On January 17, 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette prototype was unveiled at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York at Motorama. But the car we recognize today as synonymous with (relatively) affordable sportsmanship was not so popular when it first appeared.
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Harley Earl, a GM designer at the time, was convinced that a two-seater sports car was the way to go, and the introduction of a good one could impress on what was then a European-dominated market. People were curious, so Chevy had to make sure it lived up to its expectations.
from History:
The car had a fiberglass body, a white exterior and a red interior, a relatively unobservable 150-horsepower engine, and a starting price of about $ 3,500 (excluding taxes or an AM radio and optional heater). In an effort to give Corvette an air of exclusivity, GM initially sold the car to VIP customers by invitation only. This plan had less than desired results, as only part of the 300 corvettes built in the first year were sold. GM dropped its VIP policy the following year; however, Corvette sales continued to disappoint. In 1954, GM built about 3,600 of the 10,000 corvettes it had planned, with nearly a third of these cars remaining unsold until early 1955.
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To make matters worse, customers at the time were simply not impressed with the Corvette. The fiberglass body suffered from poor quality. The doors could be opened while the car was being driven. Water spilled all over the damn place. GM has done its best to ensure that newly produced cars do not have the same problems, but it is difficult to correct a weak first impression.
That being said, a Popular mechanics a survey published in late 1954 showed that half of the owner of a Corvette who also owned a foreign sports car said that the Corvette was superior to its international competition. Another 19 percent said their Corvette is at least on par with foreign competition. Apparently, GM was on to something.
And then Ford launched Thunderbird, a rival to the Corvette. If it weren’t for a serious competitor trying to occupy the same market space, we could have seen Corveta taken out of the lots, left to become nothing more than a footnote in the history of cars. But with Ford waiting in the wings, GM had another stab at the Corvette.
I must say that the investment paid off. The 500,000th Corvette was built in 1977, with one millionth in 1992. The Corvette became a staple of the sporty American – certainly worthy of the weaknesses of the beginning of his life.