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my 1957 Corvette was built in Biel, Switzerland. Does anybody has some more information about such Corvettes.
Many GM cars were built in the Swiss GM factory from 1936 until 1973, I think. The best sign, that it's a car from Switzerland is the original odometer which reaches to 240 km/h (for example my 57 fuelie).
I hope that I can get more information about. I only know, that more than 880 US cars were built in 1957 in the Bienne factory, but I donīt have any facts, how many Corvettes were built this year.
my 1957 Corvette was built in Biel, Switzerland. Does anybody has some more information about such Corvettes.
Nope, there isn't any. Your Corvette was built in St. Louis, just like every other pre-1981 Corvette. You can take that to the bank. When it was imported, it had to be homologated to European requirements, and that work was done in Switzerland, where the Swiss tag was affixed.
Add this bit of weirdness to it - it was the only way you could get a factory-built 283 in a Camaro, due to Europe's taxes being based on engine displacement.
It gets weirder. From 1936 to about 1975, GM operated a factory there, mostly building Opels; however, among the reasons for this factory was a GM attempt to gain a foothold in the European auto new car market. Part of that effort was to find a way to get around the high European import taxes on cars, so GM would "knock down" partially assembled cars. The level of the knock down to be able to claim final assembly is not easily determined. Additionally, part of the deal was to source some parts locally, like batteries.
In addition to the Camaros built there, at least one Olds 442 is said to have been assembled there.
GM cars built there got unique VIN tags as well as a specific grill badge showing the car was built in Switzerland - a cool piece.
Last edited by Easy Rhino; 01-22-2018 at 10:00 AM.
The cars had a special decal, we say Toblerone. Because it looks like the Swiss chocolate.
In the link you can see a list of the number of cars, which were built in Biel. Especially 1957 884 Chevrolet cars were assembled.
Best regards from Germany
Oliver
This is some fascinating stuff. I have never heard of this.
Does your Corvette have the Swiss VIN plate and the Toblerone badge?? Would love to see both.
So over several decades GM built approximately 62,300 "American" cars (subtracting the Opels out) in Switzerland. The breakdown lacks the detail of which models, but some of the example VIN tags show Corvairs and Skylarks.
Last edited by Easy Rhino; 01-22-2018 at 09:52 AM.
This is some fascinating stuff. I have never heard of this.
Does your Corvette have the Swiss VIN plate and the Toblerone badge?? Would love to see both.
So over several decades GM built approximately 62,300 "American" cars (subtracting the Opels out) in Switzerland. The breakdown lacks the detail of which models, but some of the example VIN tags show Corvairs and Skylarks.
The car is still in Monaco and will shipped in 2 weeks. Itīs a real FI 4-speed with all matching numbers. The car has the original Swiss permis de Circulation (Swiss title) but no Toblerone badge. Also I am not sure, if the 1957 cars had this badge. I know 2 C2 with this badge, but no elder Corvette. As soon the car is in my garage, I can make some more pics.
Also the miles should be correct to the car, but I have to check. The odometer counts kilometers, too. Not miles. The last owner drove under 200 miles over the last 15 years.
Also has heater, AM radio, courtesy lights, windshield washer and hard top. All in all a really nice car.
The car is still in Monaco and will shipped in 2 weeks. Itīs a real FI 4-speed with all matching numbers. The car has the original Swiss permis de Circulation (Swiss title) but no Toblerone badge. Also I am not sure, if the 1957 cars had this badge. I know 2 C2 with this badge, but no elder Corvette. As soon the car is in my garage, I can make some more pics.
Also the miles should be correct to the car, but I have to check. The odometer counts kilometers, too. Not miles. The last owner drove under 200 miles over the last 15 years.
Also has heater, AM radio, courtesy lights, windshield washer and hard top. All in all a really nice car.
A 57 fuelie 4 speed with Swiss title found in Monaco - how cool is that?
Hello Tom,
some of the Swiss Corvettes are export cars. Only - I have heard 50 % - were built in Switzerland, the rest were imported, because the production capacity was limited in Biel.
For example my 65 tanker is an export car from Canada and was first registrated in Vienna, Austria. The dealer KANDL was the only Corvette dealer at that time and sold "many" tanker here in Europe. I know 4 tanker, which were sold as an export car in Austria. Also one of the two 67 tanker was an export car and was "brought" back to USA 3 years ago from Switzerland.
My 57 Corvette should be assembled in Switzerland, but I need more information from the last two fendors. It should be a 3 owner car, but the infos are not good enough to be sure.
A 57 fuelie 4 speed with Swiss title found in Monaco - how cool is that?
Looking forward to the pictures.
Also I have found a Duntov Award C1 1957 with some Top Flights in copper and power top in Greece. The cas stood nearly 30 years in a garage of an collector, who didnīt drove the car
my 1957 Corvette was built in Biel, Switzerland. Does anybody has some more information about such Corvettes.
Nope, there isn't any. Your Corvette was built in St. Louis, just like every other pre-1981 Corvette. You can take that to the bank. When it was imported, it had to be homologated to European requirements, and that work was done in Switzerland, where the Swiss tag was affixed.
Nope, there isn't any. Your Corvette was built in St. Louis, just like every other pre-1981 Corvette. You can take that to the bank. When it was imported, it had to be homologated to European requirements, and that work was done in Switzerland, where the Swiss tag was affixed.
So they weren't "knocked down" in any way? Would the kph speedo have been installed in the US or Switzerland?
Back in the day GM built some models for "export". They were built at US plants, then shipped to the GM distributor in Switzerland for modifications, which would include, among other things, a metric speedometer/odometer and exterior lighting modifications in order to comply with European homologation requirements.
Duke
P. S Oops...didn't see your posts, John, before I wrote mine.
01-22-2018, 09:21 AM
Corvette built in Switzerland
