First Corvettes Being Built - 1953

[@4bmain1969427]

Thank you, Corvette Workers, for giving me so many years of my dream car in High School, to the reality after I graduated...

[@thomasingersoll2574]

My father worked on those very first Corvettes.... in Flint Michigan... he told me some stories about THAT... like how they fixed water leaks that flooded the floorboards ...a tube of caulking did the trick...HAHAHA!!!... the first ones weren't very good cars and that's a FACT....but they became GREAT CARS eventually... we had several over the years including a Silver 1963 split-winow coupe and a 1967 427 4-speed....as company cars!!! I feel privileged to have been around at that time......

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thanks for sharing your story.

[@epasternak4206]

Back when GM was the best automotive company on Earth , Corvette was the reason I wanted to work at General Motors

[@felixmadison5736]

You WERE privileged! I was around then too, but only 4 years of age in 1953. I too would become a Corvette lover and model builder a few years after these first 'Vettes were built. A high school friend of mine purchased a brand new Corvette convertible right after he graduated in 1966. He ordered it with in our school colors: maroon paint job, with white interior. He drove it for about a year and has a 'slight' automobile accident. It was a total loss because of it being fiberglass.

[@GeorgeMoynier]

Bummer!!!

[@markbelanger7394]

Bullshit

[@rhm35z]

I never realized how labor intensive the production of the Corvette was. It makes me appreciate even more the manufacture of that little icon . For us that lived in the fifties.....we were really blessed.

[@jasmith1867]

Young people today cannot be told how wonderful it was in the US in the 50s-60s. They have no concept of our freedoms and carefree lives.

[@glenncanale9225]

Thanks, a great piece of Corvette history.

[@GarySNortonPhD]

Great video. The man on the right with blond hair is John Wright. He was active in the hot rod scene in Lansing, Michigan. He died in a diving accident, diving for wreckage in the Straits of Mackinaw, Michigan. I oned a 1963 two top Corvette, in which I raced in many venues until 1972.

[@adrianangelo351]

Some of this looks like film my father took at the GM Tech center. The guys in white worked in Part Fab… part of the Engineering staff. Parts for the 1st 300 were made at the Tech Center and assembled (I was told) in Flint. The guys in blue look like they were part of the final assembly. I do recognize one of the workers in white as being a Parts Fab employee. My dasd is 99 and I believe the last surviving person to have worked on the very 1st 3 corvettes before they went into production.

[@adrianangelo351]

The first 300 body parts were made at Parts Fabrication, GM Tech Center in Warren Mi. My dads workers made them. He invented the process to make multiple parts out of a mold. This is my dads film.

[@davidkendall3887]

@@adrianangelo351 when it didn't open until May, 1956?

[@BobbyTucker]

I grew up in Flint, Michigan and I'm asked a lot about the first Corvettes, I didn't work for GM until September 1967, so I can't tell them much of anything other than they were built here. BTW, We built Chevelles and Monte Carlos when I worked there.

[@BobbyTucker]

@@adrianangelo351 Some of those bodies were built at the GM Tech center at the old place on Chevrolet and Fifth Avenue, in Flint.

[@bengus8148]

@GRANT HART Yep...they were subbed out to an outside Company for a certain time as GM has zero knowledge of fiberglass workings.

[@willsco76]

It's funny to see the workers dressed like the ice cream man right down to the hats.

[@petervitti9]

Incredible! How they were built by hand!

[@243wayne1]

Just like today...

[@s1vrbck_fitness]

Great video! I just bought my first Corvette, a 2015 C7 Z51 3LT. Love learning the history of these amazing cars.

[@jimrowe4177]

Amazing footage. These fellows were true pioneers.

[@robertcates4066]

This is an awesome video, I am one of millions that think that the Corvette is the only way. Have all kinds of literature on the Vette, never saw anything like this. Keep them coming, if you can.

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thank you. We're working on it.

[@my31and37]

Great to see this old footage, very cool to see them hand laying the cloth...surprised to painting with no respirators though..even in the 50s...

[@dannz2603]

Thanks, this is really interesting. At first I wondered what happened to the sound then of course I realized that this was infact a home movie and as you also said, it is rare footage. Strange to see the workers laying up the fiberglass without wearing gloves. Thanks again for uploading this.

