Car of the Week: 1955 Chevrolet Corvette

dodgechargerfan

dodgechargerfan

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Despite its historic significance, the 1955 Corvette is often overlooked among early Corvettes. It’s through no fault of its own, but rather a case of “out of sight, out of mind.”

Dennis and Laurie McGill almost overlooked the Gypsy Red 1955 Corvette pictured here, but when it appeared for sale after their long hunt for a later Corvette, they quickly learned to appreciate what they had found.

“My wife had been saving up for a 1957 Corvette, because that’s the year she graduated, and her father worked at a Chevy dealer around that time,” Dennis said. “We had been looking around [the Iola Old Car Show] for years, but every year, the price would go up.”

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The 1st gens always looked a little too "British" to me. :hmmm:
 
That's completely intentional. GM was trying to horn in on the sports-car craze of the early '50s, and as usual missed the mark entirely: expensive, heavy, cumbersome and slow. British sports cars may not have been fire-breathers (or reliable) but they were light and rather chuckable, and that's where the fun was. The 'Vette was about 700lbs too heavy though the '55s V8 finally provided brisk, if not mindbending, acceleration... but that wasn't the point of the sports-car game back then, and at 2.5x the cost of a competing Triumph or MG you needed to get more use out of it than just the occasional backroad boogie on a crisp fall afternoon.
 
Actually, on second thought.. I don't think Corvette was trying to compete with Triumphs and MGs.. I think they were trying to compete with Jaguars. Jag had just won LeMans, and I think Chevy tried to glom on to that. They missed the mark with the underpowered four banger, and compensated with the V8 to compete with the (let's face it) honey of a straight six that Jag was making at the time.. I think the Vette was meant to compete with the XK 150, as it had no real competitors. All the other British cars were light on weight, and light on power.. The Jags were big and hugely competent (for the day) GT cars. Three years later would find the heavy Jag MKII sedan being the bank robber's car of choice in Britain because of the rev happy motor, and exceptional (for the day) handling characteristics.. Inboard rear disc brakes, and independent rear suspension, miles ahead of it's time.. Forgetting for a moment that the system used the half shafts as an upper control arms, it became a popular hot rodding swap. Digression over.. I'd still rather have the Jags or Triumphs
 
TheIronSausage said:
They missed the mark with the underpowered four banger,
Click to expand...

Vettes never used a four-banger. The first 2 years they got a ramped up version of the stovebolt chevy 6. A slight increase in the cam and 3 carbs rounded out the package. Their major drawback was they never offered a standard trans with this package. :doh:

When comparing vette, jag or trumpet, I always consider the fact that it WILL have to be worked on. The venerable jag dohc 6 is a powerhouse, as is the rest of their drive train. But working on them is a nightmare. You need to have a LOT of patience.

The early trumpets, and Healeys for that matter, were solid and fun cars. But the later slant fours, designed for the TR7 "wedge" were junk. The major downfall of all brit cars will always be their electronics. Spend the time to modify or replace electrical components with domestic parts and eventually you MAY have a dependable and fun car.
 
I know this car. The guy who owns it is a friend of my Brother-in-law's. I have seen it a few times. It is super nice. I kind of like the 1st year cars because you just never see them. It is really in nice shape.
 
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You're right, it was a six.. My mistake.

I think that old Jags are way less infuriating to work on than say.. modern Volkswagens, or Chevys.. I charge more to work on those. As for British electronics, the system was let down by it's connectors. Bullet connectors always seem to corrode faster. That all of the wires were color coded by their system was pretty handy. Brown was charging, blue headlights, green turn signals, etc.

Big Healeys melt your shoes to the floor, and the TR7 killed Triumph.. If you think that four was bad, the V8 in the Stag was two of them put together.
 
A modern anything is miserable to work on. :(

Yea, the STAG, listed as one of the 10 worst built cars in history. :bwuhaha:
 
I have to re-state that, 1 of the 10 worst British​ cars ever built. Rated #5, actually.
 
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