Used Car of the Day: 1955 Chevrolet Corvette

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

There's a Brit in California selling a classic first-gen 1955 Chevrolet Corvette.


The forum is aimed at UK-based buyers, but the car is in California and I am including it in this feature because I assume our seller is open to an American buyer. There'd certainly be no need to ship, if that's the case, though the seller says the car can be shipped overseas via Oakland.

The car itself is in rough shape and in need of restoration, though it does apparently start and run.

The numbers match and both original tops come with it, and it has the original side screens. The color combo is yellow and green.

If you have the time and money to get knee-deep into a major restoration, click here to get started with this C1.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Jul 31, 2023

    A low option car (the dog dish caps were available), and a no radio car. I see a blower motor under the hood, so at least it has a heater/defroster.

  • Olddavid Olddavid on Jul 31, 2023

    I was born along with the Corvette at around this time. In those days, the new models were announced like some Barnum and Bailey show - with giant search lights, huge curtains on showroom windows and every minor celebrity each of the dealers could cajole into taking part. When the Corvettes first came out even the dealership employees - save the dealer principle - were banned during setup. It was always about the same time we went back to school so seeing the crates with promo material was always a kind of downer for us kids. My memory of these early cars is that the mechanics in the shop didn't think much of it. I would guess about this time the accountants, who would eventually prevail, were screaming due to losses on the model. Roger Smith, the head numbers man, became CEO and things began to change. And we know what a rousing success his tenure became? Oh yeah, this has value only in it is matching numbers. What ever happened to Corvette Vickie? You know from the ads in AW? She may need wheels in retirement.

  • Lostboy If you can stay home when it's bad out in winter, then maybe your 3 season tire WILL be an "ALL-SEASON" tire as your just not going to get winters and make do? I guess tire rotations and alignments just because a whole lot more important!
  • Mike My wife has a ‘20 Mazda3 w/the Premium Package; before that she had a ‘15 Mazda3 i GT; before THAT she had an ‘06 Mazda Tribute S V6, ie: Ford Escape with a Mazda-tuned suspension. (I’ve also had two Miata NAs, a ‘94 & a ‘97M, but that’s another story.) We’ve gotten excellent service out of them all. Her 2020, like the others before it, is our road trip car - gets 38mpg highway, it’s been from NC to Florida, Texas, Newfoundland, & many places in between. Comfortable, sporty, well-appointed, spacious, & reliable. Sure, we’d look at a Mazda hybrid, but not anytime soon.😎
  • MaintenanceCosts Something that Mercedes would never do, but that would be an extremely revealing experiment: sell both a "CLE 63" with the V8 in a ~500 hp state of tune and a "CLE 65" with the four-cylinder mega-hybrid powertrain at the 671 hp or higher level. Charge the same for them, sell both on custom order only, and see which sells more.I'm positive the V8 would outsell the four by five to one or more.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Agreed, or get the Lexus LC500 with the awesome 5.0L V8. Instead of the EV/PHEV, turbocharged V4-V6 nonsense.
  • SCE to AUX I like the Crown, but it would have to be a lower trim (like the XLE) to make sense.Despite having a Toyota dealer very near me, I don't see many Crowns on the road.
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