Legacy Metrics

1953 Chevrolet Corvette

E53F001274roadUnited States
Engine
3.9L (235.5 cu in) OHV inline-six, triple single-barrel carburetors, 150 bhp
Colour
Polo White

The 274th of only 300 Chevrolet Corvettes built in 1953, this roadster represents the inaugural year of America's first mass-produced fibreglass-bodied automobile. Finished in the sole factory colour scheme of Polo White over Sportsman Red, it retains original side curtains and period accessories including a Wonderbar radio and centre-mounted instruments. A comprehensive body-off restoration was carried out by acknowledged 1953 Corvette specialist Brett Henderson at Blue Flame Restoration in Pendleton, Indiana.

Ownership

  1. —Auction sale
    Sold US$275,000

    RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →

Competition

No competition history extracted from the catalogue.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. —Restoration
    Blue Flame Restoration

    Full body-off restoration returning the car to factory-correct specification, including concours-grade brightwork, proper safety glass windshield, and correct panel fit; documentation supplied on disc.

    Work carried out by 1953 Corvette specialist Brett Henderson, based in Pendleton, Indiana. Odometer reading at completion stood at 45,750 miles.

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How this record is sourced

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.