Red interior, White exterior, Blue engine. That's a very subtle 'Murica red, white and blue, the C1 is so classy even its patriotism flies under the radar.
@@fakename287 At that time it was the pork sausage, thousand island dressing, Winston cigarette, and martini diet. And great heavy beasts roamed across the plains. They were called "doughy guys" by the people of the time.
Actually seeing a c1 on the road is a life changing experience, I saw one once from the passengers seat of my brother's 84 trans am, my brother revved the trans am a little and the guy in the c1 revved his engine a little and I've never been so awed by a car before
I'm a 300zx owner myself and one of my friends who also owns a 300zx is with his dad restoring his 54 c1 which was 427 and manual swapped back in the 70s and hearing that relatively quiet big block run in a gorgeous car like that caked in dust from 38 years of sitting in a shed is a life long experience
I can explain the "blue flame" thing. I'm an engineer that specializes in combustion system and engine technology (I design and engineer wood/pellet stove's and have designed some very cutting edge pulse detonation engines). hydrogen burns with a yellow color and carbon burns blue. When you burn natural gas, which is mostly methane, it has 1 carbon atom holding together 4 hydrogen atoms. Natural gas burns blue when its burning cleanly, because instead of just burning the hydrogen you're also burning the carbon. Incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons results in higher CO emissions and less energy/efficiency delivered for the same amount of fuel. However, the only way they would be able to know what color the deflegration wave is, is either using a transparent head, and given that its a OHV and not a flathead I doubt they did that, or by using gunson colortunes, and I'm not sure if those were invented before 1953.
These aren’t “reviews”. These are documentations of automotive history in the form of a man’s thoughts on his experiences with the car; not just rigid statistics.Mr.Regular, you are an artist, I can see why your channel is growing. This is a different kind of car content. As always. 10/10
@@Tony-112 yeah your absolutely right! I wonder what's going on their and if TH-cams ridiculous censorship is at fault. "He said dick, his videos mustn't be promoted!!!!!!!"
That part near the end where the Nissan guy's like "hey, that's pretty damn cool" and the Corvette guy's just talking with him a bit as he's going for a second That sold this whole episode of RCR for me.
@@markmiller3279 I'm a z32 owner also. It's just something we all learned from these old cars is to be friendly to everyone. You'll have people wave at you, come up to you, and share stories of when one of their family/friends had one back in the day. Just like the c1 everyone loves those cars no matter if you're 90 or you're 5 you can't help but appreciate a Corvette and their Japanese counterpart.
13:26 nice to see the 300ZX driver giving respect for the Corvette driver. That's how all car enthusiasts should be like. Giving respect to others no matter what you drive or what kind of cars you're into.
Then dropping his slow ass when the light changed.😆 Also, the PHX/Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa conglomastripmallration is chock full of absurdly expensive cars, many convertable b/c some people find scalp melanomas sexy. North Scottsdale Road can have your ass in a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet between lunch and your 4PM tee time, bank account permitting.
Thunderbird fan here, I love how both the Vette and Tbird started in the "same" market demographic but crossed and one went super sport and the other went bigger and softer.
It's just sad that Ford constantly knee-capped the T-bird (starting in the 80s at least) to keep it out of the Mustang's space whereas GM didn't seem to have that issue with the Camaro/Corvette because they understood that those were different markets/types of buyers.
Burt1038 nah man the kneecapping goes all the way back to the second gen in the 50’s. In 58-59 Ford turned the Thunderbird into a full size 4 family “sport coupe”. After the Mustang was produced Ford stopped trying to sell the TBird as sporty and marketed it as a personal luxury car. As much as I love the Thunderbird (especially the 1969-1971 models, 2dr or 4dr) Ford pretty much retired from trying to beat GM after the 1st gen TBird best the Corvette at being an affordable American Sports car.
@@dannygloversshotgun211 Well that's not what I really meant; I don't necessarily blame Ford for going a different route than GM; it's just that they didn't seem to follow through on their own concept. The T-bird was an unfortunate combination of compromises: it had to be less sporty than the Mustang, and less luxurious than the Lincoln Mark series. So it didn't do anything particularly well. I compare it to the Infiniti G35/37 and Nissan 350/370z. Even though those cars had the same engines the Inifiniti were tailored towards a more mature buyer and appealed to a different crowd than the Z, so Nissan didn't see a need to make the engines crappier on purpose the way Ford did to the Thunderbird.
@@Burt1038 Yet, despite being a tragically lousy car, the Thunderbird was one of the best-selling cars of the mid-to-late-70s. It was the era of personal luxury, and the T-bird hit the bullseye.
And guess who won the sales race. A lot of folks may not know this, but when the 4-seater Bird was introduced, Ford had to run 3 shifts to keep up with demand, all during a RECESSION in the late '50s!
I respect the hell out of the OG Corvette, but my favorite was the C1 facelift from 1958-61. The 4 headlamps and more sporty rear just frosts my cookies
Absolutely love the '59 Corvette, especially the white scoop panels on the sides. Hard-pressed to think of a more beautiful American car from the time period.
No doubt, the revised model was a beauty, but so, in a more delicate way, is this, except maybe the rather busy tail end with its bottle-rocket-exhaust taillights. That windshield is amazingly pretty, and the front end is excellent.
@@afroman5531 Yeah, I'm old. I remember polio....It was fucking hilarious! They had these steampunk contraptions they called iron lungs and people flocked to hospitals to laugh at the afflicted....many were actually young. Even children! Good times.
@@PaulRudd1941 hell yeah! I mean... who _wouldn't_ rather have polio than be autistic??? That's sure an obvious choice! (All that shit's debunked anyway but. Yk. Even if it were true. It would be a totally fine tradeoff to avoid getting deadly diseases D:< )
Similar, the current AMG grill with the vertical bars is based on the 300SL cars used on the Carrera Panamericana races from 1950-1954, same time period the C1 Corvette was released. Mercedes won the race in 1952 and 53 so they are commemorating that with the new grill style and I can only assume the Corvette borrowed the look as it was meant to compete with European sports cars.
