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This model commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the 1955 Corvette. Danbury's replica will be produced until December 31, 2005 and then ended forever.
By 1955, only the third year of production for the Corvette, most automotive mavens realized that the sports car needed a couple of things to enhance its image; handling and performance. It received both. The power came in the form of a brand new Chevrolet V-8. A 265 cubic inch motor, it built 195 horsepower at 5000 rpm’s. It was an option for ’55 as the six cylinder motor was still standard. Very few six cylinder cars were sold for ’55 and fewer survive today. That’s how much people wanted the little small-block eight. Late in the model year, the two-speed Powerglide transmission became an option when the three-speed manual gearbox became standard. Danbury replicated the
V-8, three-speed manual shift car in this numbered limited edition and opted to paint the little doll baby red. If ever we could make the case for another red car, this is it. Gypsy Red is not only a ‘period’ color but it is a classic tone that does not scream like Ferrari Red or shrink like a pastel 50’s rose petal. It is quiet and demure and filthy rich once optioned out with Light Beige interior and a Beige soft top.
The engine and color choice makes this another ‘must have’ issue for the Corvette or detail-conscious collector in all of us. Like the ’53 and ’54 DM releases, everything opens and functionality is terrific. The doors operate on the internal hinges that DM made famous. The tonneau panel opens to show the simulated ‘top down’ top. The trunk opens up and displays all of its goodies. There is a full sized spare, jack tools and spare cover with jacking instructions affixed thereto and a leather (real, of course) storage bag for the side curtains. The gas filler door opens and the hood raises on slim, scaled hinges held up with a working prop rod. The interior is awash in perfect detail. The dash has readable gauges and radio detailing, the floor, carpeted in tan, shows off a driver’s heel mat and headlight hi-beam foot button and the steering wheel is tampo’ed with a tiny Corvette crossed flags emblem. DM surrounded the three-speed shifter with a totally realistic photo-etched mounting plate. The seats, almost white in bright light, reveal the most minute red dot pattern in the valleys of the inset tucks. There are miniature air vents up by the base of the windshield and the interior view of the cloth ‘up’ top is amazing. Its flat black framing is very realistic.
The chassis is carried over from the ’53 and ’54, as it was on the 1:1 and looks remarkably like a real one, right down to the notch milled out in the passenger's side frame rail to clear the new V-8's fuel pump! Emergency brake cabling, fashioned with a metal spring and wire. Seen from below, also, are magnificent details from under the engine area. You will see a breather tube, transmission linkage and plug wires. Up top, with the hood open, the Vette’s first V-8 shines, literally. The Rochester four-barrel carburetor is fed by a fully chromed air cleaner. The valve covers are chromed and so is the distributor cap. You just have to check out the throttle linkage, done in metal wires, and the genuine metal return spring. As the case with the 1:1, DM signified the car to be a V-8 by making the “V” of Chevrolet, tampo’ed to each front fender, a larger font in gold. The model received the longer exhaust tips that the ’54 got and they are done in metal.
This is a delightful little model. DM went the extra mile to build in exacting details on their early Vettes. I rank this a solid 9.8 on the Thrillometer!
Issue price is $135.
(02/11/2005)
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