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]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.

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.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 31 comments
  • 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.

  • Theflyersfan Nissan could have the best auto lineup of any carmaker (they don't), but until they improve one major issue, the best cars out there won't matter. That is the dealership experience. Year after year in multiple customer service surveys from groups like JD Power and CR, Nissan frequency scrapes the bottom. Personally, I really like the never seen new Z, but after having several truly awful Nissan dealer experiences, my shadow will never darken a Nissan showroom. I'm painting with broad strokes here, but maybe it is so ingrained in their culture to try to take advantage of people who might not be savvy enough in the buying experience that they by default treat everyone like idiots and saps. All of this has to be frustrating to Nissan HQ as they are improving their lineup but their dealers drag them down.
  • SPPPP I am actually a pretty big Alfa fan ... and that is why I hate this car.
  • SCE to AUX They're spending billions on this venture, so I hope so.Investing during a lull in the EV market seems like a smart move - "buy low, sell high" and all that.Key for Honda will be achieving high efficiency in its EVs, something not everybody can do.
  • ChristianWimmer It might be overpriced for most, but probably not for the affluent city-dwellers who these are targeted at - we have tons of them in Munich where I live so I “get it”. I just think these look so terribly cheap and weird from a design POV.
  • NotMyCircusNotMyMonkeys so many people here fellating musks fat sack, or hodling the baggies for TSLA. which are you?
Next