Beschreibung:

As early as 1950, Harley Earl, GM’s legendary Vice-President of Styling, was sensing there could be a market for a quasi-sports car that would compete with European designs in appearance, while offering the reliability and simplicity of an American powertrain—all at an affordable price. By 1951, he had established a small and secret studio where he and a carefully chosen group of designers could pursue his vision. At first, a conventional steel body was planned, but the low production volume anticipated eventually caused Earl to favor molding the new car’s body in fiberglass, a then-new lightweight material. A bonus was that molded fiberglass was well suited to producing the unusually smooth and rounded contours of the new car. Earl’s sport roadster, which had been named the Corvette, debuted as a “dream car” at the 1953 General Motors Motorama in late 1952. GM researchers surveyed show goers, asking them what they thought of the car. The responses were overwhelmingly positive: they loved the car. Following the show, GM made it known that a production version of the Corvette showcar would be built. This announcement created much anticipation, as a GM concept car had never before been put into production. The first 300 Corvettes were completed in Flint, Michigan before the end of 1953. Production was then transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, where assembly of 1954 Corvettes began shortly after the New Year’s holiday. A total of 3,625 1954 Corvettes would be produced. The first generation Corvette was powered by an overhead-valve 235.5cid Chevrolet Blue Flame Six, equipped for its special application with three side-draft carburetors, solid lifters and dual exhausts, all of which helped push the horsepower rating to 150. A 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission was a “required option, ” baked into the car’s $3,440 base price. Even with the automatic transmission, the Corvette’s 0-60 time of around 11 seconds was quite respectable in 1954. The car also cornered flat and handled well, according to road tests of the period…although not a “true” sports car, it was fun to drive. Of that modest production run, this ’54 certainly has one of the most interesting and uncomplicated histories. The car was bought new by Kenneth M. Brooks, an Automotive Engineer of the Atlanta-North GM Facility in Doraville, Georgia. Mr. Brooks was desperately keen to get a new Corvette when they were first launched, and after a failed attempt to get one at ‘over sticker’ price, the Plant Manager at Doraville assisted his purchase, since he wasn’t impressed that he was driving European imports! In 1956 Mr. Brooks was transferred to the Framingham, Mass. plant and then in turn to the St. Louis Chevrolet-Fisher Body plant in 1963, each time the ‘Vette was Mr. Brooks’ family’s mode of transport. By that stage the car’s paint was looking a little worse for wear and it was arranged for it to be repainted by the Corvette plant that it would have originally have been painted in from its original Polo white in the Firefrost Silver paint it still wears to this day. Mr. Brooks kept the car right up to his death in 2003, although in latter years its use and maintenance was modest, after which his wife Lois arranged for the car be recommissioned by marque experts – Len and Zack Wojtaliks and put back on the road. Today, in essence, this is a good straight ’54 ‘Vette, in original and lightly aged condition, the interior is the original and is complete and tidy with a couple of splits in the seats, while the engine bay is clean. A two owner, 26,000 mile from new car, with matching numbers and complete with hard top - there can’t be too many left like this!