[@RivetGardener]

Beautiful and so stylish modern looking cars. What a huge jump in 13 years from the 1940 pre-war vehicles. Wow, I'd like to see those huge tools that molded those parts.

[@KingRoseArchives]

That would be cool!

[@christopherjones8025]

Man a lot of work went into building one of these ! So much work and little pieces. Currently neighbor has a 53 helping him work on . Might be a 10 year project.

[@ozzstars_cars]

Enjoyed the footage and thanks for sharing it. Things are a lot different today when I toured the Bowling Green Assembly Plant this past summer. If these first generation guys could see all the modern computers and robots that do the grunt work today there heads would have exploded!

[@Proteusbound]

Fiberglass, resin, grinding, and paint work, without gloves, safety glasses, or respirators. These men are my heroes. Of course they're all dead from lung cancer, but they're heroes.

[@DANNY40379]

+Proteusbound yeah saw that too, kinda like those troops watching an atom bomb from a 'safe' distance

[@jerrybushman]

Exactly how I repaired fiberglass in the 80s. Luckily is started using gloves, goggles, and respirators in the 90s or I'd be dead now too. The chopper gun eliminated like 8 jobs per body build

[@stonerpage3100]

...lol... Back then it was so easy to expose your body to petroleum based products because studies weren't thorough enough, nor were they even obeyed. The caution label on the contact cement I used to spray in the seventies and eighties isn't just stamped on the side of the can, NOW, you also get a ten page detailed break down of all the poisons and what they do to you when exposed. I never wore gloves when doing the solvents. NOW? I can't even handle the shit on my skin or the fumes. It's a wonder I don't have cancer. The glass work is even more dangerous but also way funner to fab with. These old school techniques were a lot more time in. THIS was the era of hand made goods. We'll never see this again.

[@jerrybushman]

@@stonerpage3100 In the early 80s, I relined asbestos brake shoes and repaired fiberglass with no gloves or masks. In the 70s I welded galvanized tubing with no mask. No one cared

[@stonerpage3100]

@@jerrybushman I remember loving the scent of body filler and base coat and all the different solvents and resin does smell cool while it's drying....hee hee...we're all gonna die of something it might as well be this...lol...

[@CEOkiller]

My grandfather worked for GM from 1934-1966; he was in Tool & Die at Flint, MI. He did not work on the Corvette, but remembers watching them be built.

[@carsbyjeff]

Incredible, thanks for sharing!!!

[@ewjxn]

Great film. This was shot in 1954. The plant was in St Louis then. Flint never had more then 5 cars on the lot and the Truck repair building they used for assembly was much smaller. At the end you see 2 54s with tan tops outside when the cars are driven out. 53s all had black canvas tops. Some 54s reportedly had black tops too (very few early cars)

[@bigstuff52]

King Rose..Thanks for posting this...These vettes were built at the what is now the Flint Truck Plant...They had a building on the north side of the plant that later became an assembly engineering center...At least that's what my dad told me..He worked for GM here in Flint for 36 years and I worked for GM at the Grand Blanc Plant for 30 years.A lot of people talk about the guys not wearing respirators,gloves etc,etc..In a way I got to chuckle because before the govt started jumping on GM about air quality,you could drive by the truck plant where the vettes were originally made and smell the lacquer from the paint shop 24 hours a day...Think about the neighborhoods that butted right up next to this plant and there is one neighborhood that had houses for the GM workers that came to Flint in the 50s..Actually it was probably safer in the building with the ventilators running than outside in the neighborhood...Today you can drive by the plant while they're working and you can't smell a thing...I never knock govt regulations..thanks again....subbed and liked...

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thanks for watching and sharing your memories. I'm not sure if this wasn't a prototype. One of the GM engineers gave it to me and my foggy brain seems to remember that this was done at the Tech Center prior to manufacturing. I could be wrong.

[@BobbyTucker]

I worked at the truck plant for three years til I quit and moved out of state for 35 years. That truck plant you mentioned is on Van Slyke Rd.

[@connorthe1st]

I've always loved the 1953 Corvette. Very sharp.

[@dhy5342]

No wonder they only made 300. It took all day just to do one.

