1953 Corvette #091 Goes Up For Auction
Mecum Chicago will host the sale of a particularly rare first-year C1. Expect it to bring six figures.
The 91st Chevy Corvette ever built goes to auction Oct. 6 at the Mecum Chicago event in Schaumburg, Illinois. With millions of Corvettes produced, this is a rare chance for a collector to get their hands on a special first-year C1.
Like all 1953 Vettes, this one comes in Polo White with a Red interior and Black soft top. A Blue Flame 235-cubic-inch inline-six powers this one, again, like all ’53s.
The low serial number is only part of this car’s appeal. Samuel Falz, a founder of the National Corvette Restorers Society, owned this car at one time, according to C1Registry.com. That site reports Folz won first in class at the 1963 Corvette Corral Concours at Elkhart Lake — an event that still exists at Road America.
The car’s original owner was an employee of a Chevy vendor who nabbed the car as a gift for his wife. Somehow, he convinced Chevy GM Thomas Keating to release to the C.W. Krum and Son dealership. Bigger dealerships were apparently nonplussed by how the small Schoolcraft, Michigan dealer got its hands on the exceedingly rare car.
This C1 began a full restoration in the early 1980s and ended up on the cover of The Corvette Restorer Magazine in 1983. The restoration was completed in 1997. In the intervening decades, the car has clocked fewer than 50 miles.
ALSO SEE: The One Millionth Corvette Restoration
Hagerty places the value of a “Good” condition 1953 at well into six figures. We’d be surprised if Corvette #91, probably in better condition than Good, brought less than a quarter-million.
We’ve taken a look at an even earlier C1 before on Corvette Forum. Take a few minutes to appreciate serial #018, owned by Corvette Forum member Ki Hansen (fittingly, his user handle is 18thvette). These first-year cars still take our breath away and Jim Donnelly’s photos absolutely do this car justice.
