By John D. Amgwert
For the better part of 20+ years there has been a theory going around claiming the 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes were used as stand-ins for the first two production Corvettes because of production delays. The belief being both 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes (Car 852 / SN: EX-52 and Car 853 / SN: EX-53) were converted from their Motorama trims into Production trims sometime between mid-June to June 29th, 1953 to serve as stand-ins for the first two production cars as Chevrolet was under pressure to get the Corvette into production. There are even some YouTube videos that go over this theory in depth, as well as what appears to be a nicely put together book going even deeper into these weeds.
To the average person who doesn’t know early Corvette history very well these presentations are easy to consume and make what appear to be a pretty compelling argument. One thing is pretty apparent, those who believe this theory, or repeat this theory, all seemed to have misplaced their copy of The Corvette Restorer Magazine Volume 20 #1 Summer 1993, and/or their copy of The Corvette Restorer Magazine Volume 45 #1 Summer 2018. I’m talking particularly about the article titled “The Earliest Corvettes” by John Amgwert. Either that or they don’t know this article exists, or they simply choose not to acknowledge the information outlined in the article as accurate anymore. This is quite unfortunate, and in my opinion, has been pretty damaging to the history of these early cars.
After reading many comments on social media and Corvette forums (including several within NCRS’s Technical Discussion Board) it’s becoming apparent this 20 year old theory has become the “New Testament” of early Corvette history for a lot of people, with many pointing back to the YouTube videos as proof of their beliefs. I get it, YouTube videos can be a great way to learn new things, they are easy to watch, and less time consuming than reading and doing actual research. The problem is if the information isn’t presented accurately, it can have huge impacts on accurate history. While everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs about the early history of these cars, the more information we can find, the better it is for the Corvette community, provided it is presented the right way and with due care. New information, even being 70+ years later, can still be found, which again can further or change our understanding of what we know, or thought we knew.
That being said, I have several questions I’d like to ask the “1953 Motorama Show Corvettes served as stand-ins for the first two production Corvettes” believers. With each, I will include some of my own thoughts and research findings to the same questions to hopefully help further an educated discussion on the topic.
First I feel the need to give a little background on each car to help educate those who may not know the differences between the 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes and the first production Corvettes. I’m not going to go into all the details as there are already other books out there that do this (Corvette American Legend #1 by Noland Adams), but I will outline the most identifiable features.
Opel Car 852 / Serial Number: EX-52
Corvette Show Car #1
Also known as the “Waldorf Motorama Show Car”
Most Identifiable Features:
- Door Buttons. Only car in 1953 to have external door buttons that opened the doors. These were on both the driver and passenger side doors. This feature was exclusive to this car.
- Cowl\Fender scoops. These actually worked to open and close via cables on the instrument panel of the car. The inside of the cowl\fender scoops were painted red, and were not faux cowl\fender scoops like you’d see on a ’56. This feature was exclusive to this car.
- Motorama trim. Chrome gull wings on the quarter panels were flipped from what are seen on a production model. The chrome side moldings did not extend all the way down the car. There was also a “Corvette” chrome script on the front of the car, below the hood emblem and above the front grille. A feature that is missing from a production model. There was a chrome “Corvette” script on the rear trunk.
- Thin bezel on headlight screens. Chrome headlight screens have a much thinner bezel than a production model. The distance from the bottom of the headlight chrome to the top of the fender chrome was much longer than a production model.
This car was featured in the GM Motorama events held in the US with many GM photographs taken at famous sites where those events were held (New York City, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Kansas City). This car was first put on display at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel during the GM Motorama in New Your City which is why it is often referred to as the Waldorf Motorama car in many publications. There are great high-quality pictures of this car at its LA showing in the USC Libraries digital collection. There is also a great color enhanced video of this car on its turntable from the Chicago event on YouTube which unfortunately includes a very inaccurate description of what this car actually is. I’m not going to get into that, but if you’re looking for more reading on that topic I’ll refer you to the Corvette Fever magazine May 1994 issue. On several GM show schedules, work orders and interoffice letters this is often referred to as “Corvette #1”, “Motorama Car”, “Car 852 Show Job”, or simply “Car 852”.
Opel Car 853 / Serial Number: EX-53
Corvette Show Car #2
Also known as the “Canadian Motorama Show Car”
Most Identifiable features:
- No door buttons. This car did not have external door buttons and was more like a production car in this respect.
- No cowl\fender scoops. This car did not have cowl\fender scoops and again was more like a production car in this respect.
- Motorama trim. Chrome gull wings on the quarter panels were flipped from what are seen on a production model, and the chrome side moldings did not extend all the way down the car. Exactly the same as Car 852 / EX-52 in this respect. There was also a “Corvette” chrome script on the front of the car, below the hood emblem and above the front grille. A feature that is missing from a production model. There was a chrome “Corvette” script on the rear trunk.