[@carfixer52]

My Dad worked for MFG in Ashtabula Ohio where he Hand layed up the first Corvette Body

[@patrickcouch3956]

Wow. So glad that this footage exists for future generations to see how cars were 'hand-built' in the USA in the '50's. Interesting..... I see a lot of things in the workplace going on here though that OSHA would have a stroke over. Doesn't seem like the safest place to work.

[@pencilneck22]

The thing that amazes me is how much time consuming hand work it took to put together the bodies! You could have built 6 or 7 steel '53 Chev passenger car bodies in the time it took to make one Corvette body. I guess one saving grace is that the mechanical bits (frame, brakes, suspension drive train, etc.) back then were '53 Chev passenger car sourced which made them pretty inexpensive and I guess that offset the high cost of the body build.

[@eddiedawkins5360]

OSHA would have a field day

[@BobbyTucker]

I see they weren't using any breathing apparatus either, that had to be good for the lungs.

[@jimmieroan9881]

@@pencilneck22 your comment is the first ive seen in years indicating chassis parts, im an old fart and like most teenagers back in those day just consumed magazines and any article about the automotive, i remember clearly that the first corvette's used the passenger car frame shortened, when i repeat this in todays world im called an idiot, and after spending not just hours but days researching that very subject i can't find one word that would verify it. now later in life i was involved in the restoration of classics etc using parts books, interchange manuals, lots of the old motors books and masters catalogs, long before the internet, i became the guy to call when you needed to find a part, so that did show me at least that the parts were used for years, tie rod ends, bearings, control arms etc, most pass car and corvette parts were the same i believe at least till the 63 came out.

[@Oscarphone]

@@jimmieroan9881- Pencilneck22 is my old account. Rather than try and look up the password I'll use this account. I'm a little on the seasoned side myself and spent the best part of 20 years (from the early 60s) selling used parts from my old man's yard and referencing (and digesting) Hollander Interchange Manuals. The early Corvettes were passenger car frames no matter what anybody may tell you. And the running gear including the brake drums and control arms, etc. were too. Not sure on the shortening but it would have been at the rear frame horns if done as the overhang on the Corvette is less than the passenger car. As far as I know the Blur Flame six they used was the passenger car version found in any Chev but with multiple carbs and some dress-up bits and in 53 they used a Powerglide trans and no manual was offered. Smells real "developmental" to me and GM could have lessened the cost considerably using existing car bits util they were sure it would be a hot seller. I'm not 100% on this part but I'm fairly sure, until the independent rear was used GM used the same 53 Chev passenger car frame and suspension parts. If not, they used stuff that sure looked a lot like it.

[@connorthe1st]

What an accomplishment. GREAT job.

[@LuisLopez-yr8ri]

thanks for the video is really cool I'm working on this cars 53-54 is really good lot fabric glass and work !!!

[@G8GTJav]

Wow, nobody was using respirators or gloves. Crazy.

[@thelegend3798]

Real men don't exist anymore.

[@freebird7284]

it wasn't about YOU it was about the job.

[@First100Kisthehardest]

Yes, and asbestos was the best thing since sliced bread.

[@busmirror]

It wasn't until the early 70s that I saw my first paint can with any warning other than, 'DO NOT TAKE INTERNALLY', and that can's entire skull & crossbones label was dedicated to reviving someone if they were overcome while using. It was DUPONT'S IMRON supplied by UPS that we applied on their brown trucks.

[@My2ndtimearound]

I wonder how many of those were junked at the factory deemed to be unsatisfactory. Very labor intensive builds. A lot of assemblers wore no masks or gloves. I’m amazed by this film.

[@ttiwkram]

That's a hoot when the guy gives it a kick at 19:52. you can just imagine "craaaack!"

[@rickhalverson2014]

Makes me want one even more.

[@highwaystar8310]

God Bless those fiberglass tecs. I hope they did not get any illnesses from working with those products without any safety protection, no gloves, no respirators, safety goggles etc.

[@KingRoseArchives]

Dan Targa What we didn't know. A miracle any of us survived.