I noticed the 2003 Ford Thunderbird looks more like this corvette than the 55 TBird it was based on. That must say something about the lasting design appeal of this humble beginning roadster.
A blue flame does mean good combustion. There is even a tool to see this and adjust air fuel ratio called a "Gunson Colortune". It's a real thing. It's like, science .
Guess he's never seen a Bunsen Burner in high school either. But he also thinks it had mechanical brakes - then shows a picture of a hydraulic brake line a few minutes later. Researching the details and not saying things he doesn't actually know...these aren't strong points for either him or Roman. Go figure.
@Roddy dykes A "wordsmith" that makes basic definition errors - in his chosen field, no less - is no smith at all. At this point, it's more like pseudo-intellectual ego-stroking. They really should learn the topic, or at least don't say anything if he doesn't know, rather than making stuff up. It's been getting painful to listen to, lately.
90's was great for car design... for the Japanese. America... not so much. Frankly, I think the 60's was the best decade for car styling, car design was just right.
I keep seeing that grey 300ZX Turbo in the background. That was my childhood dream car. Didn't hurt that it made Car and Driver's Best list for something like 10 years in a row.
When I was in high school back around 1962 my older sister was dating a guy who's father owned a 53 Corvette. He used to sneak the car out of the garage in the middle of the night and would show up at our house around 2 AM and they'd go joy riding in it. I never did get a ride in it but I did sit in it and was amazed that it actually was more cramped inside than my neighbor's MGA.
@@dekhunter148 that's V-6 Camry territory since 2007, but I'm sure you had a considerable power deficit to overcome, and that deserves respect. (I drive an FRS so I am not being sarcastic here, lol)
@@nthgth stock a na z32 is 222hp at the crank, I ran the car on a Dyno day when I bought it for 172 at the wheels. Now it's still na but all emissions is gone, no clutch fan, manual swap, and did a custom intake setup so I'm betting around 190-200ish to the wheels now. Edit: also whenever I bother getting another daily I'm taking the engine out and running 12.5:1 compression pistons and some mild cams which are sitting in the garage
@Richard Harrold I'm not really much of a purist. I've got fixed headlights and coilover suspension on mine. Many would say I've completley ruined the character of the car. Haha. Frankly I even think Rob's rotary C5 is interesting.
@Richard Harrold probably, but you'll have to go to drastic means to do it. It would be nice to get rid of some of that front weight, but not a lot of easy and meaningful ways to drop weight that I know of.
Bought a new '86 in late '86, after seeing myself coming and going, got rid of the Vette and acquired a "55 T-Bird "project car". When I got done with it about a year later, EVERYBODY was giving me the "thumbs up" even Vette drivers. Not too many of them around in my neck of the woods!
2:19 It doesn't have "mechanical" drum brakes - they are on a hydraulic system. They are, however, an unboosted or "manual" brake system. Mechanical brakes means cable-operated, like prewar Bugattis...not what this car has at all. In this case, terminology is everything.
Glad you picked him up on the brakes. I was going to comment but don’t need to now. 😜. Problem is, nowadays, people don’t understand that mechanical brakes even existed. I have a Model T, I know. 😂
Paul's Country Garage I know all about non-boosted brakes and manual steering; I drove my uncle’s 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne for a couple of weeks in 1999.
@Paul's Country Garage Good lord, how do you keep track of which foot does what? :-D Sadly, this is a regular problem with "Mr. Regular" - he sees everything from a kid's viewpoint and doesn't get that there's more to the story, if he'd only look back a little further. Like complaining about it having "only" 150 hp...in the early 50s, a regular '53 Chev pushed out 108 hp from the same engine, so that's about a 40% increase in power. The idea of a "sports car" back then was light weight and nimble, but slow, with about 60 hp from the MG TD's 4 cylinder engine, and about 90 hp from the Austin-Healey 100's straight 6. No one thought "sports" meant powerful or fast in a straight line - that's a recent phenomenon. And it seems, Regular is a too recent to realise this.
@aussiebloke609, if you are referring to the Model T, it’s actually not any more confusing/difficult than a standard manual. Left foot is for ‘clutch’ right foot is for brakes and you may use either for reverse. As to Regular, I’ve watched a few of his but I have to say that I watch for the cars and not his information, knowledge or delivery. I agree with all your points.
Fixy, the Chev with unassisted brakes and 4 wheel drums would be fun to stop. The Vette would be far easier as it is much lighter. It, also, really depends on how well the drums are setup and adjusted.
@@TheOzthewiz My sister has 2011 Aveo Sedan T250. 1.2l, comfortable, chain, good on fuel economy. Has it for 2 years, no major issues (passanger window went out of allignment and some bulbs burned out).
It gave me flashbacks to my childhood during this one storm where the weather service came on and sounded exactly like that. Was a fun time seeing a tornado in the distance here in NC.
My buddy has a '54. I was rather impressed with the Blue Flame. For what it is, it moves the car quite nicely. Definitely the most valuable car to ever park in my garage that's for sure.
I kinda hope to see a review of one of them Bentleys in the background, I would like to hear Mr. Regular talk about the false opulence of early 2000's flex culture.
10:35 “what does that mean?” Perfect combustion, if no one else in the comments has said anything about it yet... ...it means that the carburetors, all three of them, are perfectly in tune. They are neither too rich nor too lean. To get a perfect blue flame from the spark means you have the perfect ratio of air and fuel. ...in other words, it has nothing to do with the block or cylinders, it’s all about the stupid finicky carbs!
And any modern engine with computer controlled variable valve timing is gonna get a blue flame every time... but there's still weak-ass engines that do that, like, every economy 1 litre hatchback.
