Oldest Corvette ever!
09-01-2002, 07:04 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Oldest Corvette ever!
I thought I would share this article from The Daily Telegraph here in the UK with all you Vetteheads>
For one Corvette fanatic, buying a 1953 pedal car replica was a thrill, but tracing its history has proved both daunting and fascinating, reports Fanny Johnstone
Al Hill, a bigwig at Microsoft, is a self-confessed Corvette fanatic. Appropriately, as he and America's best-loved sports car were both born in 1953, he owns No 281 of the 300 Corvettes to roll off the production line that year. But in April this year he also acquired what is now widely believed to be the oldest Corvette in existence. And it's not powered by a Chevrolet "Blue Flame" six-cylinder 235/150 engine, but by pedals.
Boys' toy: the production Corvette
"I have a large amount of 1953 'Vette memorabilia including scale model cars, posters and paintings. My collection of 1953 Corvette scale models is focused on the '53 Vette - Polo White exterior, Sportsman Red interior, black soft-top down, preferably die-cast or glass-fibre. My smallest scale car is 1:160, about an inch long, and the biggest was 1:10 scale, about 16in long. But then I began exploring the possibility of pedal cars, knowing that they'd be in the 1:5 to 1:3 scale range..."
On April 30 Hill found a 1953 pedal car advertised on eBay (www.ebay.com). Despite having been long separated from its chassis, consisting of only the body and the trim, Hill says "the detail was fantastic, although the car looked as if it had been sitting in a barn for about 40 years." He contacted John Clayton, a 1953-55 Corvette memorabilia collector and Allen Wright, a pedal car manufacturer. Both men said they had never seen anything like it in more than 30 years in the business.
Hill then contacted the pedal car seller, Paul Kam. Some garbage collectors had found it while rummaging through an old coach house and sold it to Kam. Hill immediately put in a bid. While waiting to hear whether he had been successful, he and John Clayton began hypothesising on the car's origins.
After all, the car was a foot longer than a regular pedal car, and considering the early Fifties era it would have been a very large toy to have at home. As none of the authorities on Corvette that Hill knew had come across this scale before, they deduced that it must have come from a limited production run. But although the proportion of the car and its trim looked factory-made, there seemed to be no information relating to it, which was strange.
Clayton suggested that the car might be a concept model, made before the original Corvette prototype, known as EX-122, to help the General Motors executives move forward with the design. But why make a concept model in the form of a child's pedal car?
Perhaps, mused Clayton, it had been cloned from a '56 Corvette pedal car. In 1956 and 1957 GM had pedal cars made for various dealerships as a sales gimmick. The 5ft long toy held one child and cost $3,145, and if you bought one the dealership would give you a full-size, 225bhp Corvette "for free". But why make a 1956 or 1957 pedal car retrospectively based on the 1953 Corvette?
On May 8, Hill noticed a 1956 Pontiac Junior Deluxe electric car on eBay. The seller provided photographs with the car including one of legendary GM designer Harley Earl, with a toddler grandson in the driving seat. For Hill, the size of the Pontiac supported the theory that a group within GM (the same group that made the promotional models for the dealerships) might have made one 1953 Corvette pedal car. Perhaps they built it for Harley Earl. Perhaps it was made by Earl or his team.
The Corvette pedal car bore one valuable clue to its original ownership: the LYON licence plate. For Hill, trying to establish a connection between the car and GM, the fact that "Lyon" did not match any relevant searches was frustrating. He did, however, discover a Maud Lyon, who not only had ties to the automobile industry, but who had also mentioned Harley Earl in a testimony before Congress in 1998. Was this a coincidence? Hill needed to find Maud Lyon.
Meanwhile, the transaction with vendor Peter Kam went flawlessly, and Hill conducted a thorough analysis of the car's bodywork. He discovered that the LYON licence plate was originally from an office door or desk nameplate, which had been cut down to fit. But from whose office had it come?
That night Hill contacted Maud Lyon and, with bated breath, asked her if she knew Harley Earl. She replied that she had no knowledge of Earl or the pedal car. Hill was deeply disappointed.
