GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

[Jon S.]

First off, I am asking this for a chapter member who doesn't use the Internet much. I was talking to him on the phone this evening, and he told me about his '58 Corvette, that is supposedly a special vehicle built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of General Motors. He is the second owner of the car, and has owned it for quite some time. Supposedly, the original owner never changed anything on this car, but there are quite a few differences between it and other '58 Corvettes he has seen. He is a relatively new NCRS member, but has not been able to find anyone else who can tell him anything about the car either. Acording to the owner, some of the unique features of this car are:
- Owners manual first page says 'Congratulations on your purchase of the GM 50th Anniversary Vehicle, the Corvette' (or something like that)
- 'CVR' cast into the right rear of the block, with a domed circle cast beneath that
- no soft top mechanism
- the fuel tank extends up into the soft top compartment
- hard top only (white, the rest of the car is red with white coves)
- hood support is on the right side
- generator is on the left side
- interior is a black pebble grain with black carpet
- hard top has no side windows
- no cigarette lighter
- no visors
- no seatbelts
- dimpled aluminum kick panels

I know next to nothing about solid axle cars, so I'm not sure how many of these are really unique, however he says the owners manual describes many of these features (like the hardtop only and color combination) to be unique to these 50th anniversary vehicles.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? I'd love to be able to put the owner in touch with someone who can tell him more about his car.

Thanks in advance,
Jon #10673

[Mike M.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Ruel tank extending into the soft top compartment sounds interesting. can you provide further details on the tank, gas fill tube and location of gas cap on the tube. sounds like it might be a tanker. Also get pics of the side window-less hardtop.sounds like an interesting ole vette. mike

[Mike M.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Ruel tank extending into the soft top compartment sounds interesting. can you provide further details on the tank, gas fill tube and location of gas cap on the tube. sounds like it might be a tanker. Also get pics of the side window-less hardtop.sounds like an interesting ole vette. mike

[Richard W.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Jon,

Like you, I know next to nothing about solid axles so I cannot respond to your specific questions. I did, however, see a gold '58 50th at last year's Bloomington Gold. It was part of a special display of rare cars. You might check with Bloominton Gold to see if they can put you in touch with the owner.

Good luck,

Dick

[Richard W.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Jon,

Like you, I know next to nothing about solid axles so I cannot respond to your specific questions. I did, however, see a gold '58 50th at last year's Bloomington Gold. It was part of a special display of rare cars. You might check with Bloominton Gold to see if they can put you in touch with the owner.

Good luck,

Dick

[Chuck S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Jon, according to my memory, ALL 1958 GM vehicles were "Anniversary" vehicles.

The entire product line was restyled, heavy on the chrome, and were some of the worst land barges in automotive history. They (Chevrolet only?) even had a special puke-inducing color...Anniversary Gold (apologies to all AG paint cars; JMHO.). I have no recollection of an "Anniversary Corvette" that was special beyond having the dual headlights, trunk spears, wash-board "louvered" hood etc.

One cited difference that would cause me to wonder if it's bonified is the removable hard top with no side windows. Since the door glass cannot extend to the back lite, it would have to look something like the 55-57 T-bird tops with the vision blocking pillars. I have no recollection of ever seeing a factory top like that on a Corvette, or even at any swap meet since I've gotten into the hobby. Unless it's a one-off, you would think you would see at least one every now and then.

Now, I remember Roy Braatz' clear bubble top from the period...and it wasn't even factory (At least not GM's factory. )...I think I saw it in Popular Mechanics or Popular Science.

[Chuck S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Jon, according to my memory, ALL 1958 GM vehicles were "Anniversary" vehicles.

The entire product line was restyled, heavy on the chrome, and were some of the worst land barges in automotive history. They (Chevrolet only?) even had a special puke-inducing color...Anniversary Gold (apologies to all AG paint cars; JMHO.). I have no recollection of an "Anniversary Corvette" that was special beyond having the dual headlights, trunk spears, wash-board "louvered" hood etc.

