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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!
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