The EX-122 corvette: The Birth of the GM Sports Car     

The first Corvette – manufactured in the back of a customer delivery garage in 1952 – was never meant to be anything more than an experiment. However, car lovers soon fell for the two-seater convertible after creator Harley J. Earl displayed the Corvette in GM’s Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in January 1953. In fact, people loved the Corvette so much that production began in June of that year, producing only 300 models for sale.

The Corvette was GMs first sports car designed and created, in an attempt to compete with other companies like Jaguar and Triumph. Though car enthusiasts back then fell in love with the Corvette, it really didn’t live up to all of the expectations desired in a sports car. In an attempt to keep the cost of production low – because Harley wanted to price the sports car at $2,000 – Harley and the rest of his team used “off-the-shelf” Chevrolet mechanical parts. This included a less than favorable “Blue Flame” V6 engine, a two-speed (there was no such thing as a four-speed at GM back then) Powerglide automatic, and an inline-6 engine described as “dumpy” by car enthusiasts. However, by cutting costs on the original production, Harley and his team decided to make the Corvette body from fiberglass, rather than steel. The 1953 EX-122 Corvette became the first all-fiberglass-bodied American sports car.

The full-sized plaster model was approved in June 1952 for the following year’s GM Motorama event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Up until the exhibit, this Corvette was meant to serve one purpose: a prototype for a later version of a GM sports car. Fortunately, the car was a hit at the exhibit, especially with the Chevrolet Chief Engineer and the future developer of the 1955 “small-block” V8 engine, Ed Cole. Six months later, the eagerly anticipated purchase of the new Corvette was made possible when consumers were finally able to purchase the car at the high price of $3,498 – with only a few minor changes from the prototype displayed at the Motorama.

The prototype featured a few minor details that were later removed or changed during production – honest Corvette enthusiasts will be able to notice. On the prototype, a long, scrolling “Corvette” script was featured below the front badge of the car. During production, the front script was removed entirely, leaving only the front badge. You will notice on the side of the prototype, directly behind the front tire, the spear on the fender is facing downwards. The spear was later reversed to an upwards facing spear on the 1953 Corvette. In addition, the “Corvette” script beneath the spear was changed to feature a large, red “V,” which is still seen on Corvettes now. Also removed during production were the air intake scoops located on the fender in the prototype, and were not seen on Corvettes until later.

The Corvette wouldn’t be seen as a performance care until the creation of the V8 engine in 1955. Though the Corvette didn’t completely live up to the sports car reputation, in the beginning, the 1953 EX-122 is still a beloved model today, with 225 of the original 300 produced still in the world today.