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1954 Chevrolet Corvette
The 1954 Corvette turned Chevrolet's 300-car experiment into regular production. Assembly moved from the Flint pilot line to a renovated St. Louis plant, and 3,640 two-seat fiberglass roadsters were completed. The basic 1953 shape remained, but buyers could now see Polo White, Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, and Black cars, all with beige folding tops. Published color counts are estimates and account for 3,634 cars, six fewer than the documented model-year total.
Every production 1954 Corvette used Chevrolet's 235.5-cubic-inch Blue Flame overhead-valve inline-six with three Carter YH side-draft carburetors. The reviewed year-specific specification gives 150 gross horsepower at 4,200 rpm and 223 lb-ft at 2,400 rpm. Some identification references list both 150 and 155 hp without a public serial transition, while a dated Hagerty report places the five-horsepower camshaft revision in 1955. This page therefore uses 150 hp and leaves any claimed 155-hp 1954 application for car-specific judging evidence.
The two-speed Powerglide was the only documented production transmission, paired with a 3.55:1 live rear axle. A boxed steel X-frame under the fiberglass body used independent front suspension with unequal-length arms, coil springs, tubular shocks, and an anti-roll bar. The rear axle rode on semi-elliptic leaf springs, and four-wheel hydraulic 11-inch drums supplied the braking. The wheelbase remained 102 inches.
The cockpit held two bucket seats, a floor-mounted Powerglide selector, a 140-mph speedometer, tachometer, clock, and auxiliary gauges. Removable side curtains took the place of roll-up windows, and the doors still had no exterior handles. Chevrolet listed directional signals, heater, signal-seeking AM radio, whitewalls, Powerglide, parking-brake alarm, courtesy lights, and windshield washer as extra-cost equipment; the surviving option table reports all eight on every production car.
Authentication begins with an E54S serial in the 001001-through-004640 sequence and a coherent title and ownership trail. The YG engine suffix, 3835911 block, 3836241 head, Carter 2066SA carburetors, Powerglide, axle, fiberglass seams, frame, paint evidence, top, interior, trim, and running-production details must agree with the car's assembly period. Early and later starter, hood-latch, line-routing, air-cleaner, and other changes should be judged against dates and qualified references rather than assumed from appearance alone.
The cited market series includes four chassis-distinct completed sales from 2021 through 2025 and Hagerty's dated June 2025 #3 Good guide value. Each auction car had disclosed refurbishment or restoration work, and the guide is not a transaction. Current value depends on serial-specific provenance, originality, color evidence, restoration quality, component correctness, and inspection findings.