How FORD Saved the Corvette

You read the headline correctly. Back in 1954 Ford made a decision that led to Chevy making changes that ultimately saved the Corvette.

As most of you know by now the Corvette is celebrating its 70-year anniversary this year. What many of you might not know is that it almost didn’t make it to its 5-year anniversary. In 2023 the Corvette is as popular as ever. Waiting lists are years long for some models. Dealer markups and flippers are the bane of our existence thanks to demand outstripping supply. The performance of the Corvette is better than it has ever been. And it is offered with your choice of two powerful V8 engines. There is even a new hybrid AWD model that looks to be the fastest accelerating Corvette ever made. There is a lot of good in the Corvette world right now. And we have the Ford Motor Company to thank for it.

Well, not JUST the Ford Motor Company. Zora Arkus-Duntov, Harley Earl and others played a major role in making the Corvette into what it is today. But a decision by Ford made way back in 1954 practically forced Chevy to point the Corvette in a new direction. It might be hard to imagine now but the 1953 and 1954 Corvettes were sales flops. They looked incredible and were touted as sportscars. But they had a 2-speed automatic hooked up to a rather weak inline 6-cylinder engine. On top of that they were expensive. In 1954 Chevy sold only about a third as many as they hoped. At the end of the year there were over a thousand of them sitting on dealer lots unsold. The Corvette was on the verge of being discontinued. Then along came the Ford Thunderbird.

Rivalry

Ford revealed the new Thunderbird at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1954. It was not marketed as a sportscar like the Corvette. However, it was a two-seat convertible with attractive styling. But more importantly, it came with a V8 engine and an optional manual transmission, and it was less expensive than the Corvette. The Thunderbird demolished the Corvette in sales. In 1955 Ford sold over 16,000 Thunderbirds. Chevy sold about 700 Corvettes. Chevy and Ford have been bitter rivals for a long time. And Chevy was not going to let Ford dominate the market like that. Chevy decided not to kill the Corvette, but to make it better. It may have been outsold by the Thunderbird in 1955 but Chevy made a big change that year that would change the course of Corvette history.

V8 Power

The Ford Thunderbird alone was not the only reason Chevy decided to put a V8 in the Corvette. When Arkus-Duntov came on board he was pushing hard for more power and performance out of the Corvette. He was recently hired by Ed Cole who was the Chief Engineer of Chevy at the time. Cole also happened to be the man that developed the 265ci small block V8. That engine was the perfect match for the Corvette. For the 1955 model year, all but a handful of Corvettes were equipped with this new engine. It produced 195 horsepower and finally gave the Corvette the type of performance it deserved. Decent examples of the 1955 cars still bring strong money. This example recently sold on Bring a Trailer for $81,000. It brought that money despite having a somewhat poor paint job. But it did have that sweet V8 that started it all. For the next 68 years (and hopefully many more) the Corvette was powered by a V8 engine.

Thanks, Ford

Again, there were people inside at Chevy that were pushing to get the Corvette more performance. However, when your bitter rival comes along and smacks you in the face with a car that outsells yours by a factor of 20 that does tend to wake you up. Credit to Chevy and the team for not taking the loss and folding up the Corvette tent and going home. They took the loss as motivation. They were not going to let Ford get away with it. And in 2023 it might be a bit tough to get an allocation for a new Corvette, but they are out there. The Thunderbird died 20 years ago. The Corvette may have lost the first battle, but it won the war.

Images: Chevrolet; Bring a Trailer