Finished in Crown Saphire with white coves, this 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible is fitted with a removable hardtop color-keyed with the majority of the body. The blue interior features a padded dashboard, heater, defroster, in-dash clock and the Wonderbar radio. Powered by a 283 CI V-8 engine with a 4-barrel carburetor and an automatic transmission, the orange engine is dressed with finned aluminum valve covers, a chrome air cleaner and a chrome distributor cover. Rolling on wide whitewall tires with spinner wheel covers, this Corvette offers a cool demeanor and a classic overall look. For 1958, Chevrolet would offer a restyled Corvette featuring most obviously the quad-headlight treatment, but it also gained fake hood louvers and chrome spears down the trunk lid. While it definitely added visual pizzazz to the Corvette, most were turned off by the garish adornments and preferred a more businesslike styling. So, for 1959, those elements were deleted, and the company focused on elements that would enhance the Corvette’s performance and drivability. The seats received recontoured cushions for a higher level of support, manual transmissions received a reverse lockout on the shifter to better define which gear is needed, the dashboard received a small package shelf behind the passenger-side grab bar, the doorknob and armrest were relocated, the rear end received rearranged and recalibrated shocks and longitudinal radius rods to thwart axle windup. Interesting story behind the door handle relocation, Zora Arkus-Duntov was driving a Corvette in Riverside, California, wearing a raincoat. The cuffs were fitted with cinch-straps that kept finding the door handles and opening them. So, Arkus-Duntov relocated them. For 1959, the Corvette would be offered with five different engine choices, three transmissions, four final drive ratios, three brake choices and two suspensions – again, trying to get back into the performance game over the aesthetics business. But, Corvette also offered customers an ocean of optional accessories like the Wonderbar radio, air conditioning, power windows, power brakes, power steering and a seemingly never-ending array of color choices.