[@bennygreene7429]

metal

[@anthonyforti]

I've heard there were maybe 15 Corvettes in the back parking lot at one time at the plant finished and ready to be picked up. With all the work involved I can see them only building two a day. They moved the plant from Flint to St. Louis, Missouri in '54 and they produced 3640 that year. In 1955 they only built 700 cars.

[@TheOzthewiz]

YUP and Ford "killed" them with the "mini" Bird!

[@Mark-um7ey]

I will itch for a month just watching this video lol

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

Fascinating footage. In the early days of the Corvette, General Motors must have lost a lot of money per sold unit due to very high labor input per vehicle. Sales of the car picked up considerably around the 1958-1959 era which is probably when the production process became more automated. Those white "ice cream" suits were commonly worn by working class men in that era...as long as they had minimal exposure to dirt, grease, oil, etc. My grandpa retired in 1971... I remember him wearing his old white work clothes when he painted around the house.

[@fladrummer1]

great vid thanks for posting

[@Mark-um7ey]

Crazy watching the early production videos. Workers safety was secondary at best. Workers look like they were dressed as a good humor ice cream vendor 😂

[@johnjaco5544]

Excellent video thanks

[@sjelliott1961]

Awesome footage,,thanks for sharing!

[@georgeholbein5830]

And the sound track....Stellar, just like GM 👍

[@jasmith1867]

Was that the sound of an old projector?

[@KingRoseArchives]

Thanks for watching. I think it's amazing seeing the origins of the Corvette. We get to witness the creation. I discovered this footage when I was researching the series, Automobiles, I produced in 1995. It's the series that launched the History Channel and in fact, my show about the Corvette was the first show on the History Channel. But I only used a short clip from this in that show. I've wanted to find a way to share it in its entirety ever since.

[@jhsfiftyonefifty4060]

That was a great show. I remember it. Thanks for doing it. They were all very well done. That is probably the first time I saw this footage.

[@richardphilpott1225]

back in them days OSHA stood for Old School Hells Angels

[@neilwoji]

Unfortunately that is NOT a Flint Michigan GM plant. That is the Molded Fiberglass plant in Ashtabula, Ohio. All Corvette bodies are built at MFG. YES you read that correctly...all the bodies are built there....and if it was not for Robert Morrison, founder of MFG, there may not have been a Corvette car at all. A very interesting account of how the Corvette became a fiberglass car body is retold at www.moldedfiberglass.com/about-us/corvette-story

[@19WhatUp98]

Very true. My great Uncle was Robert Morrison and I visited Ashtabula every summer as a kid and played golf on Uncle Bob's golf course with my Grandpa. Great memories.

[@scdevon]

Wow. So much labor. I wonder if the resins and glues have held up for 62+ years on any of these original cars. This was really experimental stuff in 1953,

[@KingRoseArchives]

scdevon They were clearly figuring it out as they went along.

[@scootergeorge7089]

Fiberglass predates WWII. www.classicglasspars.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77:the-history-of-fiberglass&catid=117&Itemid=439

[@carloswentmissing]

scdevon my friend has a 1954 Corvette and it has held up better than he has..The glue joints are not to be seen in the finish. The paint is a little worse for wear..But all in all a nice car.

[@billrichter8871]

Very skilled workers!

[@armandoflores5297]

read in a trade mag in the late 90s that the average life span of the bodyman right up to the late 70s was around 39yrs old. can't tell how reliable this publication was at time, sure as fuck served as food for thought.

[@stevenhall9009]

The title says.... The first Corvettes being built 1953. As they lay fiberglass to construct the body, once constructed it's tail light section is of a 1956 Corvette?

[@elkameno1959]

I'm guessing this is a secret factory - far away from the safety inspectors. Great to see this

[@critchley3819]

This is amazing, this has made me wonder if they still do it the same way..

[@duncanvince23]

The American Dream Machine, Is Brought To Life.

[@parnellitube]

Wow, even the floor pan is fiberglass. I never knew that.

[@-oiiio-3993]

Why wouldn't it be?

[@washingtonpereiraneto6979]

A Fiber Glass era muito comum nos carros especiais fabricados no Brasil Puma ,SM Santa Matilde, Miura , etc...

[@tomashton1781]

nice hats.

[@donwhite3820]

And the rest is HISTORY !!!!