I believe he's criticizing the idea that any engine gets truly perfect combustion, as there is always some fuel in the exhaust, whatever color the flame is.
mike brink I wasn’t alive during that time, but there’s a tool called “Colortune” that you use with the spark plugs and wires when tuning a carburetor. If it is too rich lean, the spark will burn yellow, the closer to get to optimum, it turns white, and then when you are finally neither rich nor lean, it burns blue. This is with unleaded fuel with 10% ethanol, so I’m assuming it also worked with the old stuff.
This is just one of the coolest things to see because not only do you learn about a C1, but you also get to see Mr. Regular drive something that absolutely is unattainable to almost anyone in this day and age. Even if the car is dated you still hear the enjoyment.
The fact you guys took this out for a drive in PHOENIX, where every other person who doesn't know how tf to drive makes their home, is ballsy in and of itself! (This coming from someone who lives in this city.)
That was ... all so good. Sweet car, sweet vid, humorous, nostalgic, reverent. "Cars can never look like this again", indeed. Kinda "Sublime" on the guitar, too. Noice
I have driven our 1954 corvette many miles. The steering wheel is so close to the seat that it will actually leave marks on your pants if you drive it for extended periods. They are actually great cruisers. No one ever knows what it is unless they are true Corvette fans
They weren't malnourished but people as a whole have gotten larger (look at athletes for example) and you also have to make room for all the fat slobs half this country has become.
i'm all for you doing what you want, but why pay when there's so much free porn out there? is the tiny bit of digital interaction really worth the cash? i don't get it. edit: not that I would know anything about the kinds of porn out there... i'm a good, wholesome guy. _sweats nervously_
That would be the C4. This is the great-great-grandchild who ended up being most similar to his great grandfather and is more loved than most of his ancestors due to that.
That moment at 13:27 - that is respect and very rarely do you see that nowadays. And that is the C1. Flawed, but a beautiful thing to have, to own, to look at. It's a beautiful possession...
This is probably the BEST video from Mr. Regular to date. Thanks for uploading! Now, we need a review of FORD's answer to this......a '55---''57 T-Bird!
Another great video! It's always nice to start the day with a new RCR video. Please keep up the good work! BTW, that's not a "radiator overflow tank", it's an "expansion tank". The coolant still has the "spill on the ground, overflow method". LOL!
The way the exhaust comes right out of the rear bumper is so elegant. This car is the very definition of smooth. My grandfather had a 54’. Sold it to a buddy, who he later watched sell at auction for over 100k. Hindsight’s a bitch lol
I love how you describe using the brakes. I had a 1969 Chevelle with the same brake system and that's exactly how it stopped! Gotta love the ol' "Slip & Slide" Powerglide!
@Toxic Potato Agreed about the Jag, especially the coupe. That long hood looks great until you realize what it does to the overall proportions. Moving the base of the windshield forward a bit more and laying the windshield down more would help a lot in balancing it out.
I like how the windshield edge is at throat height. Police in the 50's must have dreaded going to crashes and having to try find a head in a bush two fields over.
The driver would probably still be in the car, impaled on the NON collapsible steering column, the passenger probably thrown out because the doors would pop open on a moderate bump!
@@charlesfollette9692 In the '50s, dying in a car crash didn't raise much concern. It was the risk you accepted, whether short or tall. As for people generally being shorter, being 9 years old in '53, I don't remember seeing that. Could you provide some factual information backing up your statement?
53 Corvette, The car that goes like grandma with her walker, stops like one of her rambling stories, and handles like a dollar store frying pan. But we still love you grandma.
Dude! I'm with you on the jokey, sarcastic tone and sure it's not a powerhouse of performance. The first silent films weren't either. Nor were Einstein's first experiments. Nor were yours. In Thomas Edison's words, "What good is a new born baby?" (Answer: "Priceless") Wise up and lighten up on this beautiful classic -- it started a revolution, and in my book, that's performance enough. Owning a young-timer grand tourer drop top myself (another make) with superior horsepower and handling, still it's at it's very best on easy drives through beautiful countryside with my beautiful lady by my side. It's not how fast you get there (for you might miss a lot on the way), it's how you get there. The Vette was conceived for similar: "Nice and easy, nice and slow, but with class and style", a motto when wisely applied makes for a good life! The C1 understood that. HNY!!!
@RICKY That was a bargain....these radical cars are moving on up in price really fast....one of those with maybe 70,000 miles would go for around 24 grand....maybe 40 grand in a couple more years...those cars kick ass!
The high pressure 235 refered to the oiling system inside the engine. Previous versions used a low pressure pump and squirt nozzles to get oil on the connecting rod bearings. High pressure used drilled passages in the crankshaft and a higher pressure oil pump
"I am cool in this" he says, with a gopro strapped to his forehead....
How else are you going to get a driving shot
@@PaulRudd1941 camera in mouth
3:04 not winga dinga...
@@アカシア-w7b well I guess I walked right into that one eh?
Is he wrong though?
Red interior, White exterior, Blue engine. That's a very subtle 'Murica red, white and blue, the C1 is so classy even its patriotism flies under the radar.
ArthurAlcantara or under the hood
cheeseburger diet
@@clickreportifyouareacrybab5942 those weren't invented yet
@@fakename287 At that time it was the pork sausage, thousand island dressing, Winston cigarette, and martini diet. And great heavy beasts roamed across the plains. They were called "doughy guys" by the people of the time.
America isn't subtle
The wholesomeness when that 300ZX owner gave him a thumbs up. You’re crying not me.
Why are there onions?
Yet a C4 pulls out behind it and the driver does not seem to see it.
@@cgmoog I'm pretty sure that was a C5.
Actually seeing a c1 on the road is a life changing experience, I saw one once from the passengers seat of my brother's 84 trans am, my brother revved the trans am a little and the guy in the c1 revved his engine a little and I've never been so awed by a car before
I'm a 300zx owner myself and one of my friends who also owns a 300zx is with his dad restoring his 54 c1 which was 427 and manual swapped back in the 70s and hearing that relatively quiet big block run in a gorgeous car like that caked in dust from 38 years of sitting in a shed is a life long experience
A 'Blue Flame' Haiku:
The engine revs low.
