A bit of Corvette History for the
Historian in all of us...
Chevrolet chief engineer Ed Cole (left)
and division general manager Tom Keating take a quick look at the Corvette prototype
sitting on its Motorama stage at New York's Waldorf-Astroia hotel in January 1953.
Notice the unique fender trim and small push-button door handles. Regular production
Corvettes from 1953 through 1955 had no exterior door handles.
The "Blue Flame Special" was
Chevrolet's passenger-car six-cylinder engine slightly modified to produce 150 horsepower
instead of the sedan's sedate 115 horsepower. GM aggressively pushed the Powerglide
2-speed automatic transmission for the Chevrolet Line and no manual three-speed was
available.
In the foreground, the 1954 Motorama show
car, the Corvair Fastback Coupe; mid-ground, the 1954/55 Nomad, which would reappear as a
full-size Chevy; and in the distance the proposed removable hardtop version and the
standard roadster.
Chevrolet chief engineer Ed Cole (left)
and division general manager Tom Keating take a quick look at the Corvette prototype
sitting on its Motorama stage at New York's Waldorf-Astroia hotel in January 1953.
Notice the unique fender trim and small push-button door handles. Regular production
Corvettes from 1953 through 1955 had no exterior door handles.
The "Blue Flame Special" was
Chevrolet's passenger-car six-cylinder engine slightly modified to produce 150 horsepower
instead of the sedan's sedate 115 horsepower. GM aggressively pushed the Powerglide
2-speed automatic transmission for the Chevrolet Line and no manual three-speed was
available.
In the foreground, the 1954 Motorama show
car, the Corvair Fastback Coupe; mid-ground, the 1954/55 Nomad, which would reappear as a
full-size Chevy; and in the distance the proposed removable hardtop version and the
standard roadster.