- Thin bezel on headlight screens. Chrome bezel on the headlight screens have the same much thinner bezel just like the Car 852 / EX-52 car. The distance from the bottom of the headlight chrome to the top of the fender chrome is also much longer than a production model.
This car was featured in the GM Motorama events held in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg) and several US auto shows (Denver, Indianapolis, Detroit), among others. It was also the car featured in the GM Hall of Wonders film which can be found on YouTube and Archive.org. On several GM show schedules, work orders and interoffice letters this is often referred to as “Corvette #2”, “Car 853 Show Job”, or simply “Car 853”.
First Three Production cars:
Car 3950 / Serial Number: E53F001001
Car 3951 / Serial Number: E53F001002
Car ES-127 / Serial Number: E53F001003
We’ll use this photo because of how iconic it has become, and kind of the center point of this article.
Most Identifiable Features:
- No door buttons.
- No cowl\fender scoops.
- Production trim. Chrome gull wings are flipped and the chrome side moldings run all the way down the car. There is no “Corvette” script on the front nor on the rear of the car.
- Thick bezel on headlight screens. Chrome headlight screens have a much thicker bezel than the Motorama show cars. The distance from the bottom of the headlight chrome to the top of the fender chrome is much, much, shorter than a Motorama show car.
With the brief crash course in helping to identify some of the most identifiable differences of these three distinctly different cars out of the way, let’s get to those questions.
To the folks who believe both 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes (Car 852/EX-52 and Car 853/EX-53) served as “stand-ins” for the iconic June 30th, 1953 press release photo announcing Corvette production was officially launched….
Question #1
What car was on display at Hudson’s Department Store in Detroit, MI from June 28th – July 8th, 1953 as advertised in the Detroit Free Press June 28th, 1953 newspaper, and reported by Leo Donovan in his World of Wheels column in the Detroit Free Press July 1st, 1953 newspaper?
I can tell you it’s pretty hard for a car to be in Detroit and Flint at the exact same time. If the Motorama Show Corvettes were in Flint being converted to production trim in late June leading up to the iconic photograph taken of the first three production cars, then again what car was in Hudson’s department store along with the other GM Motorama Cars of the Future? Was that a misprint in the June 28th advertisement? Did Leo Donovan make an error in his reporting three days later? I think not.
Additionally, while I’ve been unsuccessful in locating actual pictures of these cars on display at Hudson’s, my belief is the car featured in the department store was Car 852 / EX-52. If several of the other GM Motorama cars were also on display, I find it hard to believe they would have chosen to substitute Car 853 / EX-53 for this event with the other cars. Spoiler: The answer to question 2 also has more information on where Car 853 / EX-53 was at the time.
References: newspapers.com
Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) – June 28th, 1953 – page 53 (Sec D 3)
Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) – July 1st, 1953 – page 14
Question #2
What car was on display June 30th – July 5th, 1953 at the Heart of Illinois Fair – Exposition Gardens as advertised in The Peoria Star (Peoria, IL) newspaper June 29th, 1953?
Again, I can tell you, it’s pretty hard for a car to be in Peoria, IL and Flint, MI at the exact same time.
If the Motorama Show Corvettes were being converted into production cars up to June 30th in Flint, how did they get one of those cars to be featured at the Heart of Illinois Fair on the same day they announced to the world the first production Corvette was finally complete? The ad for this event was printed in a June 29th newspaper advertising that a car would be on display starting June 30th at 10am. This car on display would have had to have been delivered and setup for display on at least June 29th so it was ready for show on June 30th. Even by today’s driving standards, this is six hours away from Flint, MI. I can almost guarantee transporting a vehicle in 1953, on 1953 highways, at whatever top speed for a 1953 transport vehicle was, this would have taken much longer. While this might be on the outer edge of plausible, I find this highly unlikely.
I believe the car featured in the fair is Car 853 / EX-53. While I don’t have any photographic proof of this (yet), I’m basing this on a very early tentative show schedule for Corvette #2 (ie Car 853 / EX-53) from the April 1953 time frame brought to my attention in the same book this stand-in theory is presented in. Other events on this early schedule align with Car 853 / EX-53, specifically the first half of the events listed (Denver Auto Show, Jam Handy Organization i.e. Hall of Wonders, Indianapolis Custom Auto Show, and the Michigan Motor Show). This schedule should be used with caution as it was clearly a “Tentative Schedule” as indicated in the heading. The further you go into the schedule, the dates of the events start to deviate from their actual dates. Being that it was tentative, dates could certainly change, as could which car was actually present for display.
Lastly, when you combine the likelihood for it being a Motorama car at this event considering it was on display the morning of June 30th, 1953, as well as the date for the Heart of Illinois Fair being listed on a tentative show schedule for Corvette #2, then deductive reasoning can identify that Car 852 / EX-52 was most likely the car on display at Hudson’s during this time as it would have been the only other car available at the time for show.
