Model Car Garage - The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible By AMT/ERTL - A Model Car Unboxing Video
Channel: Monster Hobbies Model Car Garage
Date: 23/11/2018

Inspired by the small European two-seat sports cars of the early 1950's being brought back by returning U.S. servicemen, several people at GM began toying with the idea of a U.S. built sports car. Chief among these was Harley Earl, head of the GM styling section. The idea was to build a sports car utilizing mostly "off the shelf" components from the passenger car line, but assembled to produce a two-passenger sports car. This was the European tradition, which allowed a small volume company to produce a sports car without excessive investment. It was also a sound idea for a large company who wanted to test a market without massive amounts of investments. This allowed for much shorter lead times from concept to production. 

At the 1951 Autorama show in Los Angles, a custom body manufacturer, Glaspar, introduced a show car with GPR body (Glass reinforced plastic). This was the first time this material, newly invented, had been used for such a purpose. the potential was obvious to Harley Earl and others at GM; low tooling costs and fast turn around times were the main attractions for this new technology.

Design work started on the first prototype Corvette, named after a small, fast and maneuverable warship in 1952. Only one major change from the original concept of using stock Chevrolet components was made. Instead of using a standard passenger car frame, a special-purpose frame was designed onto which standard components were arranged. From this point it was only six months until the 1953 Autorama was to open in New York. The GM Brass were shown the original painted plaster body concept in early 1952 and it met with great enthusiasm. Combining the GRP body, the new frame and a hopped-up Blue Flame Six engine, the Corvette Dream Car met with overwhelming success at it's Autorama introduction at the Waldorf Astoria. the show traveled from there to Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angles, back to Kansas City, Dallas, and Miami. By the time of the show's completion, people were mailing in checks to order a new Corvette; the news media's reaction was overwhelming and the public reaction at the shows had convinced GM to continue developing the Corvette for production. 

The plan was to produce 300 corvettes in 1953 and 12,000 more in 1954. twelve months after the decision was made to produce the Corvette and only six months after the Motorama show, the first Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan, an almost unbelievable feat. the rest, as they say, is history. Today the Corvette enjoys a worldwide reputation and has proven the vision of the people who originated it in the early fifties.
(AMT instruction sheet)

Today on the Monster Hobbies Model Car Garage we will be looking at the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible By AMT/ERTL - A Model Car Unboxing Video

This AMT 31811 1953 Corvette Convertible kit was part of the 50th Anniversary Series of Corvette kits made under GM licence by AMT. It was originally tooled in 1976 by AMT. 

The AMT 1953 Corvette Convertible model kit is made of semi-soft grey plastic and has a thick box. One very nice thing about AMT kits is that the body, chrome and clear parts are all in a separate bag to keep them from being scratched by other parts. 

Fortunately, the AMT 1953 Corvette Convertible model kit itself is not really that large. You basically get two options for building the kit: the Factory Stock version and a mild custom/racing version. 

Since the AMT/ERTL 1953 Corvette Convertible model car comes 90% Factory Stock in the box, we can focus on the custom parts. These would include the custom chrome valve cover to place on the 23 piece motor. Incidentally, the motor in this kit is the same excellent casting as the AMT 1951 Chevrolet kits released in the same year from AMT. 

In fact, the interior is also a multi-piece affair like it's 1951 Chevy model kit cousin with an option of replacing the stock steering wheel with a custom racing wheel. There is also the choice of a custom grille, square headlights and headlight cover fillers and custom wheels. 
 
As you might expect from the AMT/ERTL 1953 Corvette Convertible model car, there are a number of chrome pieces. The chrome looks very well done and properly thick. I'd imagine that most of us will be using Bare Metal Foil to wrap those parts that have mold lines removed and the wealthy among you will take them to be re-chromed after you clean them up. 

If you like these rare vintage sports cars, then the AMT 1953 Corvette Convertible model car kit is perfect for you! 

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