Dave@Ciocca

On this day in 1953, a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car (EX-122) makes its debut at General Motors' (GM) Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Corvette, named for a fast type of naval warship, would eventually become an iconic American muscle car and remains in production today.

In the early 1950s, Harley Earl (1893-1969), the influential head designer for GM, then the world's largest automaker, became interested in developing a two-seat sports car. At the time, European automakers dominated the sports car market. Following the debut of the Corvette prototype at the Motorama show in January 1953, the first production Corvette was completed at a Flint, Michigan, plant on June 30, 1953. The car featured an all-fiberglass body, a white exterior and red interior, a relatively unremarkable 150-horsepower engine and a starting price tag of around $3,500 (not including taxes or an optional AM radio and heater). In an effort to give the Corvette an air of exclusivity, GM initially marketed the car to invitation-only VIP customers. This plan met with less-than-desirable results, as only a portion of the 300 Corvettes built that first year were sold. GM dropped the VIP policy the following year; however, Corvette sales continued to disappoint. In 1954, GM built around 3,600 of the 10,000 Corvettes it had planned, with almost a third of those cars remaining unsold by the start of 1955.



There was talk within GM of discontinuing the Corvette; however, GM rival Ford launched the sporty two-seat Thunderbird convertible in 1955 and the car quickly became a hit. GM didn't want to discontinue the Corvette and look like a failure next to its Big Three competitor, so the car remained in production and performance enhancements were made. That same year, a Belgian-born, Russian-raised designer named Zora Arkus-Duntov became head engineer for Corvette and put the car on a course that would transform it into a legend. Duntov had applied to work at GM after seeing the Corvette prototype at the 1953 Motorama show. According to The New York Times: "Once hired, he pushed through the decision to turn the Corvette into a high-performance sports car with a succession of more powerful engines. Chevrolet offered a 195-horsepower engine on the 1955 Corvette, a 240-horsepower engine on the 1956 Corvette and a 283-horsepower engine on the 1957 model." During the second half of the 1950s, Corvettes began setting speed records on the racing circuit.



After taking the tour with the GM Motorama, the EX-122 became a plaything for the engineering department. The 6-cylnder engine was removed and an 8-cylinder engine was installed, and it was used for various performance demonstrations. It gave such a good account of itself that immediately it was decided to abandon the 6-cylinder engine in regular Chevrolet Corvette production and supplement it with the new 8-cylinder as standard equipment.

The car was then purchased by a member of the engineering team for his daughter to drive to school. He sold the car in 1959 when his daughter left for college. The new owner was the one who realized how special the car was and began to accumulate documentation about the car.

In 2002, Kerbeck Corvette of Atlantic City, purchased the EX-122 from his estate. They began an exhaustive restoration to take the car back to it's original Motorama condition with one exception. The 8-cylinder engine installed by Zora and his team was left in the car making EX-122 not only the world's oldest Corvette but the first ever 8-cylider Corvette as well.

Although the car does travel the country many times a years for shows as well as being on loan for special events for General Motors, most days it can be seen at Kerbeck Corvette's Atlantic City showroom where Corvette enthusiasts are welcome to stop by and see the car and take pictures with it. You can also get more information Corvette EX-122 page.

CENT Z06

Neat Story.

QUAKEJAKE

This single post makes you realize owning ANY Corvette is a great experience.Being part of a wonderful american tradition that the P and M cars owners can't retreve make a claim to.

dvilin

Good read.

Vette_DD

True that the radio and the heater were listed as optional accessories, according to the Corvette Black Book, but a radio and a heater were in every one of the 300 1953 Corvettes built.

NofakeJake

with you Cent..

Problem with it is some of us remember this

peter pan

Happy Birthday Corvette

TNTC4VETTE

Happy Birthday to a dream that came true for all of us.

CETA 256

arcticblast

Cool post. Thanks, Dave.

Glennm27

Every time I get to see EX-122 either at your showroom or at Carlisle it's just a cool feeling to be in the presence of such an important piece of automotive history.

george vee

Nice read, thanks
I've seen that vert in your showroom and it is a beauty, I'll be coming by to see the 60th anniversary parked next to it.

Supersonic 427

Great post. I remember EX122 very well because I have seen it and talked to the previous owner several times at various car shows in the Rochester NY area. The owner always had a sign in front of it claiming to be a 1952 Corvette. When I first saw the car I thought it was a '55 because of the V8, red paint and beige interior and top. When I asked about that,this older gentleman explained the story to me about it being the Motorama Corvette prototype and how the car transitioned into a test car later on. Amazing that he purchased this car for $1000 in 1959!

geo2000

chasboy

davidtcpa

I thought the first Corvette came off the production line on June 20th, 1953.

RO55

Very cool!

Brian2010

Great story, i saw it when I stopped in before going to the casino. I never knew it had that story behind it.

z51vett

This car was a concept car not a production model.
z51vett

Dave@Ciocca

The first two production Corvettes (VINs 003 and 004) came off the line on June 30, 1953, not June 20.

This car was hand built in 1952 and for a long time was called the Opel until they came up with Corvette.