1954 Chevy Corvette Roadster - Feature

John Loeper's '54 Shows What The Vette Could've Been . . . A Lot SoonerOne thing you have to remember about the Corvette: It almost didn't survive its initial ('53-'55) years. In fact, an interdivisional memo written by Zora Arkus-Duntov in October 1954 helped convince Chevy's upper management to keep Corvette going beyond 1955. In that memo, he chided Chevy for considering dropping Corvette while arch-rival Ford's two-seat Thunderbird was still in production. "If Ford makes success where we failed, it may hurt . . . We will leave an opening in which they can hit at will. 'Ford out-engineered, outsold, or ran Chevrolet's pride and joy off the market.' Maybe the idea is far-fetched. I can only gauge in terms of my own reactions or actions. In the bare-fisted fight we're in now, I would hit at any opening I could find and the situation where Ford enters and where Chevrolet retreats, it is not an opening, it is a hole!"


Photo Gallery: 1954 Chevy Corvette Roadster - John Loeper - Corvette Fever Magazine

Photo Gallery: 1954 Chevy Corvette Roadster - John Loeper - Corvette Fever Magazine


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