In the beginning, the Corvette did not satisfy many people. The Chevrolet sports car built to American tastes beginning in 1953 for was a flop with the public in its first few years. Never mind that it was innovative and styled well. Furthermore, the first Corvette was not as underpowered as it has been made out to be — at least for street use. However, it was not a true sports car, so the serious sports car enthusiast was not impressed, and justifiably so from their perspective. It did not have a V-8 nor did it have the option of a four-speed. That useless tach in the center of dash only added insult to injury as it was not needed with the Powerglide automatic, and even if it had served a real purpose, the driver could not easily see it. Handling characteristics were reasonably good on the street, but not so much on the track. Braking, too, was short of the mark among the Corvette’s competition. Those who wanted a sporty cruiser to drive to the golf course on the weekends were not particularly impressed, either, due to a lack of features they were accustomed to having, such as roll-up windows. In their place were snap-in Plexiglas panels.
The first Corvettes also lacked outside door handles. That was not a problem with the soft top stowed away in its well; just reach down and slide the inside door release. With the top up and the side window panels in place, one had to push open the vent window and reach inside — not at all a convenient process in the rain.
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