September 29, 2019: Barrett Funeral Home, Crawford, GA . . .
Read MoreThe Corvette was one of four "Dream Cars" produced by General Motors for the 1953 GM Motorama show. Being presented as a "Dream Car" generated a good bit of publicity. Chevrolet intentionally limited production during the Corvette's introductory year of 1953 to 300 cars in an effort to help create a demand.
For 1954, the Corvette got its own assembly plant in St. Louis, Missouri that had the capacity to produce 10,000 cars per year. The problem was that the initial Corvette with its side curtain windows, underwhelming power level, 2-speed automatic transmission, and a few nagging quality issues, didn't attract that many buyers. The fact that it cost almost as much as a Cadillac didn't help the cause.Production increased to 3,460 cars for 1954, or about one-third of the assembly plant's capacity. To make matter worse, a significant percentage of those cars remained unsold at the end of the model year.
This car is finished in Polo White with a red interior and beige convertible top. Of the 3,460 Corvettes produced for 1954, 3,230 of them, (or about 89% of total production), left the factory with this combination.Two interesting things can be seen in the photo above. If you look carefully at the top of the doors, you WON'T see roll-up windows. The Corvette featured removable side curtains. And while they may have been popular on something like a contemporary MG, they didn't go over too well in the Corvette that cost around $2,800, a sizable sum in those days.
And even though that may look like a manual transmission lever in the photo above, it's actually the floor-mounted shifter for the 2-speed automatic transmission, (a manual transmission wouldn't arrive until the following year).Ford Model A bodies were supplied by several different manufacturers, the most common of which were Murray and Briggs. The difference between the two can be seen by looking at the side windows in the photo above. The tops of the side windows of a Murray body are arched. But the tops of the windows are flat on this car and identify it as having a Briggs body.
The Bel Air name was introduced for the 1950 model year to indicate a hardtop coupe body from the upper level Styleline DeLuxe series. Three years later, the series name, "Styleline DeLuxe," was changed to "Bel Air." So beginning in 1953, a Bel Air became available as a coupe, sedan, and convertible. A wagon body style was added in 1954.
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Chevrolet dealer, Don Yenko, made a name for himself in the 1960s by modifying various Chevrolets. His first project was the Stinger, a Corvair modified for SCCA racing. Using the Central Office Production Order (COPO) program, Yenko was able to order cars with options not available through regular ordering channels. A total of 185 Stingers were produced from 1965 - 1967.
When the Camaro arrived in 1967, the biggest engine available from Chevrolet was the RPO L78 396 CID V8 that made 375 hp. Under Yenko's Super Car program, dealership mechanics pulled the 396 and replaced it with the RPO L72 425 hp 427 CID V8. Approximately 107 Camaros were modified in 1967, and another 65 in 1968.
For 1969, Yenko used the COPO program to have the 427 installed at the factory. Approximately 198 Camaros (COPO 9561), and 99 Chevelles (COPO 9562), were produced that year.Yenko wanted to do the same thing for the 1969 Nova. Like the Camaro, the biggest engine available in a Nova was the L78 396. But Chevrolet declined his request for a factory installation saying that the Nova was too "compact" for the 427. Since Chevrolet said no, Yenko installed the 427 through his Super Car program. A total of 37 were produced and are highly sought after today.