The transmission offers less.
Blue flame means nothing.
Todd Gordon unless you got a propane fueled corvette
we sell corvette and corvette accessories
*intense Yoko Ono noises*
Are you aware that this is a 1953 car?
I can explain the "blue flame" thing. I'm an engineer that specializes in combustion system and engine technology (I design and engineer wood/pellet stove's and have designed some very cutting edge pulse detonation engines). hydrogen burns with a yellow color and carbon burns blue. When you burn natural gas, which is mostly methane, it has 1 carbon atom holding together 4 hydrogen atoms. Natural gas burns blue when its burning cleanly, because instead of just burning the hydrogen you're also burning the carbon. Incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons results in higher CO emissions and less energy/efficiency delivered for the same amount of fuel. However, the only way they would be able to know what color the deflegration wave is, is either using a transparent head, and given that its a OHV and not a flathead I doubt they did that, or by using gunson colortunes, and I'm not sure if those were invented before 1953.
*"It revs to Negative RPM!"*
That was gold.
I'm such a stupid stickler that my first thought, after laughing, was "but wait, that just means it spins the other way"
@@kaitlyn__L tell that to me who laughed BECAUSE of that realisation
@@purpleneons :3
"Oh, that's not good" got me.
i'm really missing the joke here, and my inner car guy is sad. send help pls
These aren’t “reviews”. These are documentations of automotive history in the form of a man’s thoughts on his experiences with the car; not just rigid statistics.Mr.Regular, you are an artist, I can see why your channel is growing. This is a different kind of car content. As always. 10/10
Yeah I can’t understand why the channel isn’t above a million yet.
The last 3-4 years it seems to stay the same which I find super odd.
@@rolux4853 I would of hoped he hit 1 Million at least by now.
@@Tony-112 yeah your absolutely right!
I wonder what's going on their and if TH-cams ridiculous censorship is at fault.
"He said dick, his videos mustn't be promoted!!!!!!!"
This is the car that you pull up to car shows with and say "Greetings, fellow motorists! Golly, your automobiles are quite keen."
it's a 53 not a 23 lol
And then everyone asks if you know how to properly close the hood of a classic car.
“Jeepers, Mr. Wilson…that Corvette is really boss!” - Dennis the Menace
That part near the end where the Nissan guy's like "hey, that's pretty damn cool" and the Corvette guy's just talking with him a bit as he's going for a second
That sold this whole episode of RCR for me.
It was very sweet. Everyone loves seeing something like this on the street, whatever they drive.
@@markmiller3279 I'm a z32 owner also. It's just something we all learned from these old cars is to be friendly to everyone. You'll have people wave at you, come up to you, and share stories of when one of their family/friends had one back in the day. Just like the c1 everyone loves those cars no matter if you're 90 or you're 5 you can't help but appreciate a Corvette and their Japanese counterpart.
that was a bro moment. definitely an intentional shot to linger on. nice editing, RCR
13:26 nice to see the 300ZX driver giving respect for the Corvette driver. That's how all car enthusiasts should be like. Giving respect to others no matter what you drive or what kind of cars you're into.
YES!
YESSIR
Amen, brother.
Then dropping his slow ass when the light changed.😆
Also, the PHX/Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa conglomastripmallration is chock full of absurdly expensive cars, many convertable b/c some people find scalp melanomas sexy. North Scottsdale Road can have your ass in a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet between lunch and your 4PM tee time, bank account permitting.
5:29 Nowadays when a car is revealed men get angry online, boys say "poggers!" and old people have Coronavirus.
Thunderbird fan here, I love how both the Vette and Tbird started in the "same" market demographic but crossed and one went super sport and the other went bigger and softer.
It's just sad that Ford constantly knee-capped the T-bird (starting in the 80s at least) to keep it out of the Mustang's space whereas GM didn't seem to have that issue with the Camaro/Corvette because they understood that those were different markets/types of buyers.
Burt1038 nah man the kneecapping goes all the way back to the second gen in the 50’s. In 58-59 Ford turned the Thunderbird into a full size 4 family “sport coupe”. After the Mustang was produced Ford stopped trying to sell the TBird as sporty and marketed it as a personal luxury car. As much as I love the Thunderbird (especially the 1969-1971 models, 2dr or 4dr) Ford pretty much retired from trying to beat GM after the 1st gen TBird best the Corvette at being an affordable American Sports car.
@@dannygloversshotgun211 Well that's not what I really meant; I don't necessarily blame Ford for going a different route than GM; it's just that they didn't seem to follow through on their own concept. The T-bird was an unfortunate combination of compromises: it had to be less sporty than the Mustang, and less luxurious than the Lincoln Mark series. So it didn't do anything particularly well. I compare it to the Infiniti G35/37 and Nissan 350/370z. Even though those cars had the same engines the Inifiniti were tailored towards a more mature buyer and appealed to a different crowd than the Z, so Nissan didn't see a need to make the engines crappier on purpose the way Ford did to the Thunderbird.
@@Burt1038 Yet, despite being a tragically lousy car, the Thunderbird was one of the best-selling cars of the mid-to-late-70s. It was the era of personal luxury, and the T-bird hit the bullseye.
And guess who won the sales race. A lot of folks may not know this, but when the 4-seater Bird was introduced, Ford had to run 3 shifts to keep up with demand, all during a RECESSION in the late '50s!
I respect the hell out of the OG Corvette, but my favorite was the C1 facelift from 1958-61. The 4 headlamps and more sporty rear just frosts my cookies
Absolutely love the '59 Corvette, especially the white scoop panels on the sides. Hard-pressed to think of a more beautiful American car from the time period.
and the 283
The perfect C1 for me would be a 53 front end with a 55-57 rear end and a smallblock. So...basically a 55-57 with a 53 front clip.
