In
1927 Harley Earl was hired as head of General Motors new Art and Colour
Division, aka head of styling. Earl was a passionate admirer of sports cars,
and he had a long history in coachbuilding. After the Second World War, Earl
became aware that a great number of GIs, returning from service in Europe, were
bringing home MG’s, Jaguars, and Alfa Romeos. At the same time, American
competitors, Nash Motors, had just released their own performance vehicle. As a
contemporary devotee to the sportscar, Earl persuaded GM that they needed to
build an “All-American” two seater. In 1951, alongside his Special Projects
crew, Earl began work on a new car, codename ‘Opel’. In 1953 at the Motorama
car show, the product was unveiled. The Corvette, taking its name from a small,
manoeuvrable fighting frigate.
The
Corvette was originally hand-built in Flint, Michigan at a disused truck plant.
Despite these humble origins, the outer body was built from fibreglass, a
revolutionary new material for the age. Initially, despite the radical body,
the cars were fitted with standardised Chevrolet components, including truck
engines and automatic transmission. In 1955, realising that this would not
compete with the cars offered from Italy, England and even closer American
rivals, Chevrolet manufactured the V8. This new engine, with 195bhp, alongside
a manual 3-speed transmission, revolutionised the performance of the car. By
1958 the Corvette had become an American success story. The style had tailored
to the era of chrome and adopted the popular style of four bold headlights. As
well as this the engine had been fine-tuned, they would produce up to 290 bhp.
Having developed even further, the cars of 1959, look, and sound, like the
all-American sports car first envisioned by Harley Earl.
This
stunning example was first imported to the UK in 2014. The finish in soft
yellow with a low jutting chrome grill. The interior with button back yellow
leather seats and the iconic wrap-around wind shield. So admirably
characteristic of its time. She comes with her correct papers and certificates,
as well as recent documentation from her time in this country. Notably a
service was conducted on December 15th 2020, where steering lower
column fouling was rectified. We are told before that she lived in Texas, and
that she was exported from South Dakota. Recently she has been stored in the
Newton House collection, maintained and looked after with utmost attention, as
can only be allowed by such a car fanatic. Recent service history includes work
taken place to adjust suspension.
This
Corvette rightly takes its position in the sale of this collection. Like the
other vehicles, it represents an important example of a universally respected
car at the height of its development. The C1 rivals in style and performance
all other cars of this period, and perhaps all American cars ever
produced.
