1954 Chevrolet Corvette

When I say that if you sit out in front of Fat Dan's and Twenty Tap long enough, one of everything will drive by, I'm only half joking.

It's nearly impossible to distinguish among 1953, 1954, and 1955 Corvettes from a curbside perch, but statistically speaking it's most likely a '54.

See, there were only three hundred 1953 models built and only a couple hundred of those are still running around out there. The '55 only had a production run of, like, 700 units. Of the seven hundred 1955 'Vettes built, all but seven were V-8 cars, and the "Corvette" fender badge on this car lacks the large gold "V" indicating it has the 265 small block, so it's packing a Blue Flame inline six. Ergo, probably a '54.

The fiberglass body that became a Corvette trademark went from an expedient used to quickly translate a show car into a low production model to, by the second model year, a trademark of the Corvette's status as a futuristic and jet-age sports car for GM, and a halo vehicle for Chevy.

This '54 is in Polo White with a Sportsman Red interior, one of 3,230 so configured, making it easily the most common variant of the '53-'55 'Vettes. The 235 cubic inch Blue Flame inline-6 had three single-venturi sidedraft Carter carbs and put out 150 SAE gross horsepower (bumped to 155 with a mid-year camshaft change). The only transmission available was the 2-speed Powerglide automatic; supposedly no manual in Chevrolet's parts bin at the time that would handle the output would fit in the roadster, but it's more likely that it was simpler and cheaper to use the slushbox, plus Chevrolet chief engineer Ed Cole was a big fan of the then-new Powerglide.

Performance was...leisurely by modern standards. Road & Track managed an 11.0 second zero-to-sixty time and an eighteen second quarter with a trap speed in the mid 70s with their '54 test car. It had manual steering and un-boosted drum brakes and a primitive leaf-sprung live rear axle and it topped out at about 107mph, but compared to rolling Wurlitzers that dominated the Detroit scene at the time, it was small and nimble.

And still rolling, seventy years later.

This one was photographed in May of 2023 using a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens.

1954 Nash Rambler

In 1950, Nash Motors added a third car to its model lineup. The luxury Ambassador and full-size Statesman were joined by a smaller model, named the Rambler.

Nash was betting that Americans who had served overseas during the war and been exposed to smaller European cars might want an alternative to the twenty foot long chrome-slathered barges then popular in Detroit. The Rambler was indeed a small car, riding on a 100-inch wheelbase, nearly a foot shorter than that of a current Honda Accord.

It was initially offered only as a 2-door coupe with a retractable roof (not really a convertible because the door frames were still there), but in subsequent model years the line was fleshed out to include hardtop coupes, sedans, and two- and four-door wagons. 

The Pininfarina-inspired styling was revamped for the 1953 model year. This Spanish Red 1954 Rambler hardtop coupe would have been powered by an 85 horsepower 184 cubic inch flathead inline six if it had a 3-speed manual. Upgrading to a Hydra-Matic slushbox (sourced from GM) got you a 90 horsepower 196 cubic inch version of the same motor.

The eccentric front wheel skirts looked cool, but seriously impeded turning radius and they would be gone for 1955. Also gone for 1955 was Nash's existence as an independent auto manufacturer. In the summer of 1954, Nash and Hudson merged to form the American Motors Corporation, so as to better compete with Ford and GM, who were engaged in a savage price war at the time.

This car was photographed in April of 2015 in Indianapolis, using a Nikon Coolpix P7000. No, I don't know why a car whose body was built in California with an engine from Wisconsin and registered in Indiana has a Confederate flag front license plate.