1954 Corvette FIRST promo film, Colorized part 1 of 2

I'm proud to present and amazing film from GM about the FIRST AMERICAN SPORTS CAR to be mass produced. This car hit it out of the park in 53... It was introduced late in the 1953 model year and produced through 1962. This generation is commonly referred to as the solid axle generation, as the independent rear suspension did not appear until the 1963 Sting Ray.
This film is the DEBUT FILM from General Motors... A vintage film worth seeing... Nostalgic and full of Americana touches. If you want to see how GM was thinking about marketing the Corvette you won't be disappointed.
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, but Chevrolet decided to make necessary improvements and the icon lives on today.
These cars are very rare today... Enjoy

[@autochronicles8667]

Black and white ORIGINAL version th-cam.com/video/qvW6V6of-AI/w-d-xo.html

[@chrisjeffries2322]

My uncle had a 53 in the 1950s. He pulled out the 235 and put in a 1955 Caddy engine.

[@solemandd67]

C1's are beautiful cars. ❤

[@autochronicles8667]

Yeah pretty amazing GM went for it, paid off I guess :)

[@DavidBugea]

Interesting that they didn’t compare it to the Jaguar XK120, but then again the Jaguar was almost 15% more than the Corvette.

[@nlpnt]

All '53 Corvettes were white with red interior colors, the colorization software seems to have really wanted a blue interior.

[@autochronicles8667]

yeah but it kept the car white at least :) I figured it would be blue.

[@nlpnt]

Powerglide! What were they thinking!?!

[@autochronicles8667]

they didn't have a manual ready yet I guess... I'm sure it was a priority.

[@larrynason8716]

I noticed they did not do a comparison to the Studebaker Commander. Only foreign auto's. 🤷‍♂️

[@autochronicles8667]

I am not sure they considered the Studebaker Commander a "sports" car.

[@T-41]

The lack of a manual transmission with floor shift would seem to detract from the driving feel most sports car buyers would expect. The automatic transmission would in a few more years be what the personal luxury car buyers- the Studebaker Hawk and then the very successful 4 seat T bird expected.

[@autochronicles8667]

Yeah they definitely wanted the manual I'm sure... but it was rushed to the market.

[@PockyFiend]

GM had a 4 speed manual transmission in its Chevy and GMC pickups, they should have installed the proper gears in an aluminum case in time for the Corvette's launch.