[@phillipanderson2607]

To think about all that fiberglass they are breathing in their lungs and not wearing protective gloves for their hands. The chemicals too on their skin. They come a long way on safety now. I guess they could tolerate fiberglass in their skin. They were hard working people back then. Beautiful cars .

[@gabinadina]

Had no idea these cars were hand built. Fascinating video, but it could really use some background music.

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

those molds would be worth a lot of they could still lay up parts out o them. a carbon fiber 53 would be nice.

[@Mercmad]

probably still in a landfill somewhere, because out of sunlight they will be there forever.

[@DonnyDope02]

Amazing how they already had fiberglass perfected.

[@SixShooting]

Long Live Corvette! 🇺🇸

[@milfordcivic6755]

No gloves, no respirators, no safety glasses, no ppe whatsoever. I wonder how many of these workers died of cancer.

[@mrthebillman]

+Milford Civic All of them.

[@henrywalker5931]

all did so sad

[@busmirror]

Assembled in what had been the new car final check area until a dedicated plant was constructed. North American Rockwell (The aircraft Co.) was in charge of lamination, as seen here. Note the use of aircraft CLECOS during assembly.

[@spartygw]

Respirators are for wimps. Great stuff! Thanks for posting.

[@ronslaughterandalice1018]

WOW,,,, frame 20:37 you can see some sitting in the background. I was thinking that was the prototype. so 300 really was a lot of man hours for the first year and that's not counting the R&D and engineering hours. Throw in the sub's and materials I'm thinking they were rolling the dice at that time. Glad they won.

[@ikegee7420]

still a good number on the survival of the first vettes

[@waynegillette9649]

just watching the unprotected activities with fiberglass and chemicales make me itch!!

[@josephsolis3018]

Mike Hammer drove one in the Mickey Spillane movie, based on the book, KISS ME DEADLY! Mike Hammer drove the best sport cars and always had the best looking gals around him.

[@TheOzthewiz]

Definitely 2 thumbs up for the Gals, the car not so much...

[@johnnyx9892]

I can smell the fumes from here.

[@jeffwisener1378]

Apparently many commenting here do not realize surfboards are still hand shaped or finished by hand, glassed by hand using either polyester resin or epoxy and not much has changed since these videos.

[@r.o5865]

That's cuz nobody gives a shit about surfboards.

[@metaltiger7297]

Any color you want - as long as it's white.

[@TheOzthewiz]

The white color tends to "hide" the all the imperfections of the fiberglass. Black is the WORST. This is the reason the Fiero was not available in black until GM refined the SMC process making for smoother body panels.

[@mikehileman9476]

And you coukd get any engine option as long as it was a Blue Flame Six...

[@OneKauz]

Pioneers in the 1st youtube creators...

[@williamcharles9480]

Those guys had to have been hand picked first class body men. Working production with a virtually new process and product. I'm wondering if these guys were company supervisors building these first units? The reason I question this is it seems that the UAW would have stepped in on the personal protection part of these builds if union workers were doing this work without even gloves for protection.

[@TheOzthewiz]

This WAS 1953 (Dark Ages). These guys were GLAD to have good paying jobs. The health risks took "a back seat" to a fat paycheck! Some of these videos even show workers smoking while putting cars together!

[@connorthe1st]

It's totally unbelievable how many man hours went into that first car. It should have cost a lot more even back then.

[@chemicalspore]

The First Corvette looked like a pain in the ass

[@TheOzthewiz]

Driving one with that "HO" Blue Flame 6 hooked to a 2-speed "slush box" would be the REAL pain in the ass during a "stoplight Grand Prix"!

[@sonny12681]

This is why the first corvette is worth a lot of money.

[@radioguy1620]

I understand all fiberglass work was done by MFG co , the same co that built boats. my boss went to the boat factory one day back in the early 60,s and the owner showed him a field full of vette bodies, told him he could take them all, he didnt , but probably all rejects. still,

[@KingRoseArchives]

Wonder if they're still there?

[@RobertPlattBell]

These were assembled at my school - General Motors Institute, in Flint, MI (so my professors told me). It was not a school building at the time, of course. They were basically all hand-built. Sorry there is no sound, it would be interesting to hear.

