Today’s car is a 1955 Chevrolet Corvette owned by Bob Weinstein. I photographed this car at Corvette Show held at The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum located El Segundo, CA. It is finished in Gypsy Red with a light beige Interior with beige carpet. It is powered by a 195 hp, 265 cu in, V8 engine, with a Carter 4-barrel carburetor mated to a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission with 3.55:1 rear axle gear ratio. Slowing this beauty down are drum brakes in all 4-corners. It has independent front suspension with dual A-arms with coil springs and a ride stabilizer. The rear suspension has longitudinal semi-elliptical leaf springs.
The original C1 Corvette body style were produced from 1953 – 1955 with total 0f 4340 produced with 700 of them being produced in 1955, this one is 599, 693 of being the first year of V8s and a 180 of the being finished in Gypsy Red. The MSRP was $2,909.00. The published top speed of 120 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 8.1 seconds.
The first two years of the Corvette were dismissed as “boulevard cruisers” rather than proper “sports cars” because they were powered by a 235 cu.in. six and Powerglide automatic. In comparison, though late to the American sports car party, the 1955 Ford Thunderbirds were V8 powered, and were available with a 3-speed manual gearbox. First year T-bird sales were 16,155. That is almost four times that of Corvette’s first full three years of production!
I like to think that Corvette is still in existence today thanks to the early Ford Thunderbirds. GM considered dropping the Corvette during those early years because of low production numbers, but the competition of the early Thunderbirds kept GM building Corvettes. They brought in Zora Arkus Duntov to turn their “boulevard cruiser” into a proper sports car for 1956. I for one am glad, and they are still building them today.
This is a beautiful restored car that was judged at the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS) at their Southern California Spring Meet on March, 6, 2021 and received their Top Flight Award with a score of 99.1. What a great car to take to a Corvette or GM car shows, Cars and Coffee events or just a cruising up the coast listening to period correct Rock and Roll music. Thanks for riding along. Frank
