FEATURE - 1954 Chevrolet Corvette

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Lorbek Luxury Cars Sydney and Mike Ryan

It’s hard to believe now, but there were several points in the early history of the Corvette when it looked like the All-American sports car would be axed from Chevrolet’s lineup. It’s even harder to believe that the Corvette largely owes its survival to Ford.

Most people know that the Corvette was created in response to a strong sports car market in the USA in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Against the Porsches, MGs, Jaguars, Triumphs and others that were coming into the US in small but significant numbers, it made sense to offer a home-grown alternative.

Chevrolet wasn’t the first to respond, with a multitude of small, sporty offerings announced from a variety of sources. Some of these were dreamers who never got further than sketches or a rolling concept, while others made it to production, like the Cunningham C-3, Woodill Wildfire and Glasspar G2, but only in tiny numbers.

More serious efforts came from the likes of Kurtis and Nash, with the ‘Sport Car’ and ‘Nash-Healey,’ released in 1949 and 1951, respectively. Kurtis’s offering would evolve into the Muntz Jet and remain in production until 1954, with the Nash-Healey exiting in the same year. Kurtis production barely made it into double figures before he sold out to Muntz, while Nash-Healey production peaked at 162 in 1953.

Another home-grown sports car was the Kaiser Darrin, which had made its public debut in 1952 but wouldn’t reach production until the start of 1954. By then, the Corvette had been on the market – at least theoretically – for six months.

From Show Car . . .

While the big three carmakers weren’t the first to respond to America’s growing sports car market, they weren’t oblivious to it. But of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, it would be GM who'd throw their hat in the ring first, largely due to the insistence of their chief stylist at the time, Harley Earl.

Designer of the ‘Y-Job’ (arguably the first true concept car) from 1938, Earl also created the similarly forward-looking ‘LeSabre and ‘XP-300’ in 1951. In the same year, Earl started thinking about transferring what he’d done on these full-size concepts to a smaller, lighter, two-seater car.

Under the codename of ‘Project Opel’, Earl planned to bring a sports car to market wearing a Chevrolet badge and priced under the imported competition, even though he didn’t have GM’s backing at the time.

Running in parallel with Earl’s thinking were developments in fibreglass construction that had previously been applied to boats and other industrial applications, but were now seen as a way to body automobiles. Cheaper and lighter than steel, fibreglass was also rust-free and surprisingly strong. As evidence of the latter, a full-size fibreglass convertible that Chevrolet had built for research purposes rolled during high-speed testing in 1952 but the body was virtually unscathed.  

Later that year, Earl gained further support for his Chevrolet sports car concept, and while it wasn’t over the line yet, a full-sized prototype was signed off for inclusion in the 1953 Motorama travelling motor show, which was scheduled to kick off in New York in January. Public response to the concept, by now wearing the name ‘Corvette,’ would determine whether it went to production or remained a one-off.

What went on show in New York was a two-seater roadster on a 102-inch wheelbase, with a white-painted fibreglass body, wraparound windscreen and minimal chrome trim. Unlike some of the Motorama show cars, the Corvette was fully functional, using Chevrolet’s existing ‘Blue Flame’ six-cylinder engine, matched to a two-speed automatic transmission. Suspension consisted of an independent wishbone and coil spring front end and leaf spring rear, with 11-inch drum brakes all round and 15-inch wheels.

Styling reflected what was common on sports cars of the time, with Earl’s touches mixed in, so stone shields over the headlights were matched with small fins either side of the tail lights and an MG-style centralised instrument cluster was combined with full carpeting and painted or vinyl-trimmed surfaces, instead of timber, in its flashy interior.

The rear licence plate sat behind a clear cover in the bootlid and the exhaust tips exited through, rather than under, the body. A manually-operated hood was augmented with clip-in side screens.

. . . to Go Car

Even before the ’53 Motorama arrived at its sixth and final stop in Kansas City, public response to the Corvette had convinced GM to put it into production, so work that had already started as ‘Project EX-122’ in late 1952 would now be ramped up.