One cited difference that would cause me to wonder if it's bonified is the removable hard top with no side windows. Since the door glass cannot extend to the back lite, it would have to look something like the 55-57 T-bird tops with the vision blocking pillars. I have no recollection of ever seeing a factory top like that on a Corvette, or even at any swap meet since I've gotten into the hobby. Unless it's a one-off, you would think you would see at least one every now and then.

Now, I remember Roy Braatz' clear bubble top from the period...and it wasn't even factory (At least not GM's factory. )...I think I saw it in Popular Mechanics or Popular Science.

[Mike Cobine]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

There were some aftermarket hardtops of that era that had solid sides, but if the car is a hardtop only, then an aftermarket top wouldn't have found its way there normally. The possibility is the factory hardtop was destroyed (maybe running over his own top, like that never happened) and so the owner bought an aftermarket top cheaper than a factory top to replace it.

That could be much more a possibility if the car is a big tank race car and the guy ran over his own top in the paddock, or someone else did. I remember a guy in the Mississippi Valley Corvette Assn. back in the '70s having some home movies of Corvette racing from the late 50s and early '60s and even having a hardtop someone ran over on film. (The '60s included some white Grand Sports at Rantoul AFB.)

Probably the best would be to see a few pictures to get an idea of what is unique.

[Mike Cobine]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

There were some aftermarket hardtops of that era that had solid sides, but if the car is a hardtop only, then an aftermarket top wouldn't have found its way there normally. The possibility is the factory hardtop was destroyed (maybe running over his own top, like that never happened) and so the owner bought an aftermarket top cheaper than a factory top to replace it.

That could be much more a possibility if the car is a big tank race car and the guy ran over his own top in the paddock, or someone else did. I remember a guy in the Mississippi Valley Corvette Assn. back in the '70s having some home movies of Corvette racing from the late 50s and early '60s and even having a hardtop someone ran over on film. (The '60s included some white Grand Sports at Rantoul AFB.)

Probably the best would be to see a few pictures to get an idea of what is unique.

[Chuck S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

You're right, Mike. I wasn't watching Corvettes as close as the full-size cars back in those days, and a "special" Corvette could have gotten under the radar. Checking out some photographs before judgement is the right approach.

It's obvious that the car has enough special features (some of which seem to serve no purpose), that if someone set out to "make himself" a special anniversary Corvette, he was indeed a gifted and determined person (Dimpled aluminum kick panels?) However, you would think that GM would have emphasized the anniversary theme by using Anniversary Gold with white coves and top instead of the red/white color scheme.

Maybe this was a custom executive car, one in ten thousand...er, uh...wait a minute, there were only 9168 Corvettes built in 58. Maybe I should just shut up and let C1 dudes like Mikie and the Dipstick opine.

[Chuck S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

You're right, Mike. I wasn't watching Corvettes as close as the full-size cars back in those days, and a "special" Corvette could have gotten under the radar. Checking out some photographs before judgement is the right approach.

It's obvious that the car has enough special features (some of which seem to serve no purpose), that if someone set out to "make himself" a special anniversary Corvette, he was indeed a gifted and determined person (Dimpled aluminum kick panels?) However, you would think that GM would have emphasized the anniversary theme by using Anniversary Gold with white coves and top instead of the red/white color scheme.

Maybe this was a custom executive car, one in ten thousand...er, uh...wait a minute, there were only 9168 Corvettes built in 58. Maybe I should just shut up and let C1 dudes like Mikie and the Dipstick opine.

[Jon S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Thanks for the info folks. I will try and get to this person's house one night next week and get some photographs. Anniversary or not, it sounds at least like an interesting car. I'll post again when I get some photos posted.

Jon #10673

[Jon S.]

Re: GM 50th Anniversary Corvette (1958)

Thanks for the info folks. I will try and get to this person's house one night next week and get some photographs. Anniversary or not, it sounds at least like an interesting car. I'll post again when I get some photos posted.

Jon #10673