1955 Chevrolet Corvette C1

During the first two years of production, 1953 and 1954, the Corvette was powered by a tuned version of GMs 235 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine. Known as the Thriftmaster in pickups and passenger cars, the engine was tuned and rechristened the Blue Flame Six for the Corvette. Sales were strong in 1953 but slowed in late 1954. 1955 could have been the year that Chevrolet stopped producing the Corvette. Styling remained the same for the 1955 model year. GM decided to insert a new 265 cubic inch V-8 engine into the car and offered a manual transmission. The 195-horsepower idea worked. A Soviet immigrant named Zora Arkus-Duntov (also known as the 'Father of the Corvette') is credited as being the engineer responsible for making the manual transmission work with the new V8 engine. This transformed the Corvette into a true sports car bringing the 0-100 time from 41 seconds to 24 seconds. Just in time to do battle with Ford's Thunderbird. It is easy to distinguish the six-cylinder version from the V-8 version. GM had an enlarged gold 'V' in the word 'Chevrolet' located on the front fender. This meant the vehicle was powered by a V8 engine. The 8-cylinder engine used a 12-volt while the six-cylinder remained with a 6-volt electrical system.

Also during this year, Zora Arkus-Duntov, a former European road racer, set a new record in the Daytona 'Measured Mile,' reaching a speed slightly above 150 miles per hour.

Although General Motors was a large company at the time, each division had its own engines. The hierarchy generally dictated that innovations would first appear on Cadillacs and then filter down Alfred P. Sloan's aspirational ladder to Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and finally, Chevrolet. The overhead-valve V8 evolution, however, was different, coming first at Oldsmobile in 1949, then Cadillac a year later, Buick in 1953, and finally Pontiac and Chevrolet in 1955. There were distinct differences in concept and execution between each engine, but Chevrolet's engine, introduced over a half-decade later, gained the experience from other divisions and employed their learning curves and set standards for performance, mass reduction, design, and efficiency.

Ed Cole was Chevrolet's chief engineer at the time and a veteran of the development of Cadillac's flathead and overhead valve V8s. Although the Chevrolet V8 project began before Cole's appointment as chief engineer, it benefited from his guidance. Cole and Harry Barr, who had worked with Cole at Cadillac, incorporated several innovations in the Chevrolets V8, including the stamped steel rocker arms on stud-mounted ball pivots that were less expensive to manufacture than the conventional than shaft-pivoted rockers and more flexible in valve location.

The Chevy V8 was powerful, robust, and lightweight. It could grow in displacement and respond to performance development. In comparison to the Blue Flame six-cylinder Corvette engine, the V8 had 30 additional cubic inches, produced 40 more horsepower, and weighed 41 pounds less. It offered similar horsepower to Ford's two-seater Thunderbird, which had been introduced as a 1955 model.

1955 Corvettes continued to use the original roadster-style body introduced at the GM Motorama in January 1953. It had removable side curtains, and most were fitted with the V8 engine and a PowerGlide automatic transmission.

At the beginning of the 1955 model year, there were still roughly 1,100 1954 Corvettes in inventory. 700 Corvettes were built at the St. Louis plant in 1955, making this the second-lowest production year for the Corvette.

A new body and revised chassis were introduced in 1956, resulting in a rebound in sales, and the Corvette went on to become one of the longest-running sports car and most iconic nameplates of all time.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020