The commitment to bring the Corvette to production while interest was still hot meant that plans to produce the bodies in steel were abandoned and the fibreglass used for the show car would also apply to the production version. These elements were actually contracted out, with the eleven separate body pieces combined with the Corvette's chassis and drivetrain on an ad hoc assembly line at Chevrolet’s Flint, Michigan, plant.

The Blue Flame engine was tuned to produce 150hp against the standard 115hp thanks to the inclusion of triple carburettors, a special intake manifold, higher compression, sold valve lifters and a higher-lift camshaft, amongst other changes.

The power of the Blue Flame in this application made it too strong for GM’s existing manual transmissions, so the launch Corvette would only be available with a two-speed Powerglide automatic. A floor shifter couldn’t hide the fact that an automatic was anathema to true sports car fans, but nevertheless, that’s what the Corvette launched with.

The first production Corvette officially rolled off the line on 30 June, 1953, finished in Polo White with a black convertible hood and Sportsman Red interior. This combination would be repeated on every subsequent Corvette built that year.

As the Corvette was essentially a hand-built car at this stage, with techniques around its production being learned on the fly, only 300 would be completed before the end of 1953.

GM had big plans for the car in 1954, though… 

Big Ideas, Bigger Disappointments

Before the end of 1953, Chevrolet announced that Corvette production would move to a repurposed facility in St. Louis that had the capacity to build up to 10,000 examples of the new car annually.

This seemed ambitious at the time, especially given the fact that, while many people had shown interest in the Corvette, none had the ability to actually buy one.

The initial production run had gone to GM executives, Hollywood stars and high society types. With so much on the Corvette being new and unproven, with some questionable build quality in the first examples, too, it perhaps made sense to limit negative publicity by limiting who got a Corvette, but it frustrated potential buyers.

Those who actually did get their hands on the ’53 Corvette were impressed and disappointed in equal measure. Impressed by the concept, appearance and overall handling of the car, but disappointed by the lack of performance, the lack of a manual transmission and anachronisms like clip-in side curtains when Americans by this stage were used to wind-up windows.

Regardless, Chevrolet pressed ahead with Corvette production for 1954 and what rolled off the line at St. Louis was mostly unchanged from what had been produced in Flint, at least initially.

A Rival and A Saviour

For 1954, Chevrolet increased the Blue Flame six’s power from 150hp to 155hp via a new camshaft, with changes made to the valve cover and air cleaners, too. The fiddly two-lever bonnet release was changed to a single-pull type and criticism of body staining from the exhaust saw the tips lengthened.

Other minor changes were incorporated during the ’54 Corvette’s production run, like modified switchgear and re-routed fuel and brake lines. Later, elements that were “mandatory options” became actual options, but the more notable change was the availability of alternative colours.

Polo White remained, but later in 1954, a Corvette could be had in Pennant Blue or Sportsman Red, matched with tan and red interiors respectively. Tan hoods replaced black, regardless of paint choice. A handful of ’54 Corvettes also left the factory in Onyx Black, while green, yellow and bronze examples have been rumoured, too, but unproven.

Despite the capacity for increased production at the new plant, only 3,640 Corvettes were built for 1954. More alarmingly, almost half of those remained unsold at the end of the year, which led some within GM to consider abandoning Corvette production in favour of more popular and profitable models.

Salvation, of sorts, came from Ford, who responded to the Corvette with the Thunderbird. Announced at the start of 1954 and hitting the market in September, the Thunderbird was of the same sporty two-seater concept as the Corvette, but featured “real car” features like a steel body, wind-up windows, a V8 engine and manual transmission.

In its first year, the Thunderbird outsold the Corvette by around 20 to 1, which should have been enough to end it there and then, but Chevrolet's hubris meant they couldn’t let Ford have the American-made sports car market for themselves, so the Corvette survived.