On May 12 Hill spoke to Harley Earl's grandson, Richard Earl. When he saw the pictures he said, "This is a very rare prize and could well have been made for or given to George Lyon." It transpired that George Lyon was a personal friend and client of Harley Earl. His company, Lyon Inc, was a quality manufacturer of fine stainless steel products and Lyon himself a rich industrialist and inventor. Richard Earl confirmed that these pedal cars were built by the Harley Earl Corporation for GM. Hill was elated. But although Earl had photos of the pedal car's clay mould and one picture of two cars being assembled, it was still not evident why someone in 1956 or 1957 would make a miniature '53 Corvette.
Two weeks later, with repairs and rebuild of the pedal car already in progress, Hill saw a '57 Corvette pedal car listed on eBay. Its axle was seven inches shorter than the '53 car and it was 10 inches shorter overall. Hill realised that his '53 car could not have been cloned from the '57 because a new mould would have had to have been made for it.
Hill contacted John Rastall, pedal car historian. Rastall said Hill's purchase was a unique find, that had been searched for by Corvette authorities and enthusiasts for the last 30 years or more. According to Rastall's data it appeared to be one of only two pedal cars made by the Harley Earl Corp. Rastall confirmed that these two cars were made as promotional items for the introduction of the Corvette, which dated them to 1952 or 1953. Both Hill and Rastall were ecstatic. This could mean that the pedal car was made before June 30 1953 - making it one of the two oldest Corvettes in existence.The same day, Kam, the pedal car vendor, contacted Hill. He said that "someone" had a photo of Harley Earl with the car and, just like John Rastall, that "some have been looking for this car for 30 years". For Hill this was affirmation that the pieces of information and hypothesis were starting to form a coherent picture.
On June 6 Hill received a packet from Rastall. The May 1990 issue of Wheel Goods Trader bore a cover photograph of the 1953 pedal car. "This was a truly remarkable photograph, with the completed car and the young boys sitting in the car. I wondered if they could be Harley Earl's or George Lyon's grandsons," says Hill. Although the cover photo revealed valuable details such as a steering wheel positioned on the left, there were also confusing aesthetic messages. The hood scoops imitated the EX-122 prototype, but did not feature on the 1953-55 cars, whereas the "gull wings" were pointing upwards, which was unlike the EX-122 but just like the production cars. So had the pedal car been made shortly after EX-122?
Rastall agreed that it was a unique find for the pedal car world but an even bigger discovery for the Corvette community. Finding one of only two 1953 Corvette pedal cars made by the Harley Earl Corporation for GM, perhaps prior to the launch of the production car, was the stuff of dreams.
Hill finally met John and Marge Rastall, who showed him photographs of the pedal cars being assembled. Although Hill had already seen these photographs, having acquired them from Richard Earl and Tom Ernst, the quality of the Rastall's pictures was far superior. For six weeks, since seeing the first set of photos, everyone had been under the impression that there were two pedal cars being made. But the clearer photographs revealed that the second car was in fact the clay model from which the mould was taken. It appeared that there never had been two 1953 Corvette pedal cars. There was only one...
The search for anyone connected with the car's early days continues. Finding the gentleman in the assembly photographs or the two little boys, who could be sons of George Lyons (they are not Harley Earl's grandsons) could provide the final piece in the puzzle. Until then Hill is busying himself with the possibility of manufacturing replicas of his 1953 Corvette pedal car, quite possibly the first Corvette ever made.
For one Corvette fanatic, buying a 1953 pedal car replica was a thrill, but tracing its history has proved both daunting and fascinating, reports Fanny Johnstone
Al Hill, a bigwig at Microsoft, is a self-confessed Corvette fanatic. Appropriately, as he and America's best-loved sports car were both born in 1953, he owns No 281 of the 300 Corvettes to roll off the production line that year. But in April this year he also acquired what is now widely believed to be the oldest Corvette in existence. And it's not powered by a Chevrolet "Blue Flame" six-cylinder 235/150 engine, but by pedals.
Boys' toy: the production Corvette
"I have a large amount of 1953 'Vette memorabilia including scale model cars, posters and paintings. My collection of 1953 Corvette scale models is focused on the '53 Vette - Polo White exterior, Sportsman Red interior, black soft-top down, preferably die-cast or glass-fibre. My smallest scale car is 1:160, about an inch long, and the biggest was 1:10 scale, about 16in long. But then I began exploring the possibility of pedal cars, knowing that they'd be in the 1:5 to 1:3 scale range..."
