1959 Chevrolet Corvette

Batman thought he had created the Batmobile, but Corvette was first.

A Corvette without the usual plastic we complain about — even in lunchboxes. And a Corvette born without a V8. It all started in 1953, at the Motorama Show in New York, where the first C1 was unveiled to the public. Little did they know… a legend was born.

That legend took a couple of years to get going. With just a 150 hp inline-six and a two-speed automatic, it was already slow by 1950s standards. Thankfully, the chassis was soon redesigned, and less than two years later, there was room for a proper 4.3-litre V8.

Ours? Born in 1957 — with a 4.6-litre fuel-injected V8. Nearly twice the horsepower. Paired with a manual gearbox.

Do. We. Need. To. Say. More?

Ours comes from quite a special place: the Bouvrie Collection, where it stood alongside four other icons to represent what Jan Bouvrie called “the most beautiful classics ever made”: the Ferrari Dino, Jaguar E-Type S1 OTS, Volvo P1800 S, Porsche 356 Speedster — and this Chevrolet Corvette C1. We completely agree with the Dutch design legend. Also funny: everything Jan owned was white — except the classics. Those had to be black.

Our ‘Fuelie’ was fully restored in the Netherlands years ago, and most recently completely overhauled by the specialists at Vintech. All invoices are present, and she’s now truly ready to deliver many more smiles per litre. A gloss black muscle car with a bright red leather interior and a manual gearbox.

Miracles aren’t really our thing, but we’re pretty sure we can come to an arrangement.