Chevrolet Corvette (C1)
Chevrolet Corvette C1 ( 1953-1956 )
The Chevrolet Corvette C1 is the first generation of the Corvette. The car was built from 1953 to 1962 and revised several times visually and technically at this time. Since its release, many features to today's generation, the Corvette C6 were retained. These include, among other things, introduced 1955 " small-block " V8 engine, the fiberglass body and the four typical round taillights, which were introduced in 1961.
History
Already in January 1953 the first Corvette made its debut and was presented at the " Motorama " at the Waldorf -Astoria Hotel in New York for the first time to the public. The audience responded enthusiastically and left about half a year after that debut the first production model the factory gates. Finally America had its own sports car, nor to the world premiere of a thrilling molded fiberglass body. Not only in the formal sense fascinated the first Corvette generation. Technically it was a milestone in the sports car history.
As the first production car ever, the Corvette C1 had a body made of fiberglass. In addition to weight savings, the greater freedom of the designer and the products to be faster production tools spoke for this material - the rapid series start would otherwise not have been realized. At the first Corvette was visible, which could make the original parts other Chevrolet models everything. So they wanted to keep the price down because you did not have to redesign from scratch the car.
Ready to six months after the first presentation was on 30 June 1953, the series production in Flint, in the U.S. state of Michigan. In 1954 the production was moved to St. Louis / Missouri. The first Corvette was built in 1953 in limited numbers, at first there were only about 300 copies per year. Some of them were of project engineers, General Motors managers and taken some selected actors and other celebrities.
The reason for the low number of just 300 pieces was, among other things, the production of the fiberglass body, which initially proved problematic. The second piece of bad news for Chevrolet was the catastrophically bad order for the new Corvette. The 110 kW ( 150 hp) sports car was not fast enough and still more expensive than the more prestigious models of Jaguar and Cadillac. There was a strong -displacement V8 engine with plenty of power. So Chevrolet could not even sell half of its production in the first year.
Even more dramatically, the situation in the following year, 1954. Instead of the planned 10,000 units rolled off the assembly line only 3640 Corvette, of which 1,100 units not even found a buyer. The "Off" for the Corvette threatened 1955: Almost 700 Corvette left the new production facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and this perhaps only to show the flag, as Ford successfully sent its first two -seater sports car, the Thunderbird into the race. Within ten days, Ford was able to sell 3,500 units of its service provider, mainly with the 156 kW ( 212 hp ) V8.
The rescue for the Corvette brought a new chief engineer Zora Arkus - Duntov, a former racing driver, demonstrated the GM executives what the Corvette was missing, and thus laid the foundation for a successful restart of the plastic sports car. The premiere party of the revised Corvette 1956 re-aligned in the New York Waldorf -Astoria Hotel. In 1958 the Corvette sales increased to over 9,000 units - enough to generate the first time in the black.
To prove that the Corvette on the track a competitive car was Briggs Cunningham took part in 1960 with several models in the 24- hour race at Le Mans. The best result was an eighth place.
The Corvette C1 was and is still very popular among fans. Today, these models are highly coveted Corvette classics and therefore relatively expensive. In the U.S., prices of up to $ 150,000 are not uncommon for a well-preserved copy in original condition.
Production period was from June 1953 to August 1962. A total of 69 015 Corvettes were produced. Since the C1 was not yet available as a coupe, only Roadster ( convertible ) were manufactured. After production ceased in 1963 and eventually became the new Corvette C2 presented.
Body
The Corvette C1 had a body made of fiberglass- reinforced resin, which is maintained to this day in the Corvette. This results in weight savings and the production is now relatively easy. However, the plastic body should be one of the triggers that made the dream car for GM initially was a nightmare. Too time-consuming and tedious designed initially the production of glass fiber reinforced resin. The technique among them came from other Chevrolet models.
Tail fin inventor Harley Earl had given to the open-top two -seater with innovative plastic body its shape - like a predator showed this Corvette the chrome grille of their teeth. The fenders were stretched sweeping across the wheel arches. A particularly sporty impression conveyed hidden under a rock guard lights, indicated fins gave the stern special elegance. The panoramic windscreen was pulled around to the sides and came out without a triangular window. The symmetrical structure painted dashboard wore two prominent scoops, the driver's side housed a large round instrument.
