1962 Chevy Corvette

 

The Chevrolet Corvette, like the 1962 Chevy Corvette featured in this article, was General Motors competitor against the Ford Thunderbird as well as the European sports cars. The one thing everyone can say about the 1962 Corvette was that it looked great and had terrific V-8 power. Some might say that the 1962 Corvette had the best engine of it’s era.

1962 Chevy Corvette
1962 Chevy Corvette

While the Chevrolet Corvette was designed with rigorous attention to the bottom line and production feasibility, When the first Corvette was introduced, it’s only real purpose was to be part of GM’s Motorama exhibit at the New York Auto Show in 1953. The Corvette debuted as a concept car.

It was the excitement generated by this fiberglass sports car that convinced GM to offer it to the public. The car was essentially rushed into production in late 1953. It’s been said that the first few hundred 1953 Corvettes were hand built at a truck assembly plant in Flint Michigan.

Initial sales didn’t live up to expectations but GM decided to keep the nameplate going and future design changes obviously made the Chevy Corvette into a household name.

The Chevy Corvette and the Ford Thunderbird

It’s been said that General Motors wasn’t really convinced that the Corvette would be a permanent part of their car line. When Ford came out with the Thunderbird in 1955 to great acceptance, GM knew that the Corvette was here to stay for a while and it competed head to head with the Thunderbird.

1962 Chevrolet Corvette dashboard
1962 Chevrolet Corvette dashboard

In reality the Thunderbird was a somewhat different car than the Corvette. The Thunderbird had a blend of sports car and conventional passenger car attributes while the Chevy Corvette looked a bit more like a true sports car. The Thunderbird in a large way came across as a luxury sports car.

The Corvette models that were built from 1953 to 1962 were actually built on a 1952 sedan chassis. These were called the C1 Chevy Corvettes.

The first Corvettes had a 150 horsepower, 235-cubic-inch six cylinder engine and a two speed automatic Powerglide transmission (Option). The six cylinder models were discontinued after 1954. Beginning in 1955 all Chevy Corvettes came with eight cylinder engines.

1962 Corvette front end
1962 Corvette front end

1962 Chevrolet Corvette Specifications

The 1962 Corvette engine was a small block 327ci 250hp V-8.  Offered as an option was a  327ci 300 hp, a 340hp and a 327 ci 360hp Fuel Injected V-8 engine.

The 62 Chevy Corvette had a 102.0 inch wheelbase. The car’s length was 177.2 inches and width 70.4 inches. The height with the hardtop was 52.2 inches.

The Corvette’s curb weight was 3.065 lbs.

The automatic Powerglide transmission was offered as an option. The manual transmission was a four speed.

Chevrolet Corvette rear emblem
Chevrolet Corvette rear emblem

The 1962 Chevy Corvette was offered in seven different colors. These included Tuxedo Black, Ermine White, Honduras Maroon, Roman Red, Fawn Beige, Almond Beige and Sateen Silver.

The 1962 Corvette was similar in appearance to the 1961 model with the exception of  trim changes. Most notable these included that the cove area on the side of the car was no longer trimmed in chrome. It also could not be painted a different color as the previous models could. The chrome strakes in the cove were replaced with a new grill. The car’s insignia located in the cove was the cross flags emblem. The front grille of the car was now painted black as opposed to the earlier chrome and the front cross flags emblem was enclosed by a circle. The emblem on the trunk was the same as in previous years.

The dashboard on the 1962 Chevrolet Corvette was unchanged from the 1961 dash.

The 1962 Chevrolet Corvette new car base price was about $4,000.

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1962 Corvette Collector’s Car

New cove work on side of 1962 Chevy Corvette
New cove work on side of 1962 Chevy Corvette

Classic Chevrolet Corvettes were and are great collector cars. The first generation Corvettes, the C1 models, are very popular.

The 1962 Corvette, fully restored and in excellent condition will sell as of this writing for perhaps $60,000 plus. A 1962 Corvette fuel injected model could bring in $100,000. Earlier Corvette models in fine condition will sell for more perhaps in the range of $60,000 to $100,000 plus depending on year, exact model and overall restoration.

(Article and photos copyright 2013 AutoMuseumOnline)