In 1953, the very first Corvettes hit Chevrolet Dealers’ show rooms. Hailed by some as the long-awaited American sports car, for the most part they were derided by “purists.” I can see why. During that time, my father was working as a salesman for a Chevy dealer and he was assigned a Corvette demonstrator. Having recently left the Army, I had used my mustering-out pay for a down payment on a used 1952 XK120. When my dad let me drive…

A typical SCCA starting field after 1956 had a plethora of Corvettes. This start, from November 3, 1957 at Palm Springs, has Jerry Austing (#58) on the pole, Lek von Kaesborg in his 300SL and Mel Allen (#14) in the front row. If you look carefully, you’ll see yours truly somewhere in the middle in my XK120.
Photo: Lester Nehamkin