[@rlu1956]

What an era, eye ball gauging and "looks good" quality checks....WAIT! Hard to believe they sold any...at times. C-8 today....so well engineered.

[@JimmyMakingitwork]

That guy worked how many years making fiberglass parts with no gloves on. Cool video.

[@KingRoseArchives]

Great point!

[@72mustangfb]

Where do you work? oh I work in the cancer shop building the new corvette, no resperator's, gloves or any protective measures taken. Nobody thought about suing GM back then but today would be a different story, I'll bet every one of though's guy's died from cancer..

[@gan7658]

rhenk mehengmeheng

[@nitromethane2228]

I bet they were higher than a kite

[@nomiclas]

It's amazing how they just dive right in w/o gloves.no breathing mask.1953,Later on they show the tech grinding with a mask on and some have gloves and some don't.At least you know the stuff was available to them.some just figure they're tough I guess.

[@keithsclassicgarage1133]

They were very labor intensive to build.

[@richardgoldman8761]

@17:30 wicked! Grinding fiberglass!

[@markcrawford8876]

I think it would be safe to say, not all of these cars were created equal!

[@adrianangelo351]

Not sure if the two men at the start of the film are Ed Cole and Octive (?). The very 1st Fiberglass car was a 1952 Chevy. They used the body parts to make molds then replaced thee metal parts with fiberglass. I understand they finished in the middle of the night then took it for a spin. later ran it at the proving grounds, rolled it and found not too much damage. Decided to make a show Corvette. Once Harley Earl bragged (at a car show) it would be a production car they had to figure out a way to make multiple parts.

[@mww-vy2ej]

and probably cleaned their hands with thinners to get the resin off.

[@TheOzthewiz]

Yeah, I hear that acetone is REAL GOOD hand cleaner..

[@VitoBertaudeau]

gracias y compartido

[@libertywagon3197]

I didn't know Lyndon Johnson had anything to do with the first Corvettes?

[@carlosg1165]

A lot of work for sure

[@captlazer5509]

The men shown here were high on fumes making it. Ventalation was probably a couple of large fans and an open bay door.

[@plastic1492]

Would love to see them build the c2 models , can't see the production per hour being very high .

[@rambojambone4586]

Did they stop scratching from the fiberglass yet?

[@tedecker3792]

Like a 1:1 scale model car.

[@freebird7284]

literally hand layed fiberglass

[@JCKustom13]

Where did you find this footage? This is amazing! Who is the idiot that gave this a thumbs down?!?!

[@TheOzthewiz]

A "mini-bird" owner?

[@1940limited]

Flint was Buick City, GM's oldest and largest plant at the time. Were the Corvettes built there?

[@Edward135i]

Wow this car was build just like a Boutique supercar today is, replace hand laid carbon fiber with fiberglass and you have the same thing.

[@TheOzthewiz]

ALL that for a MERE $500,000...

[@tomsmith2331]

All those solvents melting brain tissue ! Dude does not have a chance in hell

[@Dogleg1957]

Now that's a real handmade car.. Also around $3000

[@thebrisbanebennetts]

Seriously, where do you find these clips? They are great. Regards Tim.

[@KingRoseArchives]

This is what I did professionally for several years. I produced automotive history programming for numerous outlets and spent a good portion of my time digging up archive films. I also hired a researcher in Europe to do the same thing over there. I have a small portion of what I discovered and am trying to work my way through this, digitize it and put it on KZbin to share with people. I find it fascinating to see the raw material as it looked when it was made without any other content wrapped around it.

[@thebrisbanebennetts]

Well I for one am very glad you are doing this. Any information re the processes and procedures used to manufacture these and other cars help immensely when completing restorations. As previously mentioned, Thanks so much for sharing.

[@wilkesjournal]

Agree and thank you. There are plenty of other people who can chop it up, add cheesy background music and inaccurate narration to it later. I very much appreciate seeing it here first in the raw, unedited format. Thanks.

[@BobbyTucker]

@@KingRoseArchives A little suggestion? Maybe you should find a few of the older guys who worked for GM back then and interview them before they all die off. BTW, I just subbed too.

[@richardsmith3726]

King Rose Archives 5

[@michaelm1965]

Now fellows let's hustle up before the hardner sets.