Click
here to go back
over 1,100 ’54s were still
sitting on dealer lots when the ’55 was introduced), and Chevrolet strongly
considered pulling the plug on their fiberglass sports car experiment. Fortunately,
events inside - and especially outside - of Chevrolet resulted in the Corvette
getting a reprieve.
First,
arch rival Ford released the 1955 Thunderbird. The Thunderbird was more a three-quarter
scale, two-seat version of the big Ford than a real sports car, and it appealed
to the buying public for just that reason. The T-bird had rollup windows; the
Corvette did not. The Thunderbird offered power steering, power windows, power
brakes and power seat; the Corvette did not. Compared to the comfortable Thunderbird,
the Corvette seemed far more primitive.
Where the Corvette did compete against the Thunderbird
was under the hood. The Thunderbird featured a 292-cubic inch engine with a
top rating of 198 horsepower. For the first time, the Corvette could boast a
V8, the amazing new small block displacing
265 cubic inches and rated at 195 horsepower. Unlike the Thunderbird's Y-block
292, the Chevy 265 was a high-revving, responsive engine that trans-formed the
Corvette into an exciting driving machine. The 265 was backed by either a three-speed
manual
