The First Corvette? Not exactly......

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  For one of the longest-lived and most famed automobiles in history, the Corvette sure got off to a faltering start. In fact, it seemed like a comedy of errors, compounded in part by over-zealousness and perhaps a dash of conceit, almost sank the ship before it even left the port.
     The Corvette prototype introduced at the 1953 New York Motorama was a certifiable hit, which came as little surprise to the project leaders. Coming at a time when domestic autos were, by today’s standards, rolling tanks, and sports cars were limited to European imports or small manufacturer customs, the GRP-bodied prototype proved to be a tremendous breath of fresh air for auto enthusiasts. Chevrolet had planned to produce 10,000 models annually beginning with the 1954 model year, but given the enthusiastic response of the Motorama attendees, the company decided to rush through a limited production run of 300 fiberglass-bodies roadsters before the official 1954 model year kick-off.
     By the end of june 1953 the first of these "advance" Corvettes were heading down the temporary Flint, Michigan, assembly line. Regular production of the Corvette was planned for the St. Louis assembly plant later that year, but high initial demand required that the first cars be built in Flint. All good and well, except for the marketing blunders which followed.
     Enthusiasm for the Corvette had gone from a boil at the january Motorama to a low simmer by the time the cars finally began to roll off of the assembly line. Part of the problem was that Chevrolet had failed to keep the fire stoked in the interim, and in an overconfident marketing gaffe, it was decided that only corporate brass and "VIPs" would be offered these first-run Vettes' mostly to impart an air of exclusivity to the breed. Early press reviews and real-world evaluations also pointed out some of the Corvettes detractions, namely the availability of an automatic-only transmission, leaky plastic windows and the lack of an exterior door access. Also, Polo White with red interiors and black tops was the only color scheme going for the "1953" models.
     As 1953 neared its end, production finally shifted to the St. Louis plant, although by this time it became painfully

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obvious that the optimistic plan for 10,000 cars to be built that year would fall woefully short of expectations. While some in the company looked to drop the Corvette project altogether and cut losses, the courageous decision was made to forge ahead. To that end, a few changes were made to address consumer complaints and to make the car more palatable in the marketplace. Among the minor alterations, a new camshaft bumped horsepower of the Blue Flame six-cylinder engine from 150 to 155, beige was added to red as an interior option, beige displaced black for the soft top treatment, and exterior colors were expanded to include Pennant Blue, black and Sportsman Red. Additional changes included longer exhaust tips (to correct the exhaust staining typical of the shorter ’53-style tips) and a single interior hood latch release bumped the two-latch design.

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This ’54 roadster owned by John and Jo Anne Battist of Fenwick Island, Delaware, is one of a reported 300 Pennant Blue Corvettes built that year sporting the beige interior and top. But it wasn’t always that way.
The car had been sitting uncovered in a barn since 1980. As John puts it, "was in serious need of major restoration...the body had a lot of damage, and a family of field mice had been feasting on the interior."
"When we first saw the car, it was a white 1954 Corvette with red interior and black top. We found that the previous owner had painted a Pennant Blue car white, and actually spray-painted the beige interior with red paint and painted a beige top

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with black paint." Considering that 3,230 of the 3,640 Vettes made that year came with the Polo white/red interior/beige top combo, one has to wonder...why?
In june of 1991, the work began to return the car to its original condition. The toughest aspect of the project proved to be in parts acquisition. John tried to use original components whenever possible, but locating suitable candidates was a tough row to hoe.
Since its completion, however, the spry little Vette has scored big on the show field. Following its debut in may of 1998,  the roadster has earned a wall full of trophies and awards from various New England and  Mid-Atlantic venues.

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