37 CHEVROLET/CORVETTE
Corvette: the greatest American dynasty. But which is the best? We drive every generation – including the new mid-engined convertible
Cars, like car magazines, come and go. Only a handful of names have the flexibility and cultural clout to weather changing tastes and regulatory obstacles. Even CAR's 60-year run looks inconsequential next to the seven decades of service put down by America’s favourite sports car, the plastic-fantastic Corvette.
The use of fibreglass as a body medium for the original C1 Corvette was a radical move for a big OEM like GM. But underneath the 1953 Motorama show car’s Polo-white body with its micro tail fins, it was mostly parts-bin stuff to keep costs down, though the 235 cubic-inch (3.9-litre) V8 moved backwards in the leaf-sprung, ladder-framed chassis to benefit weight distribution. It was also hopped-up to 150bhp thanks to mods that included a third carb and hotter cam.
That still made it less powerful than Jaguar’s similarly-priced XK120, the only transmission available was a two-speed Powerglide auto and buyers had to contend with iffy panel fit and leaks. Sales were slow for the first two years and GM could have pulled the plug. Instead, it pulled out the barely-lit Blue Flame straight-six and dropped in Chevrolet’s brand new 265-cube (4.3-litre) small-block V8 plus a three-speed manual in time to face-off with Ford’s new also-two-seat Thunderbird.
The 0-60mph time fell from 11.0sec to 8.5 for ’55 thanks to the 195bhp small-block, and to as little as 5.7 seconds in 1957, when the V8 was opened up to 283 cubic inches (4.7 litres) and optionally available with Ramjet mechanical fuel injection that claimed 283bhp – the mythical 1bhp per cubic inch. Bob West’s ’57, the C1 you see here, is packing dual carbs and slightly less heat. But its 245bhp punch still feels strong today. It was seriously rock ’n’ roll for 1957.
As was the styling, which it inherited from the ’56 car. Fins were out (ironic, given they were growing on every other Detroit car), contrast-colour coving was in, and the faired headlamps were replaced by more traditional vertical lights. Later cars doubled-up on the number of front lights and the chrome, but former drag racer West, who bought the C1 after a string of TVRs, reckons the ’56-’57 look is the pinnacle of first-generation Corvettes.
We think he’s right, and so does Peter Reeves, who owns both a C1 and the stunning C2 Sting Ray coupe he’s brought along today. GM built a fastback prototype in 1953, but it was another 10 years and the launch of the second-gen Vette before a fixed-roof shell became a prod
