235ci OHV Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
3 Carter Carburetors
150bhp at 4,200rpm
2-Speed Powerglide Automatic Transmission
Front Independent Suspension - Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Drum Brakes

*One of only 300 desirable first-year Corvette built
*Well documented, known history from new
*NCRS Top Flight winner
*A true piece of Americana

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

In January, 1953, Eduard Wallach and his wife Rita attended the General Motors Motorama at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, a short cab ride from their apartment on Park Avenue. On display for the first time at the opening Motorama show was the Corvette. Rita was so smitten by the new 'Vette, she immediately put down a deposit to purchase one. Because her father was a favored retired and recently deceased DuPont employee, she received one of the first Corvettes, serial number 075.

Rita had 075 delivered to Brady Stannard Cadillac Chevrolet Oldsmobile Co in Brewster, New York after assembly in late November 1953. It was the first Corvette in the mid-Hudson Valley.

From November, 1953 thru December 1955 they used their Corvette about 25,000 miles, and traded it in to Brady Stannard on the new 1956 Corvette. In 1956, Brady Stannard sold the car to Archie Bower of Danbury, CT for about $2000. Archie joined a local chapter of the Corvette Club of America and used 075 for autocross and road rallies with his wife Dorothy.

Around 1960 Archie and Dorothy Bauer sold 075 to Ward "Topper" Cumpston of Danbury Connecticut. Three year later, Andrew Dohan of Candlewood Lake, Connecticut bought 075 for his son, Douglas, to use. Douglas and his father drove the car until 1966 when they parked it in the garage until 1973 when it was sold to Chris Rowland of Southbury Connecticut for $1,750.

At an NCRS in the early 1980s, the seller spotted an ad for the car in a local Connecticut newspaper with an asking price of $10,000. After a few years of saving to buy the car—and no takers willing to paying the asking price in the ensuing time—Mr. Rowland finally sold it to the current owner in 1985 for $9,750.

The Corvette sat for six years until it was taken to Richard Prince's newly formed restoration shop, Real Cars in Babylon New York. Seeing the long road ahead, the seller ever sold his house to help finance the restoration.

The actual project took a full 5 years of difficult labor. Early bodies with GM Parts Fab fiberglass are very tricky to preserve and require special fiberglass techniques much different than later Corvettes from 1955 onward. Care was taken to achieve spectacular results.

In August 1996 the NCRS held a Regional Meet at Corvette Carlisle, 075 scored 96.6 and received a Top Flight award, a great achievement for any restoration. 11 months later, 075 was entered for judging at the NCRS National Meet at Lake Placid, New York. In front of the world's foremost team of judges, the car received a 97.8, which qualified it in the Duntov award range for judging.

As one of the best examples in the world, it is no surprise that the car was used as a center piece for the Canadian debut of the C5 Corvette at car shows across the country. Following that tour, the 'Vette was displayed in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum of Art for the "Vital Forms Organic Design" Exhibit.

In 2003, 075 was readied for an epic drive to the place of its birth. John Salvio of Steinway Auto in Astoria New York worked to ensure mechanical reliability, paying special attention to the carburetors, intake manifold, wiper/washer system, transmission vacuum modulator, fuel pump, and exhaust manifold.

After the work, 'Vette was driven with top down to the special TODAY show broadcast for the Corvette's 50th and all the festivities in Flint, Michigan—including a parade and driving tour thru Plant #35 where the cars were assembled.

Since the above events, many other shows such as the Dodge Museum Motorama display in Michigan, Chevrolet's 100th Birthday display at the America On Wheels Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and numerous local shows have amounted to some 8,000 miles being covered since restoration. Letting go after over three decades of ownership, this spectacularly well documented, nicely presented first-year Corvette is a rare opportunity to not just acquire one of the earliest examples of the legendary 'Vette, but a tried and true machine that is as go as it is show.