1955 CHEVROLET CORVETTE TEST BED IS OUR AUCTION PICK OF THE DAY

• This chassis, EX87, was the first Corvette to have a V-8.
• Piloted by Zora Arkus-Duntov and Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose, this car is steeped in GM history.
• The bodywork and V-8 are replacements, but the chassis still bears some tell-tale signs of its test-bed history.

The current Corvette ZR1 features a midship-mounted, twin-turbocharged V-8 good for 1064 horsepower. That's not an expected power output, that's a resolution number for your computer screen display. But wind the clock back and you can draw a direct line from the most powerful Vette of all time to this V-8-powered first-generation C1 Corvette.

Pick of the day at Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is titled as a 1955 Chevrolet Corvette with a 327-cubic-inch V-8 fitted, but it is so much more than that. This is chassis EX87, the car driven by father-of-the-Corvette Zora Arkus-Duntov to more than 160 mph at General Motors' Arizona proving grounds, the test bed used to prove that a V-8-powered Vette was the way forward for the breed.

The Corvette kicked off its lineage with three hundred hand-built Polo White examples in 1953. Think the beginning of the Fallout Netflix series of 1950s Americana: lots of futuristic optimism, chrome, and shiny curves. The Corvette was America's idea of what a sports car might look like, but while the front-to-rear weight distribution was pretty balanced, the six-cylinder powerplant wasn't really up to the task.

Mauri Rose, a GM engineer and a three-time Indy 500 winner, knew that a V-8 was just what the Corvette needed. He had, after all, headed up the team that created the Chevy small-block V-8. Originally an unsold 1954 model, EX87 was the first Vette fitted with V-8 power by Rose, then later handed off to Arkus-Duntov for further development.

By 1956, GM had a dedicated V-8 Corvette ready to go, so chassis EX87 was separated from its bodywork (which was fitted to another car) and had its Duntov-tuned 307-cubic-inch V-8 and manual transmission replaced with a two-speed auto and a 265-cubic-inch V-8. Later, a 327-cubic-inch V-8 replacement motor was fitted.

The bodywork is 1955 spec, but the spine of this car is infused with early Corvette history. Had Rose and Arkus-Duntov not convinced GM's bean counters with this machine, the Corvette may well have gone the way of the Ford Thunderbird. Instead, the modern, mid-engined Vette is the kind of thing that has Ferrari owners mopping their sweaty brows like in that scene from Airplane. The ZR1 is a beast, and this is its genesis.

Further, this example has been in the same ownership for 57 years, a lifetime by collector-car standards. It comes with the expected reams of documentation and correspondence, and some neat test-car features like a tow hook for mounting speed-measuring equipment. It's a very pretty car, in a Richard Scarry–looking sense, but the history here is the draw. Indiana Jones might tell you that this proto V-8 Corvette belongs in a museum. Instead, you have the chance to park it in your garage.

The auction ends May 19.

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2025-05-11T15:03:29Z