Description

Chassis No. E57S105519

Sometimes the stars align, and everything comes together in one landmark machine. The 1957 Corvette, especially those equipped with the new Rochester “Ram-Jet” fuel-injection option, is one such automobile. Chevrolet's small tri-fold brochure for the 1957 model condensed the Corvette experience into one word: FUN! Not that the Corvettes built during the four-year gestation leading up to this groundbreaking model were not – but the 1957 Corvette definitively turned fun into FUN!

GM's mechanical fuel-injection system, designed by the brilliant Chevrolet engineer John Dolza, was elegantly simple, and functioned remarkably well for such a new concept. Two versions were offered, most notably the powerful RPO 579B option, adding 13 hp over the high-performance carbureted versions of the new 283 cu-in V8, while preventing fuel flooding and starvation when driven hard. Rated at 283 hp, and requiring a manual transmission, this was just the second American production engine to reach the storied one-horsepower-per-cubic-inch benchmark. But a second lower performance version, RPO 579A, was available, featuring reduced compression and hydraulic lifters, delivering 250 hp. Both automatic and manual transmissions could be had with this option.

Chevrolet built 713 of the landmark 283 hp 579B Corvettes in 1957. However, just 182 of the 579A models were ordered that year, and this 579A, built on approximately Monday 29 July 1957, is exceptionally original, benefiting from the ownership of just a handful of dedicated Corvette enthusiasts from new. It's dressed elegantly in Onyx Black with the optional Inca Silver “coves” as from the factory, which was resprayed in the late 1970s. The original red vinyl interior offsets the paint beautifully, while the Corvette's original fuel-injected 250 hp engine drives the Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual transmission. Other than the paint, all else has been carefully maintained and preserved, documented in a story in the July 1997 issue of Vette Vues magazine. So preserved that noted historian Noland Adams featured this “fuelie” in his book on fuel-injected Corvettes. In 1999 this Corvette was invited to the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance overlooking Long Island Sound. It has earned many regional Top Flight awards over the years from the National Corvette Restorers Society, confirming its historic accuracy. More recently it was Bloomington Gold OEM Gold Certified in 2019 verifying the original engine is present along with the car's from-factory condition.