@@benn454 My dream56-57w' 53-55clip&doors.The deck had better styling56-57.
53-55styling was unchanged.
All V8 after beginning of55model year.
No doubt, the revised model was a beauty, but so, in a more delicate way, is this, except maybe the rather busy tail end with its bottle-rocket-exhaust taillights. That windshield is amazingly pretty, and the front end is excellent.
3:42 that C5 owners' balls just shrunk down to dingleberries.
My dad has a hot rodded c1, most new Vett guys have no idea what it is :(
I was gonna say, he probably didn’t recognize what it was.
O. Dean I’d take literally any other corvette over the c1 the c2 is the best looking classic c1 is ugly
and what do you know he was pulling out of the mcdonalds
@@Dat4valveGuy you're just not an American if you think this thing is ugly lol
"...and old people had polio."
I laughed way too hard at this lol.
Don't feel bad, you are not alone...
*neato*
@@afroman5531 Yeah, I'm old. I remember polio....It was fucking hilarious! They had these steampunk contraptions they called iron lungs and people flocked to hospitals to laugh at the afflicted....many were actually young. Even children! Good times.
@@brinx8634 Even Presidents weren't safe!
Y'never know! Anti-vaxxers might help this debilitating disease make a fashionable comeback!
@@PaulRudd1941 hell yeah! I mean... who _wouldn't_ rather have polio than be autistic??? That's sure an obvious choice!
(All that shit's debunked anyway but. Yk. Even if it were true. It would be a totally fine tradeoff to avoid getting deadly diseases D:< )
He comes back with an "I Saw a Tiger" cover
Hahaha I knew that’s what it sounded like!
I just realized that modern Mercedes AMG grills look like this car.
Similar, the current AMG grill with the vertical bars is based on the 300SL cars used on the Carrera Panamericana races from 1950-1954, same time period the C1 Corvette was released. Mercedes won the race in 1952 and 53 so they are commemorating that with the new grill style and I can only assume the Corvette borrowed the look as it was meant to compete with European sports cars.
I noticed the 2003 Ford Thunderbird looks more like this corvette than the 55 TBird it was based on. That must say something about the lasting design appeal of this humble beginning roadster.
@@dannygloversshotgun211 The 50s T Bird was made to compete with the 50s Vette.
Yep it's called the Panamericana grill.
2008 Miata has the same grill as well.
Nearly spat out my cereal when i heard "Men whistled, boys said neat-o, and old people... had polio"
A blue flame does mean good combustion. There is even a tool to see this and adjust air fuel ratio called a "Gunson Colortune". It's a real thing. It's like, science .
Yup. Science that has frick all to do with what's happening in that particular engine.
Guess he's never seen a Bunsen Burner in high school either.
But he also thinks it had mechanical brakes - then shows a picture of a hydraulic brake line a few minutes later. Researching the details and not saying things he doesn't actually know...these aren't strong points for either him or Roman. Go figure.
@@larrylentini5688 Sooo...it was through alchemy they made it? You're just another smart arse who says dumb shit.
aussiebloke609 it’s also painful to watch him try to drive fast. But he’s a wordsmith
@Roddy dykes A "wordsmith" that makes basic definition errors - in his chosen field, no less - is no smith at all. At this point, it's more like pseudo-intellectual ego-stroking. They really should learn the topic, or at least don't say anything if he doesn't know, rather than making stuff up. It's been getting painful to listen to, lately.
13:20 that 300zx and vette 90's and 50's two of the best decades for car design
And that Z32 owner sure loved to see the C1
Basti EiseNKrafT he replied to the Corvette’s thumb up with a second thumb up lol
90s has some ugly ass trends
@@charlierobinson8375 the supra having a full dash made out of plastic that can break super easily
90's was great for car design... for the Japanese. America... not so much. Frankly, I think the 60's was the best decade for car styling, car design was just right.
“I am everlasting cool in this” cuts to him with a camera on his head
It's even a BETTER look when you combine it with a face mask!
I keep seeing that grey 300ZX Turbo in the background. That was my childhood dream car. Didn't hurt that it made Car and Driver's Best list for something like 10 years in a row.
Especially if you got the twin-turbo model that has 4WS, since it made the handling even better.
When I was in high school back around 1962 my older sister was dating a guy who's father owned a 53 Corvette. He used to sneak the car out of the garage in the middle of the night and would show up at our house around 2 AM and they'd go joy riding in it. I never did get a ride in it but I did sit in it and was amazed that it actually was more cramped inside than my neighbor's MGA.
Such a beautiful car. Corvette made pearl outside and red inside sexy.
HA! SAY THAT AFTER YOU LOOK AT A NEW CAMRY WITH THE SAME COLOR SCHEME!
Kevin A okay transatlantic kevin
I think this vette was also offered in blue. Possibly in it's 2nd year. Just hope it didn't cum with red interior.
The opposite was the most common stock color scheme...
3:39 "... and watch them shut up when you arrive" as a fancy looking C5 enters the road in the background.
The first model car I ever owned when I was a boy. What an utter milestone.
The Z32 guy saying hello! was so cute
Then of course proceeds to do a ricer fly-by.
@@SuperSportSS flyby? Thats camry acceleration bro
@@SuperSportSS it was a na z32 just like mine. I'm a good bit modified and can do 0-60 in 5.8 seconds. Well that's new Camry xse 0-60 times
@@dekhunter148 that's V-6 Camry territory since 2007, but I'm sure you had a considerable power deficit to overcome, and that deserves respect. (I drive an FRS so I am not being sarcastic here, lol)
@@nthgth stock a na z32 is 222hp at the crank, I ran the car on a Dyno day when I bought it for 172 at the wheels. Now it's still na but all emissions is gone, no clutch fan, manual swap, and did a custom intake setup so I'm betting around 190-200ish to the wheels now.
