1954 Corvette 

Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 2 - 1954 Corvette

The 1953 Corvette was literally jammed into production. Most of the 1953 Corvettes were either given or sold to prominent sports and entertainment people. Even though the 1954 Corvette had many mechanical improvements, there was still the problem of price/value. By the end of the year, half of the 3640 Corvettes produced were not sold, and rumors started that the Corvette would be axed!

The purists were turned off by the mandatory automatic transmission and the simulated knock-off hubcaps. The boulevard crowd didn't like the side curtains and manual fold-up top. A minor facelift was proposed by Harley Earl's design group, but since sales were so slow, styling was unchanged.

Due to such poor sales, Harley Earl's "reasonably priced, simply built," American sports car was in serious trouble. They needed and expected sales of at least 20,000 units. Needless to say, 3640 units fell far short. But the right people at Chevrolet were committed to the Corvette, and minor mechanical and cosmetic improvements were made. Color choice was expanded and the exhaust tips were lengthened to prevent body discoloring. Under the hood a modified camshaft added 5 horsepower.

Since it was basically a 1954 Chevy, what the Corvette had going for it was its basic reliability. The car wasn't nearly as temperamental as a Jaguar, MG and Ferrari. By the time the magazines got Corvettes to test, they sincerely liked the car. Road & Track said, "Frankly, we like the Corvette very much ... it's really a good combination of ride and handling qualities." Motor Trend said, "Chevrolet has produced a bucket seat roadster that will hold its own with Europe's best, short of actual competition and a few imports that cost 3 times as much." Publicity like this was like gold for the floundering Corvette.

And, finally plans were being made for the Corvette to go racing. The push to get competitive Corvettes on the race track would lay down a racing heritage that continues today. Bring on the hay bales!