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CAR AND DRIVER — Chevrolet was in a sales slump in the early 1950s, and like many within the bow-tie division’s ranks, brand manager Thomas Keating was eager to reverse course. His solution? Ordering up a sports car for General Motors’ bread-and-butter nameplate. Produced under the code name Project Opel, the sports car was a distinctly American take on the era’s British sports cars, cobbled together from a fiberglass body and a 3.9-liter (235-cubic-inch) straight-six engine mated to a two-speed automatic transmission (really). After making its debut to a warm reception at GM’s 1953 Motorama show in New York City, the Corvette became the rare entrant to go on to be produced for customers.
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