What was the original price of the first Corvette in 1953 in US dollars? It was $3,498.
Chevrolet’s first production Corvette carried a base price of $3,498 in 1953. The figure included a fiberglass-bodied two-seat roadster powered by a 235.5-cubic-inch Blue Flame inline-six engine, paired with a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission.
The first production cars were built by hand in Flint, Michigan, beginning June 30, 1953. Chevrolet produced only 300 that year, and every one was Polo White with a red interior and a black canvas soft top. The cars also used removable plastic side curtains instead of roll-up windows.
The price is sometimes confused with later inflation-adjusted estimates or with figures from secondary sources that separate freight, taxes, or dealer costs. It is also easy to confuse the original list price with the roughly $2,000 target Harley Earl initially envisioned for the project. Chevrolet’s documented base price for the production 1953 Corvette was $3,498.