Chevrolet unveiled the Corvette concept car in 1953 at the Motorama event, which took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and the public’s reactions convinced GM to build the car.
The expectations were high for both customers and the bow-tie brand. But as soon as the buyers had their hands on the wheel, they started to complain. It was not a cheap car, but it surely looked sportier than it ran.

Chevrolet thought that the C1 could be a Mercedes-Benz SL300 killer, but it was behind the German sports car. Moreover, adding the “rocket-type” turn signals in the back was more of a family-sedan thing than a sports car look. At least, the front was adequate for those times when the regulations stated that all vehicles had to wear round headlights. Harley Earl designed the original prototype inspired by European sports cars, but the back was part of the American culture. Europeans didn’t have those taillights designs.

Inside, the C1 offered room for two and a low-profile windshield. Considering the average height of the people in the ’50s, it was barely adequate for them, and the same went with the rest of the interior. Apart from the big steering wheel that almost touched the door panel, the rest of the switches were small. Even the gear-stick was small. When retracted, a fiberglass panel covered the canvas roof, which led to a purebred roadster’s image.

The car’s chassis was better than most of GM’s products, and most of Corvette’s C1 buyers considered it a good vehicle, but not a sports car. The combination of an inline-six with a three-speed automatic led to unsatisfactory performance results. But it was an excellent cruiser, especially with the top down.