After nearly six decades of production, Chevrolet’s Corvette is not only America’s sports car but also the first true sports car of its kind to come from the Motor City. The year was 1953 and 300 examples were built. At RM Auctions’ annual Arizona Sale in January, will be presented a selection of the finest first generation Corvettes. Chassis Number 5 is not only the fifth car built, and as such features a number of early production details, but it is also one of the first three examples ever sold to the public, purchased new by Crawford Greenewalt of the DuPont family. Accompanied by an enormous amount of supportive documentation, it has been painstakingly restored to NCRS Top Flight standards.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster
Also of note from Corvette’s second production year is a fantastic 1954 Roadster equipped with a rare Bubble Top, which was original to the car and built for a select few by Model Builders of Chicago. With less than 57,000 miles from new, this is an exceptionally rare Corvette.
As for model year 1955, the Arizona auction will also feature the ninth Corvette built for the year, a Pilot Line Roadster of the first year for V-8 power. After a professional restoration, this exceptional car, which was formerly part of the Bloomington Gold Special Collection, received NCRS Top Flight, Triple Crown and Bloomington Gold awards. The Karl Blade Collection, meanwhile, contains a 1958 Corvette, which was fully restored by an NCRS judge and was also a Top Flight award winner. Finally, the second generation cars are equally well represented by an exceptional 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/435 Stingray Roadster which was treated to a stunning Kevin Mackay restoration and honored with Top Flight, Bloomington Gold, Gold Spinner and Triple Crown awards. [RM Auctions]
