By late 1954, Chevrolet brass had the Corvette on the chopping block. Sales lagged and the bosses thought it might be best to cut their losses, but in 1955, Chevrolet figured out that the public was interested in V-8s. Initially, Corvettes were only offered with inline 6-cylinder engines, but for 1955, a V-8 became an option. It was so popular that only six Corvettes were built in 1955 with the 6-cylinder. On top of that, marketing, design and engineering stepped up and convinced the bosses that they knew how to make the Corvette a success, and, fortunately, the brass listened. For 1956, the Corvette would emerge as a much more American statement of a sports car. The V-8 would carry over and the inline-6 would be unavailable; the styling would be more flamboyant, a useful top and roll-up side windows of glass would replace the European-influenced plastic drop- down units, and many more details would go on to make the 1956 Corvette the success Chevrolet and GM needed to see. Interestingly, with so many unsold 1954 Corvettes, GM limited the number of Corvettes that could be built in 1955 to only 700. In 1956, over 3,000 would be sold; in 1957, over 6,000 would be sold, and in 1958, sporting a lot of styling and engineering changes, over 9,000 would be sold. Needless to say, it took a bit of time and money, but Chevrolet figured out what American sports car buyers were largely looking for, and the company never looked back. This 1958 Corvette custom is an astonishing testament of what can be done to an already great vehicle. After a four-year, no-expense-spared build, the Corvette emerged in an amazing bright red with metallic dust and white coves, with a custom interior in matching red that won the Best Interior Award at the Hendrick Corvette Show out of 500 cars. Still sporting all the brightwork and trim unique to the 1958 Corvette, including the trunk stripes and hood louvers, it retains its signature look, but with a lowered stance and larger 19- and 20-inch wheels. Powered by a 440 HP LS3 engine with a one-off fuel system designed to mimic the look of the original fuel-injected Corvette, the engine is backed by a Tremec 6-speed manual transmission. The underside is as impressive as the top, with a powdercoated Art Morrison chassis in black contrasting against the red body pan and suspending the 14-inch Baer disc brakes, Ford 9-inch Positraction rear end with 4.30 gearing and a custom exhaust system, among other details. Owned by a professional golfer, the Corvette has traveled 400 miles since the completion of the build and offers a lot of modern comforts such as Vintage Air conditioning, power rack-and- pinion steering, a factory-appearing Bluetooth compatible radio and a restored factory hardtop.
