Steve Magnante's 1001 Corvette Facts. Steve Magnante

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      68 Despite its inline 6-cylinder engine, Earl’s stylists added a touch of V-8 imagery to the 1953 Corvette’s tail by splitting the exhaust system and capping the dual outlets with chrome tips. Although some inline 6-cylinder cars of the mid-1950s (certain low-line Studebakers) emulated dual exhaust tips with stylized rear bumpers incorporating a second dummy outlet, the Corvette dual exhaust tracts were real and fully effective.

      69 With use, owners of 1953 Corvettes noticed their cars’ 1-inch tailpipe extensions sucked exhaust fumes into the cabin and deposited soot around the trunk. A remedy appeared midway through the 1954 production run when the length of the tips was extended to a full 4 inches. The extended tips were implemented on 1,523 of the 3,640 roadsters built in 1954 and on all 700 cars built in 1955.

       The Corvette featured these slim 1-inch-long exhaust tips in 1953-on in just under half of the cars built in 1954. The 4-inch-long replacements solved exhaust fuming and staining problems.

      70 Through the years, Corvettes have worn many legendary external engine-callout emblems. The first arrived in 1955 on 265-ci V-8 cars. To tell the world a V-8 was on board, the standard diecast chrome Corvette fender emblems were enhanced with an oversized, gold-toned “V” applied atop the small V in the Corvette nameplate. Interestingly, the chromed die-cast metal inscriptions were the same items used in 1953 and 1954. The enlarged V was an add-on component. Removing it revealed a standard 6-cylinder emblem with the smaller, integral V.

      71 Although it might be easy to make the assumption, the Ardun Mechanical Corporation was not the source of the Duntov cam that grabbed headlines at the 1956 Daytona Speed Week. There, a preproduction Corvette ran a two-way average of 150.583 mph with Arkus-Duntov himself at the wheel. With its .404/.413-inch valve lift, this solid cam was available as Regular Production Option (RPO) number 449 and helped unlock the 265-ci small-block V-8’s breathing potential. The Duntov nomenclature was assigned to the cam because he designed it while he was a GM employee. For a decade afterward, hobbyists loosely applied the term “Duntov cam” to describe small-block Chevy cams with hotter-than-stock specifications. After a decade of (mostly) misuse, the term has passed from the popular lexicon of today, except when used to describe a correctly restored early Corvette equipped with RPO 449. Beyond that, the Ardun Mechanical Corporation was no longer active when General Motors released the cam in 1956. A few years later, at Pontiac, engine development engineer Malcolm “Mac” McKellar was immortalized when a series of his camshaft designs were celebrated with his last name attached.

      72 The Corvette’s low, sloping nose and hood line forced the use of a special water pump on 6-cylinder models. To allow clearance between the fan blades and hood underside, the cast-iron pump housing was designed to position the fan pulley shaft’s horizontal axis lower than the pumps used in any other Chevrolet model. Today, reproduction housings are available, but the laws of supply and demand set the price at almost $2,000. Rebuilt original pumps can run as high as $3,000.

      73 Tire spin was a problem for racers and overly enthusiastic street drivers thanks to the open-style differential fitted to all 1953–1955 Corvettes. Although Positraction was not officially added to Corvette’s option list until 1957 (a $48.45 upcharge), a handful of Posi cars trickled out in 1956.

      74 The 265 V-8 of 1955 was big news, but like 1953 and 1954, less sporty Powerglide automatic transmissions dominated production. Records show that between 70 and 80 of the 700 Corvettes built in 1955 received 3-speed manual transmissions. As for the final Blue Flame 6 models, even though GM sales literature hints that a 3-speed manual was available (the combination was used to establish the printed catalog base price), closer examination of the fine print shows the $178.35 Powerglide automatic to have been a “mandatory option.” The few manual-equipped V-8s were constructed in the second half of the model year.

      75 In later years, Corvette assembly workers were faced with a multitude of possible rear-axle ratios to install. But things were simple from 1953 to 1955, when open-type carriers and 3.55:1 gear sets were the rule. The first deviation came in 1955 when a 3.27:1 ratio arrived for late-year V-8 cars with the 3-speed manual transmission.

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