The Corvette was rushed into production for its debut model year to capitalize on the enthusiastic public reaction to the concept vehicle.

The program was nearly canceled by General Motors, but decided to make necessary improvements because Ford was developing a two-seater that became the Thunderbird.

[6] As head of GM's Styling Section, Harley Earl was an avid sports car fan.

He recognized that GIs returning after serving overseas in the years following World War II were bringing home MGs, Jaguars, and Alfa Romeos.

[7] In 1951, Nash Motors began selling an expensive two-seat sports car, the Nash-Healey, that was made in partnership with the Italian designer Pininfarina and British auto engineer Donald Healey,[8] but there were few moderate-priced models.

[9][11] The result was the hand-built, EX-122 pre-production Corvette prototype, which was first shown to the public at the 1953 General Motors Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on January 17, 1953.

When production began six months later, at an MSRP of US$3,513 ($40,006 in 2023 dollars [12]), it had evolved into a considerably costlier car than the basic $2,000 roadster Harley Earl originally had in mind.

[17][2] During the last half of 1953, 300 Corvettes were, to a large degree, hand-built on a makeshift assembly line that was installed in an old truck plant in Flint, Michigan,[5] while a factory was being prepped for a full-scale 1954 production run.

In calendar years 1952 and 1953, Chevrolet produced nearly two million steel-bodied full-size passenger cars, and the intended production volume of 10,000 Corvettes for 1954 was only a small fraction of that.

Although we were going ahead with the building of an experimental plastic body in order to get a car rolling for chassis development work – at the time of the Waldorf Show, we were actually concentrating body-design-wise on a steel body utilizing Kirksite tooling for the projected production of 10,000 units during the 1954 model year.

[19] The rear license plate holder was set back in the trunk lid and covered with a plastic window.

[19] Underneath the new body material were standard components from Chevrolet's regular car line, including the "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder engine, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, and drum brakes.

[5] Compared to the British and Italian sports cars of the day, the Corvette lacked a manual transmission and required more effort to bring to a stop, but like their British competition, such as Morgan, was not fitted with roll-up windows;[20] this would have to wait until some time in the 1956 model year.

[19] A Paxton centrifugal supercharger became available in 1954 as a dealer-installed option, significantly improving the Corvette's straight-line performance,[21] but sales continued to decline.

[22] Managers at GM were seriously considering shelving the project,[23] leaving the Corvette to be little more than a footnote in automotive history, and would have done so if not for three important events.

All 1953 models had red interiors, Polo white exteriors, and painted blue engines (a reference to the three colors represented on the Flag of the United States, where the Corvette was assembled)[20] as well as black canvas soft tops.

[27] They had independent front suspension,[3] but featured a rigid axle supported by longitudinal leaf springs at the rear.

Other problems, such as water leaks and doors that could open while the car was driven, were reported with the most severe errors corrected in subsequent units produced, but some shortcomings continued beyond the Corvette's inaugural year.

[5] By December 1953, Chevrolet had a newly equipped factory in St. Louis ready to build 10,000 Corvettes annually.

[19] Although not a part of the original Corvette project, Zora Arkus-Duntov was responsible for the addition of the V8 engine and three-speed manual transmission.

In 1956 he became the director of high-performance vehicle design and development for Chevrolet helping him earn the nickname "Father of the Corvette.

This was due to the combined factors of the relatively high reengineering and retooling costs for this low-volume production vehicle, the continued potential for cancellation of the car, and the increased size and weight of the all-new suspension design for the full-size cars, which made it unsuitable for use in the lighter weight Corvette.

Sales volume was 3,467, a low number by any contemporary standard and less than 1954's 3,640, making it the third lowest in Corvette history.

[36] Debate continues to swirl whether this was underrated by Chevrolet (to allow for lower insurance premiums, or give the car an advantage in certain forms of racing) rather than overrated, as was common practice at the time (to juice sales).

[27] The last features to appear in 1960 models included taillamps molded into the rear fenders and heavy grill teeth.

[27] In 1959, a Texan oil well drilling contractor named Gary Laughlin wondered if it would be possible to create a vehicle with Italian design characteristics using the chassis and engine components from an American car like the Corvette.

To oversee this creation, he enlisted the help of car constructer Jim Hall and race car driver Carroll Shelby, whom he was good friends with, to assist with the engineering of the project and, after their efforts, each man was to receive their own Corvette custom made to their liking.

Thus, the trio managed to get three rolling Corvette chassis off of the production line and arranged to have them shipped to Modena, Italy.

Though conceived in 1959, the final projects wouldn't be completed and shipped back to the US until 1961, by which time it became clear that the aluminum bodies, though much lighter, had caused dramatic effects to the Corvette's chassis, resulting in dangerous front end lift at high speeds.

Coupled with legal pressure from General Motors and Enzo Ferrari to put an end to production, and the Scaglietti Corvette project would be forever cemented as only a concept.