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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.01.20 08:26z 44 Lines 3003 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 17
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Sent: 200117/0821Z 38601@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK6.0.18
On January 17, 1953, a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car makes its debut at General Motors’
(GM) Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Corvette, named for a
fast type of naval warship, would eventually become an iconic American muscle car and remains in
production today.
In the early 1950s, Harley Earl (1893-1969), the influential head designer for GM, then the world’s
largest automaker, became interested in developing a two-seat sports car. At the time, European
automakers dominated the sports car market. Following the debut of the Corvette prototype at the
Motorama show in January 1953, the first production Corvette was completed at a Flint, Michigan,
plant on June 30, 1953. The car featured an all-fiberglass body, a white exterior and red interior, a
relatively unremarkable 150-horsepower engine and a starting price tag of around $3,500 (not
including taxes or an optional AM radio and heater). In an effort to give the Corvette an air of
exclusivity, GM initially marketed the car to invitation-only VIP customers. This plan met with less
than-desirable results, as only a portion of the 300 Corvettes built that first year were sold. GM
dropped the VIP policy the following year; however, Corvette sales continued to disappoint. In 1954,
GM built around 3,600 of the 10,000 Corvettes it had planned, with almost a third of those cars
remaining unsold by the start of 1955.
There was talk within GM of discontinuing the Corvette; however, GM rival Ford launched the sporty
two-seat Thunderbird convertible in 1955 and the car quickly became a hit. GM didn’t want to
discontinue the Corvette and look like a failure next to its Big Three competitor, so the car remained in
production and performance enhancements were made. That same year, a Belgian-born, Russian
raised designer named Zora Arkus-Duntov became head engineer for Corvette and put the car on a
course that would transform it into a legend. Duntov had applied to work at GM after seeing the
Corvette prototype at the 1953 Motorama show. According to The New York Times: “Once hired, he
pushed through the decision to turn the Corvette into a high-performance sports car with a succession
of more powerful engines. Chevrolet offered a 195-horsepower engine on the 1955 Corvette, a 240-
horsepower engine on the 1956 Corvette and a 283-horsepower engine on the 1957 model.ö During
the second half of the 1950s, Corvettes began setting speed records on the racing circuit. The car also
got a publicity boost when it was featured on the TV show “Route 66,ö which launched in 1960 and
followed the story of two young men driving around America in a Corvette, looking for adventure.
In 1977, the 500,000th Corvette was built. Two years later, according to the Times, yearly Corvette
production peaked at 53,807. In 1992, the 1-milllionth Corvette came off the assembly line in Bowling
Green, Kentucky.
73, Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV @ KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email: KF5JRV@GMAIL.com
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