Edit: also whenever I bother getting another daily I'm taking the engine out and running 12.5:1 compression pistons and some mild cams which are sitting in the garage
Shout out to the 300zx driver at the end for waving to the C1. Acknowledging a great car and waving.
As a C5 Corvette owner, god damn does that represent the community. Mine is about as common as they come, and I'm fine with that.
@Richard Harrold I wouldn't do it, but I think it's neat. It's not really talked about much.
@Richard Harrold I'm not really much of a purist. I've got fixed headlights and coilover suspension on mine. Many would say I've completley ruined the character of the car. Haha. Frankly I even think Rob's rotary C5 is interesting.
@Richard Harrold probably, but you'll have to go to drastic means to do it. It would be nice to get rid of some of that front weight, but not a lot of easy and meaningful ways to drop weight that I know of.
@@jasepoag8930 A rotary C5? Guess you have to make up for all the LS swapped RX-7s somehow.
Bought a new '86 in late '86, after seeing myself coming and going, got rid of the Vette and acquired a "55 T-Bird "project car". When I got done with it about a year later, EVERYBODY was giving me the "thumbs up" even Vette drivers. Not too many of them around in my neck of the woods!
All he’s missing is the C2 and the C8 now!
He needs to bag a 58/59, maybe a 61, a 66/67 big block. If the world is just he gets a 63 split window too.
He did a C8 review.
My grandpa starved in the 1930's in the dust bowl. He grew during WW2 when he finally got a good meal. Went from like 5'6 to 6'1 lol
holy shit! That's a lot of growing.
But, he probably weighed 175 soaken wet, thanks to LOTS of exercise.
2003 does seem like the corvette-iest year, in retrospect.
50-year anniversary. i'm sure you already know that, but i had to google it.
2:19 It doesn't have "mechanical" drum brakes - they are on a hydraulic system. They are, however, an unboosted or "manual" brake system. Mechanical brakes means cable-operated, like prewar Bugattis...not what this car has at all.
In this case, terminology is everything.
Glad you picked him up on the brakes. I was going to comment but don’t need to now. 😜. Problem is, nowadays, people don’t understand that mechanical brakes even existed. I have a Model T, I know. 😂
Paul's Country Garage I know all about non-boosted brakes and manual steering; I drove my uncle’s 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne for a couple of weeks in 1999.
@Paul's Country Garage Good lord, how do you keep track of which foot does what? :-D
Sadly, this is a regular problem with "Mr. Regular" - he sees everything from a kid's viewpoint and doesn't get that there's more to the story, if he'd only look back a little further. Like complaining about it having "only" 150 hp...in the early 50s, a regular '53 Chev pushed out 108 hp from the same engine, so that's about a 40% increase in power. The idea of a "sports car" back then was light weight and nimble, but slow, with about 60 hp from the MG TD's 4 cylinder engine, and about 90 hp from the Austin-Healey 100's straight 6. No one thought "sports" meant powerful or fast in a straight line - that's a recent phenomenon. And it seems, Regular is a too recent to realise this.
@aussiebloke609, if you are referring to the Model T, it’s actually not any more confusing/difficult than a standard manual. Left foot is for ‘clutch’ right foot is for brakes and you may use either for reverse. As to Regular, I’ve watched a few of his but I have to say that I watch for the cars and not his information, knowledge or delivery. I agree with all your points.
Fixy, the Chev with unassisted brakes and 4 wheel drums would be fun to stop. The Vette would be far easier as it is much lighter. It, also, really depends on how well the drums are setup and adjusted.
I would have been here sooner but I was watching Jay Leno eat assembly lube for one of his chain driven airplane motorb car.
Does Jay still ride his "Y2K" jet powered bike? Haven't heard anything about it lately.
03:35 that was an excellent way to make a point. No one was looking at the other corvette
3:14 editing, context and payoff at it’s best.
Same with 2:20
This is the distance I drove myself in 9 days.
In Daewoo Lanos.
@@markkoetsier6475 My was 5 speed manual. Hydraulic clutch. Joy to drive.
When better cars are built, Daewoo WILL build them, good example.............Chevy Aveo! lol
@@TheOzthewiz My sister has 2011 Aveo Sedan T250. 1.2l, comfortable, chain, good on fuel economy. Has it for 2 years, no major issues (passanger window went out of allignment and some bulbs burned out).
3:45 speak of the devil, look at the c5 in the back lmao
It just kind of slides out and slithers off, clearly outclassed.
good eye
I completely appreciate this mans sense of humor and fearlessness! Can’t we all just speak our minds?!
Ohh yeah. "regular".
Remember when you drove a Toyota Echo? REMEMBER WHEN YOU LOVED IT?
@Jody Owen The 4runner TRD is pretty sweet imo
@Jody Owen Shit take tbh
@Jody Owen are you dumb?
Mr. Regular also drove a '70s Celica(Scotty gave that video 5 thumbs up), said that the car drove LIKE BRAND NEW. Toyota Quality?
"Here's a car. It doesn't get driven" Cue the theme to Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The owner of the car is highly gracious.
Love the RCR intermission style of having NOAA weather band mixed with vaporwave-ish music
Check out Sunday Television by Cat System Corp if you loved that...
NOAA
It gave me flashbacks to my childhood during this one storm where the weather service came on and sounded exactly like that. Was a fun time seeing a tornado in the distance here in NC.
Darren Sheppard oops just realized that...must’ve been half asleep when I typed this lol
It should have included a national weather map.
My buddy has a '54. I was rather impressed with the Blue Flame. For what it is, it moves the car quite nicely. Definitely the most valuable car to ever park in my garage that's for sure.
I kinda hope to see a review of one of them Bentleys in the background, I would like to hear Mr. Regular talk about the false opulence of early 2000's flex culture.
