On June 28, 1953, the first Chevy Corvette began to be assembled in Flint, Michigan. Two days later the first completed Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the line.

That year 300 of the iconic two-seater sports cars were made that year, and very quickly captured the attention of the motoring public and press. Indeed the Corvette had begun its life as a concept car, the so-named EX-122 pre-production Corvette prototype, and shown at the 1952 GM Motorama Show in New York. Such was the enthusiastic reaction to the concept, the car was rushed into the production schedule. That concept car is now on show in the Kerbeck Corvette Museum in Atlantic City.

The 1953 Corvette was all hand assembled, and available in any color, as long as that color was Polo White. All interiors of the first Corvette were red, and the softop cover was made of black canvas. The name for the car was inspired by the small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, a name first used the mid-1600s.

The first Corvette had the "Blue Flame" Inline-6 engine, with two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, and drum brakes. The body was made of fiberglass, with steel at the time still being in something of a post-war scarcity. In its first incarnation the Corvette lacked a little in the power stakes, something that would continue until 1956, when the light-bodies Corvette had a 195 hp V8 engine fitted.

So car lovers, raise your glasses, and wish the Corvette a happy birthday. Long may she run.