The first revision of the basic optical Corvette took place in 1956. The tail fins disappeared completely, but kept lateral indentations before the front wheels and the first two -tone paint in the model history collection. Exterior door handles were another innovation of this vintage. The hardtop was shipped from the factory. The previously integrated into the vehicle body front headlights were now exposed and were slightly protruding, while those of the first Corvette still outstanding taillights were now fully integrated in the rear fender. With the new chassis, the Corvette could bring even more power to the road.
In 1958, the Corvette was once again truly cleaned and equipped with twin headlamps, also lengthened and widened. Suspension and chassis remained basically the same, as well as the simple rigid axle. The 1959 version was substantially optically identical to its predecessor, but was abandoned this year on the chrome trim on the rear and the large vents on the hood. The car offered good performance and compared with some more mundane rivals some notable extras that were fitted as standard.
1961, the C1 was the last time truly cleaned. The front was taken over by the previous models. The tail, however, was completely revised and now formed the classic boat - tail, which was maintained both in the complete series of C2, as also in the following models C3, C4 and C5 can be seen.
The four round taillights led the then-new GM chief designer Bill Mitchell also 1961. This typical style element that then already announced the next generation, the Corvette remained true to this day.
Engine / performance
The engine was initially a slightly modified "Blue Flame" six-cylinder in-line engine of a truck with a capacity of 3.8- liters. Higher compression ratio and a Carter triple carburetors increased their power to only 110 kW ( 150 hp), then 114 kW (155 hp) and set a maximum torque of 302 Nm at 4500 rpm available. The Corvette C1 accelerated so that according to sources in 8 to 11 seconds from 0-100 km / h The top speed was specified at 172 up to 180 km / hr. However, this performance corresponded even for those days where not a sports car.
That is why Cole and Zora Arkus prescribed Ed - Duntov the Corvette C1 is a power boost: Instead of the previous six- cylinder, they opted for a " small-block " V8, initially with 4.3 liters displacement and 143 kW ( 195 hp). The first Chevrolet " small-block " V8 engine and thus first Corvette V8 engine came in 1955 on the market. As the six-cylinder was replaced by a V8, the Corvette has developed into a real sports car with very good performance. With this engine accelerated Duntov, the Corvette Daytona to a top speed of 150 mph (241 km / h), which was a respectable value at that time.
In 1957, the new engine came in the C1. The enlarged to 4.6 liter V8 engine made with the new fuel injection already 208 kW ( 283 hp). With exactly one horsepower per cubic inch ( cubic inches ) Engine capacity (equivalent to 16.4 cm3) so that a magical peak was reached. From 0 to 100 km / h of the two-seater sprint in 7 seconds. Even faster sprinted the Corvette of the last vintage of this first generation model.
The engine range then finally gave in 1958 by a V8 with 169 kW (230 hp) to the most powerful engine with 213 kW (290 hp) and fuel injection. But was most popular is the basic version with 4.6-liter engine, whose performance was sufficient. From 1960 cylinder heads were used in the aluminum V8 engine.
The final version of the 1962 Corvette C1 was equipped with the 5.3 -liter V8. This was the top engine and the strongest ever available engine for the C1. He made 360 SAE hp and accelerated the Corvette up to 241 km / h
Transmission
Initially, the car had a two -speed automatic transmission, it was also a manual transmission options. However, the sales grew only when the then new Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus - Duntov combined the V8 version with a three -speed manual transmission.
1957 were the first to combine a manual transmission with a fuel injection at the Corvette desired car buyers. The new automatic transmission now had four instead of three stages. As of 1962, the automatic transmission, the Corvette had an aluminum case, then the new Corvette C2 1963 was presented.
Replica
A replica of the Chevrolet Corvette C1 is produced since 2009 by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Duesen Bavaria. Optical corresponds to the model of the 1958-1960 built version of the Corvette. Be used for the car parts and engines for the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan.