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The mythical 1990 ZR-1 |  [Press] 1953 'Vette, a Classic Car Recovered
From Newsday.com:
1953 'Vette, a Classic Car Recovered
JOHN VALENTI
October 23, 2002
For years he searched for it. Through records and receipts, through garages and across backyards. From owner to owner to owner. When Alan Blay finally found it, it was in a barn in Southbury, Conn.
It would have been a "parts car" - so-called because it is so far gone its only use is to be "parted out," sold as parts - except for one thing: It was a 1953 Corvette, the first production model of what has since become the quintessential American sports car. And it was rare: Number 75 out of 300 built.
Twenty-five years after he tracked it down and bought it for $6,000 - and 50 years after it was introduced to a nation of drivers seeking inspiration behind the wheel - No. 75 was turning heads again last weekend at Nassau Coliseum. One of almost 100 collectible and antique cars out on the concourse for Long Island Auto Expo 2003, there it was in Polo white with a red interior, wearing whitewall tires, its headlights staring out across generations of car buyers - the confident, though understated, patriarch of the entire genre of American sports cars.
So what if it came with a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, not a stick, and a Blue Flame inline six-cylinder engine that displaced 235 cubic inches, produced just 150 horsepower and propelled it from 0 to 60 mph in a pedestrian 11 seconds?
It was the car that inspired American manufacturers to build sports cars for the masses.
It was the reason for the Ford Thunderbird in 1955. It was the reason for the American sports car explosion of the 1960s: See Ford Mustangs and Mercury Cougars, Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds, Olds 442s and Pontiac GTOs, Plymouth Roadrunners and Barracudas, Rambler Marlins and a host of other automobiles that have since faded into folklore.
"The concept of what the car was - and, what it should be - is what made the Corvette what it is today, the definition of the American sports car," Blay, 53, of Bellmore, said. "Kaiser went out of business. Willys and Nash failed in their pursuits. The T-Bird underwent so many evolutions . . . But the Corvette? It has always been a stylish, two-seat performance vehicle that is affordable to people who earn a decent living."
The 1953 Corvette was the brainchild of General Motors styling czar Harley Earl, who envisioned it one spring evening in 1952. It is based on organic design - its fluid shape is supposed to resemble a living organism - and, in fact, Blay even had his car featured in an organic design exhibit last year at the Brooklyn Museum of Art with the Eames Chair, Eva Zeisel utensils and the Slinky.
The Corvette got its shape because it was not made of steel, like the cars of its day, but of fiberglass. Of little known fact is that, while the car was manufactured in Flint, Mich., the fiberglass panels were made of hand-laid cloth and resin here on Long Island - at Lunn Laminates of Huntington Station.
A plastics pioneer, James Lunn, a native of Bemidji, Minn., and a 1930 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, built components for the Air Force One used by President Harry S. Truman, the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus and all 1953 Corvettes.
The shape - and look - of Corvettes has always attracted the interest of Blay, a 1967 graduate of Calhoun High School in Merrick and a 1972 graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he studied engineering.
He first fell in love with a 1967 Corvette - yellow over black interior - as a senior at Calhoun. But it cost $5,000. And he couldn't even afford the down payment. Five years later, Blay bought a 1962 Corvette. He has been collecting them ever since.
He estimates he has owned at least 30 Corvettes, including one of every model from 1953 to 1962.
But it is No. 75 that is his baby.
Blay has spent about 3,000 man-hours - and, by his estimate, "more than $100,000" - to restore the car to original condition. Now in the collectible car insurance business, Blay estimates his Corvette is one of only about 50 to 60 restored to such pristine condition.
Car and Driver magazine estimated a restored 1953 version to be worth between $125,000 and $190,000.
Of course, Blay is not alone in his passion for collectible and antique cars. Or, for cars in general. The Long Island Auto Expo featured all sorts of head-turners - among them, a 1956 Jaguar, a 1950 Merc, a 1936 Packard and a 1913 Model T Ford. And there are hundreds of car clubs on Long Island, celebrating everything from Mazda Miatas to Jeeps.
The 50th Anniversary Corvette is on sale now. The C6 - or sixth generation Corvette - is slated to appear in 2004. Still, the 1953 Corvette is notable because it is the first of one of the longest-standing models in automotive history. Perhaps only the Volkswagen Beetle and Jeep have been around longer. It is notable because of its influence on the car industry. And because it inspired a line of cars that continues to tantalize and tempt drivers today.
"There is just something about a Corvette," Blay said. "Something indescribable. It's a dream car. The kind of car we all want to own."
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
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