a prototype Chevrolet Corvette makes its debut at General Motors' Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Corvette was the pet project of styling chief, Harley Earl. 2 show cars and a mule were built. EX-52 was displayed at the January Motorama. The name came from a fast type of naval warship. Because of the interest the car was rushed into limited production. The first of 300 copies rolled off the Flint MI line on June 30th, 1953.The Corvette was powered by the Blue Flame 6 backed by the 2 speed PowerGlide automatic transmission. All cars were Polo white with red interior. The price was around $3500. Quality, performance and handling were problems and less than 200 were sold. The Corvette would have been discontinued by 1955 if it wasn't for a new " sports car " being introduced by Ford, the 1955 Thunderbird. GM needed an answer and development continued into the icon of today.

Edward Cole, Chevrolet's chief engineer behind the wheel with Thomas Keating, Chevrolet general manager, beside