Searching For The First TWO Vettes Ever

For the past 30 years or so, General Motors has been searching for the first two Corvette's officially built, VIN Numbers E53F001001 and E53F001002. It was said that they were destroyed, but no records prove that fact, and there are no witnesses to the destruction. Of all 300, 255 are accounted for today.

All Corvettes built in 1953 were white with a red interior.

~Amanda

my first thought was that Harley Earl has them, or would know, but he passed in 1969. Perhaps Bpb McLean would know. I tried to search online for him, but there are far too many "Bob McLean"s online...

i know who harley earl is, who is bob mclean? and wouldnt earl have told people if he had the first or second??

mclean is the head designer of the first corvette.

It is a huge mystery...

~Amanda

id like to know what the appraised value of those first two is..

Ed Thiebaud of Fresno, California spent years looking for the earliest 'Vette he could find. As a gun and coin collector he knew a low number would be a valuable asset.

He found 003, recognized by GM in 1969 as the oldest survivor. After all this time 001 and 002 probably will never surface. Are there Chevrolet records of which dealer(s) received these two? Check dealer records or family or employee memories to locate the original buyers, then do a DMV title trace through the years?

Perhaps 001 and 002 NEVER left GM. Some of the production cars were retained for testing and development. In some cases production cars were stripped of their bodies and the chassis used to create test "mules" for 1956 production, racing development, etc. Or maybe they went on tour with the GM Motorama?

I've got this room in the back of the garage. I'm always finding the oddest things there from years past. If not, I'd suggest checking my bedside table drawer, between the couch cushions, or underneath the dryer.

Once they are found, I'm sure, behind the passenger seat you'll find about 15 of my stray socks, 2 sets of car keys, and that darn TV remote.

I would not be surprised if GM actually inadvertantly lost them to other houses for use as showcars or the like. The Olds F-88 showcar sold at Barrett Jackson was a Corvette body of unknown pedigree reshaped into a showcar for Olds, and there were a number of other shapes made from the basic 53'. I'll bet they are hiding in plain sight!