10:35 “what does that mean?” Perfect combustion, if no one else in the comments has said anything about it yet... ...it means that the carburetors, all three of them, are perfectly in tune. They are neither too rich nor too lean. To get a perfect blue flame from the spark means you have the perfect ratio of air and fuel. ...in other words, it has nothing to do with the block or cylinders, it’s all about the stupid finicky carbs!
And any modern engine with computer controlled variable valve timing is gonna get a blue flame every time... but there's still weak-ass engines that do that, like, every economy 1 litre hatchback.
I believe he's criticizing the idea that any engine gets truly perfect combustion, as there is always some fuel in the exhaust, whatever color the flame is.
mike brink I wasn’t alive during that time, but there’s a tool called “Colortune” that you use with the spark plugs and wires when tuning a carburetor. If it is too rich lean, the spark will burn yellow, the closer to get to optimum, it turns white, and then when you are finally neither rich nor lean, it burns blue. This is with unleaded fuel with 10% ethanol, so I’m assuming it also worked with the old stuff.
Such a beautiful death trap.
This is a car that is best displayed, not only for pure viewing enjoyment, but also for the safety of any potential occupants lol
Look on the bright side, in a major crash you don't need a "wrecker" just a broom and dustpan!
every classic car is a death trap, but they are gorgeus
0:17 The front end looks, vaguely, as if it was designed by HR Giger. I see a little alien chestburster when I see the grill and its gritted teeth.
Looks like a dude on 4 caps of molly
Agreed, and tomorrow marks 6 years ever since he died.
RIP HR Giger (2.5.40 - 5.12.14)
100% agree. It's the height of artistry, if you're talking sci-fi body horror. The ugliest of the Corvettes, in my opinion.
13:20 W H O L E S O M E
How everyone wishes the car community was.
This is just one of the coolest things to see because not only do you learn about a C1, but you also get to see Mr. Regular drive something that absolutely is unattainable to almost anyone in this day and age. Even if the car is dated you still hear the enjoyment.
Hey guys just wanted to say that this one was exceptionally good. Thanks.
The fact you guys took this out for a drive in PHOENIX, where every other person who doesn't know how tf to drive makes their home, is ballsy in and of itself! (This coming from someone who lives in this city.)
What an amazing car! Gorgeous inside and out. It's hard to believe how long the Corvette has been around.
That was ... all so good. Sweet car, sweet vid, humorous, nostalgic, reverent. "Cars can never look like this again", indeed. Kinda "Sublime" on the guitar, too. Noice
Corvette C1 the rich mans Karmann Ghia
and I love it
edit: Spelling
Isnt Karmann Ghia a bug with extra steps? And bug is a VW bus with no kids. So C1 is rich, childless man VW bus.
@@MindBlowerWTF VW Buses are becoming the rich man's VW Bus. Prices are going way up.
Except, without all the ill-fitting body panels and cracked fiberglass.
Your Corvette guy mocking skills have reached astronomical levels thank you😂😂😂😂😂😂
The C1 and the first gen Tbird are the most beautiful roadsters ever made
One of yes
Yeah dude Pontiac dope
@@guseast6684 Solstice and Skyline not inclusive.
@@TheOzthewiz what do you mean by that cowboy
I have driven our 1954 corvette many miles. The steering wheel is so close to the seat that it will actually leave marks on your pants if you drive it for extended periods. They are actually great cruisers. No one ever knows what it is unless they are true Corvette fans
Wholesome moment @ 13:21 💖
I love the subtle interpretation of the C1's grille on the C7. That car's best design element.
>Blue Flame
1950's Blast Processing
C Reynolds Yooooooo heccin NICE meme arrow my dude!!
VTEC, yo.
There’s an old guy who goes to my local gym who daily drives his C1. He’s always smiling without a care in the world. Goddamned Legend.
Were they malnourished in the 50's or are we being engineered to be gigantic super soldiers with hormones added to milk and breakfast cereal?
They weren't malnourished but people as a whole have gotten larger (look at athletes for example) and you also have to make room for all the fat slobs half this country has become.
Because Good Ol Manual Labor..No tillers,no weed Whacker's, Maybe a Gas Mower, Splitting wood By Hand, Getting Water ...
If you asked this question to a person from the 50's, they wouldn't beat you up, but probably would if they could.
The answer is yes.
And they WERE super soldiers they had just come back from fighting and winning a WORLD WAR.
I remember driving a first generation Corvette. They are amazing cards and beautiful till this day.
Thank you for sharing your drive.
"Signifying a man who sets aside a stack each month for tipping cam girls"
Wow I feel attacked
Simp
Nick Morrison *pimp
The Boi simp
i'm all for you doing what you want, but why pay when there's so much free porn out there? is the tiny bit of digital interaction really worth the cash? i don't get it.
edit: not that I would know anything about the kinds of porn out there... i'm a good, wholesome guy. _sweats nervously_
Look at the smile on the man’s face while he’s driving!
Great video!
C1 Corvette drive-by, the great-grandchild of the C1 emerges 3:43
That would be the C4. This is the great-great-grandchild who ended up being most similar to his great grandfather and is more loved than most of his ancestors due to that.
Meleter C5*
That moment at 13:27 - that is respect and very rarely do you see that nowadays. And that is the C1. Flawed, but a beautiful thing to have, to own, to look at. It's a beautiful possession...
3:17 i love how he is always portraying boomers in that kind of way xD
osp80 let me guess. You have a rare C5 corvette
This is probably the BEST video from Mr. Regular to date. Thanks for uploading! Now, we need a review of FORD's answer to this......a '55---''57 T-Bird!
Wow they made a human sized version of Stuart Little's car?
I remember a time when you couldn't use other people's C1 photos.
You've definitely come a long way since then!
Spot on impression of todays Vette owners. As always, perfect review, man.
I never understood going to a car meet that consists only one car. "I GOT A X"
"WOW SO DO I"
probably the most boring thing I've ever done
Another great video! It's always nice to start the day with a new RCR video. Please keep up the good work! BTW, that's not a "radiator overflow tank", it's an "expansion tank". The coolant still has the "spill on the ground, overflow method". LOL!
