As most of you know and are well aware, Motor Trend magazine gives an annual Car of the Year award. To be eligible for the award, a car must be a new model introduced in a given model year, or given a fundamental redesign for that year. The trophy for the winner, a depiction of calipers, is well-known to Americans, and is often used in the winner's advertising post-victory.
Most of you might not be aware that in 1953 there was no award given out. Why? That is still a mystery I am trying to find out about. However, I can’t imagine why the Corvette wasn’t a hands down decision! Now the icon of American Classic Cars, 1953 was the first year of production for the Chevrolet Corvette. Perhaps it was because rumors were released that the year's entire contemplated production had already been spoken for, which was a nice way of saying that Chevy didn't really intend to sell Corvettes to the general public. However, road testers from car enthusiast magazines judged the Corvette to be excellent. Performance-wise, the car featured a Powerglide transmission and the six-cylinder engine. A well-tuned example could do 0-60 mph in 11 seconds and reach 105 mph flat out, which was admirable for the time.
The 300 or so 1953 Corvettes were hand-built, which was pretty impressive. All '53 Corvettes were painted Polo White and had Sportsman Red interiors, and black tops. The first Corvette to come off the assembly line was driven by one of Chevrolet’s Body Assemblers, Tony Kleiber, I’m not sure if this was production car 001001 or not – whose whereabouts are still unaccounted for and many believe the car to be destroyed, but I have hopes that it still lives. The suggested retail price of the car was a high price for the times at $3,513.
I haven’t quite figured out yet why Motor Trend did not select a car of the year for 1953. For me, the choice is easy…the Chevrolet Corvette. If anyone out there knows what happened or knows the whereabouts of the 1953 - 001001 or 001002 Corvette, please let me know, okay?
