The General Motors "Motorama" held at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel in January of 1953 was extremely successful. In a film featuring highlights of the event, a narrator breathlessly intoned, "The Chevrolet Corvette, and the other customized models, are not for sale, yet. They're here to give tangible form to the drawing board ideas of today, out of which may grow the shape of things to come ..."
The Corvette's appearance at the show was so popular that GM execs decided to expedite its availability to buyers. Barely six months later, the first of 300 production Corvettes started rolling off a hand-assembly line in Flint, Michigan. And as to the "shape of things to come," the first Corvettes had only minor cosmetic alterations from the concept car seen at Motorama earlier that year.
Barely six months after the EX-122 debuted at the 1953 GM Motorama, the first production Corvette rolled off a hand assembly line in Flint, Michigan. Six unidentified GM executives pose by the car which came to life on June 30, 1953. Note that unlike the EX-122, production models for 1953 had no exterior door handles or openers. Side trim was a variation as well. (Photo: GM Archives)
An enduring legend was born.
However, if you were not a movie star, highly-placed politician, professional singer or a U.S. Army general, your chance of acquiring one of the new sports cars was remote in 1953. GM controlled who they went to in order to give the new offering a certain caché and build interest and desire in future model years of Corvette. Among those tapped for the '53s were John Wayne, Dinah Shore and Gen. Curtis LeMay.
In June of 2016, Corvette marked the 63rd anniversary of introduction to the car-buying public. Where are those original 1953 Corvettes now? It's an inexact science to determine an answer to that, but a couple of different '53 Corvette registries list slightly more than half the original number to exist today, and a spreadsheet of all of them shows lots of the word "unknown" in various categories.
What is known — or at least thought to be known — is that VINs one and two of the 1953 Corvettes no longer exist. VIN #3 sold for over $1 million about 10 years ago and is owned by a Chevrolet dealer and collector in Montana. That makes it the oldest production Corvette known.
This '53 Corvette bears VIN #3. Since VINs #1 and #2 no longer exist, this car is listed as the oldest production Corvette in the world. It sold for over $1 million in January 2006 at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)
But since the Motorama Corvette in '53 was a concept show car and is still around, it becomes the oldest Corvette on the planet.
Designated EX-122, it was conceptualized and produced by GM's experimental labs in late 1952. The car has a storied but well-documented history. Following its appearance at the Motorama and six other major U.S. cities in 1953, it spent time in the lobby of GM headquarters as a show piece.
When the '55 Corvettes were being designed to include the first small-block V8, EX-122 was painted red for a time and used as a developmental car.
Over the years, the little Corvette went through the hands of several owners, but it now resides in the New Jersey collection of Kerbeck Chevrolet — one of the country's biggest new Corvette dealers — where it has been returned to its original appearance. The staff at Kerbeck is generous about taking it to various shows and appearances. After all, in a real sense, it opened the eyes and, subsequently, the pocket books of generations of Corvette buyers.
So, what's the EX-122 worth today?
Since it certainly doesn't have any "comps," the word priceless immediately comes to mind.
First seen at the 1953 GM Motorama in New York City, this '53 Corvette bears the designation EX-122 and is "the oldest Corvette in the world." It predates all of the original 300 Corvettes produced during Corvette's initial year of production. Seen here at a recent Corvettes at Carlisle event, the car is owned by New Jersey-based Kerbeck Chevrolet. (Photo: Michael Brown)