Man, I'd really like to go back to the styling of that dashboard.
I casually saw a C1 just driving around last weekend in central Ohio with my dad. It caught both of us off guard. Beautiful car.
Was anyone in it?
9:05 ah yes, the PA/Silent Hill aesthetic
SIRENHEAD
That shit was nightmare fuel. Classic. Like this C1.
The way the exhaust comes right out of the rear bumper is so elegant. This car is the very definition of smooth. My grandfather had a 54’. Sold it to a buddy, who he later watched sell at auction for over 100k. Hindsight’s a bitch lol
Now I see what you meant about the design back when you described it during the C3 review.
I love how you describe using the brakes. I had a 1969 Chevelle with the same brake system and that's exactly how it stopped! Gotta love the ol' "Slip & Slide" Powerglide!
This is up there with e-type with most beautiful car ever.
the E type is overrated
Karmann Ghia for me
@@Jack-hg1hq everyone has diffent tastes.
Ehhhh, never liked how the first gen vette looked.
@Toxic Potato Agreed about the Jag, especially the coupe. That long hood looks great until you realize what it does to the overall proportions. Moving the base of the windshield forward a bit more and laying the windshield down more would help a lot in balancing it out.
This video is as classic and timeless as a C1 Corvette. Thank you so much. Enjoyed every second of it.
My fav C1 is 1958 but yes loooook at that 1953
I like how the windshield edge is at throat height. Police in the 50's must have dreaded going to crashes and having to try find a head in a bush two fields over.
Don't worry, if you don't get decapitated, you'll get impaled by the steering column ;)
Crash pictures from that era are horrifying. People walk away from wrecks now that would have once killed them.
The driver would probably still be in the car, impaled on the NON collapsible steering column, the passenger probably thrown out because the doors would pop open on a moderate bump!
I’m sure that wasn’t as much a concern when people were in general shorter
@@charlesfollette9692 In the '50s, dying in a car crash didn't raise much concern. It was the risk you accepted, whether short or tall. As for people generally being shorter, being 9 years old in '53, I don't remember seeing that. Could you provide some factual information backing up your statement?
@1:37... Look at that beautiful sky...
155hp in this I6 is a good 50hp more than Ford was getting out of the Flathead V8 that was discontinued the same year
3:38 The "very special" c5 pulling out behind them right on cue is a nice touch
This is as far from a “regular” car as i’ve ever seen on RCR.
The C1 may be rare, but like he said in the history part, it's a sports car made from regular Chevy parts of the era wrapped in a fiberglass body.
Make Avenger Reviews Great Again or start calling yourself Boring Car Reviews.
at least it's a car
Let's do another "un-regular" car like a '55----'57 T-Bird, unlike the C1 Vette, there MANY MORE 'Birds out there!
@InfiniteMushroom Just when I was about to suggest that he return to review the '64 Buick Electra Sport Coupe...
I'm nearly 5'5" and thanks to being an absolute fan of all things automotive, I'm a happy man!
You are a LUCKY man, you would fit in anything, not like me at 6-2, Miatas and most of the Korean "juke boxes" are off limits to me!
I drove a real Shelby cobra once. Worst day of my life, I was so scared.
Read what Bill Cosby said about his Cobra.
@@Hansengineering and then what happened after...
@@Hansengineering I think the one he had was the even rarer Super Snake model. If only someone else didn't end up driving it off a cliff.
This easily makes the top five episodes.
Maybe the top one episode.
Wow. there was a 300zx at the end.
53 Corvette, The car that goes like grandma with her walker, stops like one of her rambling stories, and handles like a dollar store frying pan. But we still love you grandma.
This comment is funnier than anything in the video
C2 is still my favorite. Especially 63
Split-window?
C2 was the one that got me into classic cars to begin with. Those lines are something else 👌
Even if America never gave the world anything else, the Corvette would justify this nation’s existence.
*Chevrolet Corvette C1*
Yeah... it is.
I think.
*Actually this may be a Yugo.*
@@dopey473 Really? Comparing a crummy little hatchback to a father of one of the most iconic sports car?
@@lgz2006 the yugo is the father of the sportscar smh
@@pavlemilanovic569 The Yugo was just a tiny, basic hatchback, it isn't even close to be a "basic" sports car.
@@lgz2006 r/woooosh
Dude! I'm with you on the jokey, sarcastic tone and sure it's not a powerhouse of performance. The first silent films weren't either. Nor were Einstein's first experiments. Nor were yours. In Thomas Edison's words, "What good is a new born baby?" (Answer: "Priceless") Wise up and lighten up on this beautiful classic -- it started a revolution, and in my book, that's performance enough. Owning a young-timer grand tourer drop top myself (another make) with superior horsepower and handling, still it's at it's very best on easy drives through beautiful countryside with my beautiful lady by my side. It's not how fast you get there (for you might miss a lot on the way), it's how you get there. The Vette was conceived for similar: "Nice and easy, nice and slow, but with class and style", a motto when wisely applied makes for a good life! The C1 understood that. HNY!!!
Was that a show room quality s2000? And a buick grand national!? 🔥
Show room cars in a show room? No fucking way
@RICKY That was a bargain....these radical cars are moving on up in price really fast....one of those with maybe 70,000 miles would go for around 24 grand....maybe 40 grand in a couple more years...those cars kick ass!
Love it. You paint a picture. Bob Ross of car reviews. Cant believe you got to drive this!
The genesis of "Sewww fawnsehhh."
Okay that was weird. When the weather forecast started playing, I had to check the bottom right corner and make sure I was still watching RCR...
I'm about as early to this video as this car is
And the perks?
The high pressure 235 refered to the oiling system inside the engine. Previous versions used a low pressure pump and squirt nozzles to get oil on the connecting rod bearings. High pressure used drilled passages in the crankshaft and a higher pressure oil pump