Dateline: 7.9.2011
GM Finally Gets Serious About the Corvette

Click the images for the larger versions.

1957 was a banner year for the Corvette. The 1956 model featured an all new fiberglass body that helped pull sales from 700 units in 1955, to 3,467 units in 1956. That’s was a 495-percent increase! It took a year for the new body design to really catch on. By the end of 1957, Chevrolet had sold 6,339 Corvettes, a 182-percent increase over 1956 and a staggering 905-percent over where sales were in 1955.

Along the way, ads, such as this one, helped stoked the flames of desire. The ad copy says it all on one word, “FUN!” And there’s that logo.

GM bean counters went silent and accountants smiled that the little 2-seater Chevy that many said America did not want, was on a roll! By the end of the C1 generation in 1962, sales would jump to 14,531 units. With 1960 prime-time TV show “Route 66” the Corvette had become an icon of modern America.

Scott

PS – Here’s a promotional film from GM featuring Chevrolet’s new “jet ace,” the Rochester Fuel Injected 283 engine. We certainly were in the Jet Age those days!