Polo White 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Flaunts Early Blue Flame and Powerglide Combo

I'm talking about rigs like the 1969 ZL1 and 1971 ZR1, produced in very low quantities and can fetch more than $1 million at public auction. There's also the 1963 Grand Sport, a factory race-spec Corvette developed in great secrecy by Zora Arkus-Duntov. Only five were made.

The list could go on with more than a dozen models from nearly all generations, but I'm actually here to talk about a first-gen Corvette. More specifically, it's an early car built for the 1954 model year. It's not as rare as the rigs above, but it's a C1 Corvette we don't see very often today.

Spotted at a local car show, this Corvette is one of the earliest C1s ever made. Sure, you could argue it's not among the 300 produced for the 1953 model year, but the 1954 version isn't very common either. Chevrolet produced only 3,640 units that year, and this one is serial number 1,274.

By the way, the 1954 Corvette is the fourth-rarest model-year iteration of the sports car. The 1953 variant is obviously the scarcest at 300 examples, followed by the 1955 version, built in just 700 units. The 1956 version takes third place with 3,467 examples sold.

Production exceeded 5,000 cars in 1957 and 10,000 units in 1960 and remained in the five-digit area ever since. Of course, everything above stands true as long as we don't include the 1983 model year. That's when Corvette production went into hiatus, and Chevrolet assembled 43 prototypes and pre-production vehicles (of which only one survived).

Anyway, while this C1 isn't as rare as the 1953 or 1955 iterations, it stands as one of the finest in existence. The roadster looks spotless inside and out and proudly sports the traditional Polo White over red color combo.

This layout was the only color choice in 1953 and was joined by Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, and black in 1954. But unlike its 1953 siblings, which came with black soft tops, this one flexes a beige roof, which is a bit uncommon on this color combo.

In addition to a lovely interior and a perfect finish on the outside, this Corvette also flaunts a squeaky clean engine bay. Not surprisingly, it houses a 235-cubic-inch (3.9-liter) inline-sx engine finished in blue. Dubbed Blue Flame, the six-cylinder was the sole powerplant available until 1955, when the Corvette got its first V8.

Rated at 150 horsepower and 223 pound-feet (302 Nm) of torque, the Blue Flame made the Corvette lackluster compared to the British and Italian sports cars of the era. The two-speed Powerglide automatic gearbox made things worse. The V8 not only turned the Corvette into a proper performer but also saved the nameplate from being discontinued after only two years.

All told, we're looking at a rather mundane Corvette in terms of performance. On the other hand, it's a significantly important rig that reminds us how it all started. The fact that this C1 is a well-maintained example makes it all even better. Check it out in the video below.