Reference: genealogybank.com
The Peoria Star (Peoria, IL) – June 29th, 1953 – page 5
Question #3
What do you see in these photos from the Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL) newspaper Aug 18th, 1953 and Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL) newspaper Aug 19th, 1953? Both papers covering the Illinois State Fair which was held Aug 14-23, 1953. Also please explain how you interpret the caption in the second photo and the accompanied advertisement for the event printed in Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL) from Aug 15th, 1953?
Zoom of photo:
I can tell you what I see in the photos, cowl\fender scoops, Motorama trim, and a thin bezel on the headlight screens.
I also find it very interesting that the ad for the event from the Aug 15th newspaper specifically states, “This wonderful exhibit comes to the Illinois State Fair direct from its showing at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, and General Motors Motorama Shows.” Which is again repeated as the caption for one of the photos in the Aug 19th newspaper.
A follow-up question, when or why did they convert this car back into Motorama trim and re-install the cowl\fender scoops after they took the June 30th press photo with this car in production trim?
I believe the answer is they didn’t have to because they were never converted into production cars in the first place.
I believe the car pictured here is Car 852 / EX-52 based on what I see in the photos. Further confirmation coming from another very early tentative show schedule for Corvette #1 (ie Car 852 / EX-52) from the April 1953 time frame, again brought to my attention in the same book this stand-in theory is presented in.
References: genologybank.com
Pictures of car:
Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL) – Aug 18th, 1953 – page 18
Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL) – Aug 19th, 1953 – page 8
Ad for Event:
Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL) – Aug 15th, 1953 – page 3
Question #4
What do you see in this photo from Automotive News (Detroit, MI) Sept 21st, 1953 issue taken at the Allegheny County Fair in South Park, PA which was held Sept 3-7, 1953?
Ad for the event below with dates printed in The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA) from Sept 2, 1953.
I can tell you what I see, no door button, no cowl\fender scoops, and Motorama trim.
Even with the low resolution of this old publication that was uploaded to archive.org there is no mistaking the Motorama trim and lack of door button. The lack of cowl\fender scoops are harder to make out in this photo. If this were Car 852 / EX-52 I’d expect to see the white bump on the driver’s side at this angle but it appears to be a straight line. The passenger side is harder to definitively say with all the contrasts of light.
I believe the car pictured here is Car 853 / EX-53 based on what I see in the photo.
References: archive.org and newspapers.com
Picture of car:
Automotive News (Detroit, MI) – September 21, 1953 – page 42
Ad for Event:
The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA) – September 2, 1953 – page 29
Question #5
What do you see in this photo from the Sept 16th, 1953 The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA) newspaper covering the York County Fair which was held Sept 15-19, 1953? Same photo was used again in the Sept 18th newspaper.
Ad for the event below with dates printed in The York Dispatch (York, PA) Sept 14, 1953.
I can tell you what I see, no door buttons, no cowl\fender scoops, Motorama trim, and a thin bezel on the headlight screens. While this photo can be a bit deceiving as the front Corvette script appears to be missing, but so is the hood emblem, I believe this photo was taken with a flash causing it to be washed out. Combine that with the print quality of the newspaper and again the scan job of that newspaper by newspapers.com and you end up with what looks like a missing feature.
I believe the car pictured is Car 853 / EX-53.
References: newspapers.com
Pictures of car:
The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA) – Sept 16th, 1953 – page 11
The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA) – Sept 18th, 1953 – page 11
Ad for Event:
The York Dispatch (York, PA) – Sept 14th, 1953 – page 6
Question #6
What do you see in this photo from the Sept 26th, 1953 The Flint Journal (Flint, MI) newspaper covering the Summerfield Chevrolet public showing of a Corvette in their showroom which was held Sept 25-26, 1953?
Ad for the event below with dates printed in The Flint Journal (Flint, MI) Sept 24, 1953.
I can tell you what I see in the photo, both cowl\fender scoops, a door button, Motorama trim, and a thin bezel on the headlight screens.
I believe the car pictured here is Car 852 / EX-52 based on what I see in the photo.
References: newspapers.com
Pictures of car:
The Flint Journal (Flint, MI) – Sept 26th, 1953 – Section 2 page 13
Ad for Event:
The Flint Journal (Flint, MI) – Sept 24th, 1953 – page 61
In summary…
Did the 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes Serve as Stand-Ins for the First Two Production Corvettes?
No, the 1953 Motorama Show Corvettes did not serve as stand-ins for the first two production Corvettes, at least that’s my belief from the information uncovered in my research and presented here.
Should anyone have more information, photos, or events to add to this discussion and/or change our understanding please bring the information forward for review. Post a comment or reach out to me directly on Facebook, the NCRS Facebook Group page, or the NCRS Technical Discussion Board.