Which 1953 Chevrolet model became the first mass-produced car with a fiberglass body?

The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette became the first mass-produced car with a fiberglass body.

Chevrolet presented the Corvette at the 1953 Motorama show in New York, and production began that year in Flint, Michigan. Its fiberglass-reinforced plastic body helped Chevrolet create a sports-car shape without investing in conventional steel body tooling.

The first Corvettes used a 150-horsepower version of Chevrolet’s Blue Flame six-cylinder engine and a two-speed automatic transmission. Only 300 examples were built for 1953, all finished in Polo White with a red interior.

A common mix-up is calling the Corvette the first car ever to use fiberglass. Several earlier prototypes and low-volume cars used the material, but the Corvette is widely credited as the first mass-produced automobile to do so. Later Corvettes switched to more powerful engines while retaining composite body construction.