  - Series 100 Skylark ......... 836
5. Oldsmobile ... 354,001 ... increased 20,000
  - 88 ..... 72,861
  - Super 88 ... 187,817
  - Ninety-Eight ..... 93,265
6. Pontiac ... 287,744 ... decreased 131,000
  - Chieftan Six ..... 22,670
  - Chieftan Eight ... 149,986
  - Star Chief ... 115,088
7. Mercury ... 259,305 ... decreased 46,000
  - Custom ..... 85,067
  - Monterey ... 174,238
8. Dodge ... 154,648 ... decreased 165,000
  - Meadowbrook ..... 15,444
  - Coronet Eight ..... 74,401
  - Royal ..... 64,803
9. Chrysler ... 105,030 ... decreased 13,000
  - Windsor Deluxe ..... 43,877
  - New Yorker ..... 19,319
  - New Yorker Deluxe ..... 34,323
  - Town & Country ....... 1,750
  - Custom Imperial ....... 5,661
  - Crown Imperial ......... 100
10. Cadillac ..... 96,680 ... decreased 13,000
  - Series 62 ..... 58,024
  - Sedan deVille ............. 1
  - Coupe deVille ..... 17,170
  - Eldorado ....... 2,150
  - Series 60 ..... 16,200
  - Series 75 ....... 3,135
11. Nash ..... 91,121 ... decreased 30,000
  - Rambler ..... 36,200
  - Statesman ..... 20,200
  - Ambassador ..... 21,400
12. DeSoto ..... 76,580 ... decreased 56,000
  - Powermaster ..... 19,204
  - Firedome ..... 57,376
13. Studebaker ..... 68,708 ... decreased 83,000
  - Champion ..... 51,431
  - Commander ..... 30,499
14. Hudson ..... 50,660 ... decreased 15,000
  - Jet/Super Jet ..... 14,224
  - Wasp ..... 11,603
  - Hornet Special ..... 24,833
  - Italia ........... 20
15. Lincoln ..... 36,993 ... decreased 4,000
  - Cosmopolitan ....... 7,441
  - Capri ..... 29,549
16. Packard ..... 31,291 ... decreased 59,000
  - Clipper Special ....... 1,882
  - Clipper DeLuxe ..... 10,416
  - Clipper Super ..... 10,775
  - Clipper comm. ......... 120
  - Cavalier ....... 2,580
  - Packard comm. ......... 205
  - Patrician ....... 2,760
  - other ....... 2,553
17. Metropolitan ..... 13,162 ... increased 12,000
18. Willys ..... 11,856 ... decreased 30,000
19. Kaiser ....... 8,539 ... decreased 19,000
  - Darrin ......... 435
  - Manhattan ....... 4,110
  - Special ....... 4,425
20. Henry J ....... 1,123 ... decreased 15,000
  - Corsair ......... 800
  - Corsair DeLuxe ......... 300

1954 CORVETTE

V.I.N. NUMBERS

IDENTIFICATION

ENGINE

CHASSIS

OPTIONS

HISTORICAL NOTES

1954 CORVETTE PHOTOS

LITERATURE & LINKS