On April 30 Hill found a 1953 pedal car advertised on eBay (www.ebay.com). Despite having been long separated from its chassis, consisting of only the body and the trim, Hill says "the detail was fantastic, although the car looked as if it had been sitting in a barn for about 40 years." He contacted John Clayton, a 1953-55 Corvette memorabilia collector and Allen Wright, a pedal car manufacturer. Both men said they had never seen anything like it in more than 30 years in the business.
Hill then contacted the pedal car seller, Paul Kam. Some garbage collectors had found it while rummaging through an old coach house and sold it to Kam. Hill immediately put in a bid. While waiting to hear whether he had been successful, he and John Clayton began hypothesising on the car's origins.
After all, the car was a foot longer than a regular pedal car, and considering the early Fifties era it would have been a very large toy to have at home. As none of the authorities on Corvette that Hill knew had come across this scale before, they deduced that it must have come from a limited production run. But although the proportion of the car and its trim looked factory-made, there seemed to be no information relating to it, which was strange.
Clayton suggested that the car might be a concept model, made before the original Corvette prototype, known as EX-122, to help the General Motors executives move forward with the design. But why make a concept model in the form of a child's pedal car?
Perhaps, mused Clayton, it had been cloned from a '56 Corvette pedal car. In 1956 and 1957 GM had pedal cars made for various dealerships as a sales gimmick. The 5ft long toy held one child and cost $3,145, and if you bought one the dealership would give you a full-size, 225bhp Corvette "for free". But why make a 1956 or 1957 pedal car retrospectively based on the 1953 Corvette?
On May 8, Hill noticed a 1956 Pontiac Junior Deluxe electric car on eBay. The seller provided photographs with the car including one of legendary GM designer Harley Earl, with a toddler grandson in the driving seat. For Hill, the size of the Pontiac supported the theory that a group within GM (the same group that made the promotional models for the dealerships) might have made one 1953 Corvette pedal car. Perhaps they built it for Harley Earl. Perhaps it was made by Earl or his team.
The Corvette pedal car bore one valuable clue to its original ownership: the LYON licence plate. For Hill, trying to establish a connection between the car and GM, the fact that "Lyon" did not match any relevant searches was frustrating. He did, however, discover a Maud Lyon, who not only had ties to the automobile industry, but who had also mentioned Harley Earl in a testimony before Congress in 1998. Was this a coincidence? Hill needed to find Maud Lyon.
Meanwhile, the transaction with vendor Peter Kam went flawlessly, and Hill conducted a thorough analysis of the car's bodywork. He discovered that the LYON licence plate was originally from an office door or desk nameplate, which had been cut down to fit. But from whose office had it come?
That night Hill contacted Maud Lyon and, with bated breath, asked her if she knew Harley Earl. She replied that she had no knowledge of Earl or the pedal car. Hill was deeply disappointed.
On May 12 Hill spoke to Harley Earl's grandson, Richard Earl. When he saw the pictures he said, "This is a very rare prize and could well have been made for or given to George Lyon." It transpired that George Lyon was a personal friend and client of Harley Earl. His company, Lyon Inc, was a quality manufacturer of fine stainless steel products and Lyon himself a rich industrialist and inventor. Richard Earl confirmed that these pedal cars were built by the Harley Earl Corporation for GM. Hill was elated. But although Earl had photos of the pedal car's clay mould and one picture of two cars being assembled, it was still not evident why someone in 1956 or 1957 would make a miniature '53 Corvette.
Two weeks later, with repairs and rebuild of the pedal car already in progress, Hill saw a '57 Corvette pedal car listed on eBay. Its axle was seven inches shorter than the '53 car and it was 10 inches shorter overall. Hill realised that his '53 car could not have been cloned from the '57 because a new mould would have had to have been made for it.
Hill contacted John Rastall, pedal car historian. Rastall said Hill's purchase was a unique find, that had been searched for by Corvette authorities and enthusiasts for the last 30 years or more. According to Rastall's data it appeared to be one of only two pedal cars made by the Harley Earl Corp. Rastall confirmed that these two cars were made as promotional items for the introduction of the Corvette, which dated them to 1952 or 1953. Both Hill and Rastall were ecstatic. This could mean that the pedal car was made before June 30 1953 - making it one of the two oldest Corvettes in existence.The same day, Kam, the pedal car vendor, contacted Hill. He said that "someone" had a photo of Harley Earl with the car and, just like John Rastall, that "some have been looking for this car for 30 years". For Hill this was affirmation that the pieces of information and hypothesis were starting to form a coherent picture.
