VIN E53F001144

Car Year:	1953
Car's approximate birthday:	October 26, 1953
Owner:	Barn53 Corvette Action Center.com
City:	Springfield
State:	Nebraska
Country:	United States
Purchase date:	Undefined
Status:	Current Owner
Nickname:	E53F001144
State:	Unknown
Exterior:	Other Color
Interior:	Other Color
Softtop:	Other Color
Wheels:	Other Color
Delivery Dealer Zone:	Unknown
Delivery Dealer Code:	Unknown
Options:	RPO	Option	Percentage Sold [%]	Sales Price [$]
	02934	Base Engine 235ci "Blue Flame" 150hp (150hp)	100.00%	3,498.00
	Total		100.000000000000000% (300 Cars)	3,498.00
Factory job nr.:	Unknown
Export Car:	Non Export Car
Car history:
Posted 03/28/2020 Seen at: https://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/c1-and-c2-general-and-technical-discussion/120585-me-gen-lemay-1953-corvette.html Dated 03/10/2010 I subscribed to the Vintage Corvette Club of America newsletter by Ed Thiebaud, I belonged to the Classic Corvette Club '53-'55, and I am member #33 in NCRS. I believe my SACC number is 1963. I attended the Classic Corvette Club Indy 500 Meet (a couple pictures I took are in the newsletter) Sept. 28-30, 1973. My '53 was featured in the Vol. 4 No. 1 issue of the Good Times, titled The '53 that was a '55 for 18 years, The story of E53F001144. In the article is a picture of the car in my folks back yard and a picture of the car taken from an article in the April, 1955 Hot Rod Magazine on the SAC Hobby Shops, with the then owner fitting a supercharger on the Henry J engine he had in it. I rode with John Amgwert in his canary yellow '73 Vette to the 1st NCRS Meet in Wapakoneta, OH June 1&2, 1974. I attended their St. Louis Corvette factory tour meet in the fall of that same year I believe. I attended the 2nd Bloomington Corvette Coral and Swap Meet and several after that. Even though I bought a 1966 Big Block coupe in 1978 my interest waned and I stopped attending Corvette events. Later I got involved with tractor collecting and restoration with Minneapolis-Molines and 2-cylinder John Deere's and the old '53 just sat. I got all my information on the early history of the car from the man in the Hot Rod Magazine article. He said Gen. LeMay was a friend of Ed Cole, and got 2 1953 Corvettes out the back door of Chevrolet Division. Both cars had been stripped of their VIN tags by Chevrolet Division. One was a complete running car which was driven out to Offutt AFB around July 4, 1954, but it had 4 damaged corners. They were deliberately damaged so they could learn how best to fix them and write service letters for the dealers. The other car came on a truck and had been an engineering test vehicle, but was missing the complete drive train, suspension, radio and tach, but had a perfect body. LeMay switched bodies and gave the damaged body and spare frame to Lt. Ivins. LeMay had the good one for his daughter, and got a 1954 State of Nebraska builders title for it, Ivins put a Henry J engine in his car, with an overdrive transmission, a regular Chevy front suspension and some kind of Chrysler product rear end and suspension. He got his builders title in 1955 and called the car a Corvette J. After hearing this story and hearing that the serial number was supposedly stamped on the top of the frame on the kick-up John Amgwert came down from Lincoln with a mutual friend one Saturday in April, 1974 and we jacked up the left side of the body and found E53F001144 plain as day. This has been my 1953 Corvette identity for all these years, but what is the body number? Where is that other frame with number ??? and with body #144? I know the other LeMay car ended up in Seattle, Wash. in 1960.
For Sale:	No
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