How many 57 Corvettes?

[Robert Willis]

Re: How many 57 Corvettes?

In my part of the world there seems to be a higher percentage of 56s than 57s ???
You would think with more 57s being built that you would see more of them. Did the 57s get used up in racing accidents etc. or are they sitting in garages ?

While driving my 57 I have never met another one on the road.

Bob

http://members.kos.net/willisb/vette.html

[Michael Jones]

Re: How many 57 Corvettes?

Wasn't that survey part of the Mike Hunt exercise mentioned in a post above? If so, I think their number is too low just based on probabilities. I say this because, just for fun, I kept a running log of '57s for sale in the DriveLine and VetteVues magazine along with their VINs which are a required item in the ads. Out of about twenty-five 1957 Corvettes offered for sale in these two publications I think I only found two or three that were included in Hunt's list. I think I remember that Hunt identified somewhere right around 1000 cars. This leads me to conject that one must be careful when using Hunt's figures in the survivor calculation since it appears that there are more '57s out there than Hunt's numbers would lead one to surmise. Hunt stated in the March 1982 VetteVues that he had documented about 15% of the surviving '57s (about 900+) and "it's my suspicion that there are twice as many cars out there". So Hunt votes for a thirty percent survival rate (in 1982).

Another factor contributing to a higher percentage surviving is that Vette bodies don't rust and fewer of them ended up in the bone yard due to rust.

Also, I have personally seen three '57s resurrected from the dead recently. This was made possible by the dramatic runup in the value of these cars over the last 15 years or so. Seems like every town worth its salt has a resto shop now!

My guesstimate is 50-60%survive. And yes, I would include derelict '57s stashed away in locked garages that still possess enough parts to allow reasonable restoration.

Michael

[Robert L.]

Re: How many 57 Corvettes?

For what it is worth, Mike Hunt's August 1981 "Research Project 1956/1957" Report #4 states "Perhaps 2000 of the 6339 1957 Corvettes originally built are still in existence."

All in all, there was/is a ton of good information in these reports.

Bob Lemke
MCMLVII