For one of the longest-lived and most famed automobiles in history, the Corvette sure got off to a faltering start. In fact, it seemed like a comedy of errors, compounded in part by over-zealousness and perhaps a dash of conceit, almost sank the ship before it even left the port.
     The Corvette prototype introduced at the 1953 New York Motorama was a certifiable hit, which came as little surprise to the project leaders. Coming at a time when domestic autos were, by today’s standards, rolling tanks, and sports cars were limited to European imports or small manufacturer customs, the GRP-bodied prototype proved to be a tremendous breath of fresh air for auto enthusiasts. Chevrolet had planned to produce 10,000 models annually beginning with the 1954 model year, but given the enthusiastic response of the