Vehicle 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.