Chevrolet also had a few aces up their sleeve for 1955, including a V8 and manual transmission of their own. Along with other improvements, these additions meant the Corvette could finally live up to the potential it offered back in 1953. What came in 1955 and the years that followed is outside the scope of this article, though.

A Fine ‘54 – with More

The car featured is a genuine 1954 Corvette, number 574 of 3,640 produced that year, and is currently for sale with Lorbek Luxury Cars Sydney.

While it looks factory authentic from every angle, open the bonnet and the first change from stock is apparent, with a modern 350 small block in place of the original six. While this car hasn’t been on the dyno, it’d be safe to assume the V8 produces close to double the horsepower of the original engine, while also being easier to find parts for and tune than the Blue Flame six with its tricky triple carbs.

The standard Powerglide remains, which makes this car an easy driver for cruising and great for weekend highway blasts. All other mechanical parts are refurbished authentic C1954, including the drum brakes, recirculating ball steering and suspension.

The engine swap and mechanical refurbishments were done during a full rotisserie restoration on the car that was undertaken in the US and completed sometime in the very early 2000s.

The exterior remains Polo White and the interior Sportsman

Red, matched with red wheel rims and whitewall tyres. Full hubcaps with faux spinners are authentic to 1954, but eagle-eyed Corvette observers will notice the Chevrolet badge on the front guards has an oversized ‘v’, which back in 1955, identified a Corvette fitted with a V8. While not authentic for a ’54 model, it’s appropriate for this car, given the engine upgrade. Subtler deviations from 1954 spec include slash-cut tips for the exhaust and a black hood instead of tan.

The interior has been restored to stock appearance, but an upgraded sound system has been added.

Much of the early history of this car is unknown, but when it came onto the market through a dealership in Maryland in 2009, it was spotted by a Corvettes of Melbourne club member, who bought it and had it shipped to Australia for his wife to drive.

As advertised back then, the Corvette had 54,682 miles on the odometer, 2,498 of which had been covered since its restoration. Now, the odometer reading is 57,415, which equates to less than 3,000 miles in almost 15 years of local ownership.

The fact that the owner and his wife have an extensive car collection, including multiple Corvettes, it explains the limited use this car has seen over the years, but it still gets out and about, including at club events and the Corvette Nationals. Most recently, at the 2023 Corvette Nationals, it was part of a special display showcasing all eight Corvette generations. But, with the owner looking to downsize his collection, he put it on the market earlier this year and it's now for sale with Lorbek Luxury Cars, Sydney.

No changes have been made to the car since it was bought, but it has been regularly serviced and was running at the recent Corvette Nationals.

First-generation Corvettes, particularly early examples like this one, are a rare sight in Australia. As evidence of that, only one other ’54 was spotted at this year’s Corvette Nationals amongst the 200+ Corvettes on display. It’s just as rare for these early Corvettes to come onto the market here.

If this one takes your fancy, act now. You could be waiting a long time for the next ’54 Corvette to come around.

FOR SALE

Currently listed with Lorbek Luxury Cars, Sydney, this 1954 Chevrolet Corvette is ready for the next owner to enjoy.

The 350 V8 upgrade delivers abundant power, while the automatic transmission provides driving convenience. Given this car’s modern engine, the next owner can afford to be a little less precious with it than a factory-authentic restoration. The V8 makes it more practical for regular driving, too.

Despite the older restoration, the Polo White exterior and Sportsman Red interior still present exceptionally well, with the convertible hood and side curtains in similar condition.

The radio upgrade incorporates a modernised face and additional speakers, but both are subtly integrated and don’t impact the aesthetics of the cabin. 

At time of writing, the odometer reading was 57,415 miles (92,400km).

First-generation Corvettes are very rare in Australia and 1954 examples – only the second year of production – are even rarer.

Previously on Victorian club registration, this car will be sold unregistered.

Asking price is $169,990.

For more details, contact Lorbek Luxury Cars Sydney on 1800 8 567 235, go to: www.lorbek.com.au or see the listing on www.justcars.com.au with the ad code JACFD5244624.