On June 6 Hill received a packet from Rastall. The May 1990 issue of Wheel Goods Trader bore a cover photograph of the 1953 pedal car. "This was a truly remarkable photograph, with the completed car and the young boys sitting in the car. I wondered if they could be Harley Earl's or George Lyon's grandsons," says Hill. Although the cover photo revealed valuable details such as a steering wheel positioned on the left, there were also confusing aesthetic messages. The hood scoops imitated the EX-122 prototype, but did not feature on the 1953-55 cars, whereas the "gull wings" were pointing upwards, which was unlike the EX-122 but just like the production cars. So had the pedal car been made shortly after EX-122?
Rastall agreed that it was a unique find for the pedal car world but an even bigger discovery for the Corvette community. Finding one of only two 1953 Corvette pedal cars made by the Harley Earl Corporation for GM, perhaps prior to the launch of the production car, was the stuff of dreams.
Hill finally met John and Marge Rastall, who showed him photographs of the pedal cars being assembled. Although Hill had already seen these photographs, having acquired them from Richard Earl and Tom Ernst, the quality of the Rastall's pictures was far superior. For six weeks, since seeing the first set of photos, everyone had been under the impression that there were two pedal cars being made. But the clearer photographs revealed that the second car was in fact the clay model from which the mould was taken. It appeared that there never had been two 1953 Corvette pedal cars. There was only one...
The search for anyone connected with the car's early days continues. Finding the gentleman in the assembly photographs or the two little boys, who could be sons of George Lyons (they are not Harley Earl's grandsons) could provide the final piece in the puzzle. Until then Hill is busying himself with the possibility of manufacturing replicas of his 1953 Corvette pedal car, quite possibly the first Corvette ever made.
09-01-2002, 07:39 AM
#2
Team Owner
Re: Oldest Corvette ever! (Graemeinvette)
Really interesting tracing back some of the industrial giants of years past, and the products they are responsible for....much less some of the personal history associated with those products....
I once met the grand daughter of Pete Estes....past prez of GM back in the 60's sometime....Alice Estes....
I recognized the name immediately as being past GM bigwig/prez....and was about the only person at the dealership who recognized the name....so that was two of us...me and the boss/owner of the dealership who knew just who she was.....and I know why she was there, figgered it out over the following year....interesting story there, for another time and place....
suffice to say, there must have been dealership problems, and after a few months, there was a mass firing where the owner cleaned house....everyone in every department was fired, service, parts, sales, used sales.... the works....2-3 levels down in some cases....
suffice to say, I suspect the Estes family are still heavy hitters in/for/around the GM organization today.....
GENE
I once met the grand daughter of Pete Estes....past prez of GM back in the 60's sometime....Alice Estes....
I recognized the name immediately as being past GM bigwig/prez....and was about the only person at the dealership who recognized the name....so that was two of us...me and the boss/owner of the dealership who knew just who she was.....and I know why she was there, figgered it out over the following year....interesting story there, for another time and place....
suffice to say, there must have been dealership problems, and after a few months, there was a mass firing where the owner cleaned house....everyone in every department was fired, service, parts, sales, used sales.... the works....2-3 levels down in some cases....
suffice to say, I suspect the Estes family are still heavy hitters in/for/around the GM organization today.....
GENE
09-01-2002, 01:12 PM
#4
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Dec 2000
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St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Re: Oldest Corvette ever! (Graemeinvette)
Next week that guy will probably find a documented ZL-1 with Zora's signature on the build sheet in a barn. :rolleyes: I hate rich people... I want to be one soooo bad! :lol:
09-01-2002, 01:43 PM
#5
Burning Brakes
Re: Oldest Corvette ever! (Graemeinvette)
Hi Graeme
Just read that same article! I was looking for the £1 Tunnel voucher if truth be known!!
Pretty interesting stuff though. Amazing how this stuff shows up.
Regards.
Just read that same article! I was looking for the £1 Tunnel voucher if truth be known!!
Pretty interesting stuff though. Amazing how this stuff shows up.
Regards.
