Beschreibung:

Back in 1953, Chevrolet's launch of a two-seater sports car was a radical departure for a marque hitherto associated almost exclusively with sensible family transport. Based on the 1952 EX-122 show car, the Corvette made use of existing GM running gear and a shortened chassis frame, around which was wrapped striking Harley Earl-styled glassfibre coachwork. Motive power came from Chevrolet's 235.5ci (3.8-litre) overhead-valve straight six and, unusually for a sports car, there was automatic transmission, a feature that attracted much adverse criticism at the time. Intended as competition for the T-Series MG, the Corvette cost way above the target figure, ending up in Jaguar XK120 territory but with an inferior performance. Sales were sluggish initially and the model came close to being axed, surviving thanks to Chevrolet's need to compete with Ford's Thunderbird. A V8 engine for 1955 and a radical restyle for '56 consolidated the 'Vette's position in the market. A facelift for 1958 saw the Corvette gain a quartet of chrome-rimmed headlamps and a host of other more minor styling changes. Perhaps not surprisingly, alterations for '59 were few. By this time, the end of the 1950s, Corvettes had begun to establish an enviable competition record for the marque. Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov was a big fan of auto racing and it was he that was responsible for unlocking the car's innate potential and development it into a genuine race-winner. These racing successes repaid Chevrolet's investment with interest: Corvette sales improved significantly, ensuring the car's survival and enabling it to go on to become the world's best-selling and longest-lived sports car. Like most American cars, the Corvette was available with a host of optional extras, with the result that seldom are two exactly alike. It is obvious that the first owner of this outstanding example was keen to extract the utmost performance available from a Corvette, ordering it with the optional 283ci (4,639cc), Rochester fuel-injected V8 engine which, with a maximum output of 290bhp, was the most powerful of the five alternatives on offer. He also specified the desirable T10 four-speed manual transmission, Positraction 3.7:1 limited-slip differential and 8,000rpm tachometer, and chose what, arguably, is the best colour scheme: Signet Red with matching interior and white soft-top. The radio, heater and hardtop were dispensed with. One of only 1007, '58 Corvettes delivered with fuel-injected 290bhp engine, this example is rarer still in so far as every piece of the driveline, including the engine, fuel injection system, cylinder heads, bell housing, transmission and differential are correct 'matching numbers' to the car and believed original. 'J58S102566' comes with a detailed ownership history complied by the ninth owner (Lars-Erik Arnell of Carmel, Indiana, who acquired it in 2002) listing all owners up to that date. Its first owner resided in Freeport, Illinois and owned the Corvette for less than two years, selling it in September 1959 to finance the expansion of his McDonalds restaurant franchise. The second owner lived in Indiana, where the car would spend virtually all of its life. In 1970 the Corvette passed to the seventh owner, who restored it and used it as a 'pace car' at the racing circuit he owned, selling it 14 years later to the eighth owner, a prominent car collector. The ninth owner, Lars-Erik Arnell, acquired the Corvette in September 2002 and commissioned a total, 'frame off' rotisserie restoration. Undertaken in 2005/2006 by recognised specialists with painstaking attention to detail, the project culminated in prestigious 'Top Flight' awards at the elite National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) meetings at Auburn, Indiana and St Louis, Missouri (see certificates on file). Later in 2006 the car received the ultimate accolade when it was awarded the 'Triple Crown' at the NCRS Chevy/Vettefest Nationals, having gained the top 'Gold Spinner' prize