Flashback Friday: 1957 Corvette Blows Away Jay Leno with Raw Power

Unique 1957 Corvette originally ordered with no soft top, radio or heating, comes with four-barrel carbs instead of fuel injection.

For over six decades and eight generations, the Corvette continues to stand above the rest. America’s sports car kept up with the changing tastes of its fans, while also pushing boundaries further forward. As a result, we now have a rear mid-engine ‘Vette aimed at the likes of McLaren, Porsche and Ferrari.

Back in the Fifties, though, the Corvette itself was a radical departure from the norm. Comedy legend and hardcore car enthusiast Jay Leno owns a few examples of the all-American legend, including this unique 1957 model.

“This is a 1957 Corvette,” said Leno. “This is a very special car because it was ordered in 1957 by a young G.I. who was stationed in Korea. He went to the base and ordered this directly from Korea so it would be waiting for him when he got home.”

The G.I. “wanted the fastest, most powerful, lightest Corvette he could get,” per Leno. Thus, he deleted the soft top, plus the heater, the radio, courtesy lights, and anything else that would have weighed it down. He also chose the 283 V8 with dual four-barrel carbs, and linked it to the 4.11 gears out back through a four-speed manual. He did opt for a hardtop, and he chose to drape the whole in Inca Gray.

“This car was restored by Mike McCluskey,” said Leno. “He’s our Corvette restorer extraordinaire. He’s the gentleman that went through my ’63 Stingray split-window, and made it all proper. This was his baby. Everything here is 1957, from the windshield to the generator to every part of it.”

The Corvette first received fuel injection in 1957, which the G.I. could have chosen. However, Leno says many like the G.I. held to the carb, viewing the new tech as too out there to understand. And those who did choose the fuel injection would later swap it out for carbs.

“It’s hard to imagine how impressive this car was back in the day,” said Leno. “Most sports cars, your MGs, your Triumphs, 65 horsepower […] this 270 horsepower. This was, power-wise, equal to many of the exotics of the period.”

The first-gen Corvette was also ahead of the curve with its fiberglass body. According to Leno, General Motors caught wind of Ford planning to introduce the Thunderbird to the world. GM rushed to build what would become the Corvette, using fiberglass to quickly shape the body instead of steel. The rest is history.

“There’s nothing on this car that doesn’t really need to be there,” said Leno. “It’s got a proper trunk. I love the taillights. I love the way the exhaust system exits through the bumpers. That’s really sort of Motorama, show-car looking stuff […] It’s just the right amount of chrome on this car. It’s really, to me, one of the best-looking Corvettes of all time.”

Leno’s ‘Vette sounds glorious on the streets of Los Angeles, too. The stock exhaust allows the V8 to roar and rumble unimpeded. As he says, his car is fast “by modern standards,” and would have been an absolute beast in 1957. It’s certainly a wonderful chapter of the Corvette’s life.

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