Corvette: Year by Year

1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

1956 Chevrolet Corvette:

New Styling and a Future Classic

The Corvette received a new body style, authored by Bob Cadaret, in 1956. Strange as it may seem now, designing the '56 was not a sought after assignment by Chevrolet designers. Previous Corvettes had sold poorly and dealers hated it. The logic of the day is that working on a car that people would buy was the smarter move. History would disagree, as the 1956 Corvette styling is regarded as one of the best looking cars ever.

More importantly, its destiny as Americas premier competitive sports car would take shape.

Many of the problems that plagued the 1953-55 models were addressed. The new design featured outside door handles, roll-up windows and a factory sourced hardtop was available. Power windows and a power top were options. The interior remained the same.

Click here for 1956, 1957 Corvette slideshow

1956 Chevrolet Corvette three speed manual transmission

Right: Three speed manual transmission, first seen in a Corvette in 1955, was the standard transmission in 1956. It continued as the standard transmission until 1969. The two speed Powerglide Automatic Transmission (Code 313, $188.50) would be available until 1967.

Introducing the Coves

photo courtesy GM

The introduction of the 1956 Corvette brought a significant styling element known as the "coves". They first appeared on Cadillac's 1955 Motorama LaSalle II dream car. The horizontal scallop would continue in all the straight axle Corvettes (until 1962) and then reappear in later models.

Only about 36% of the 1956 Corvettes came with the Two Tone Paint Combination (RPO 440 $19.40) in which the coves were painted a contrasting color.

1956 Corvette C1 without contrasting cove paint

photo courtesy GM

The grill area and much of the bumpers were unchanged between 1955 (left) and 1956 (right).

Right: 1956 Corvette exhaust outlet. Corvette engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov did an exhaust gas flow study on the 1954 Corvette and the '56 outlet design was the result.

Hood bumps on the 1956 and '57 Corvette; they were known as "Wind Splits" by the design staff.

Dual carburetor set-up, (RPO 469, $172.20)

1956 Chevrolet Corvette Engine, 265 cubic inch, 225 HP engine (RPO 469, $172.20).<br />David Kimble illustration

In December 1953, Corvette engineer Zora Arkos-Duntov wrote a memo that would have a large impact on the direction the Corvette would take. He made the case that the future of the Corvette would be best served by catering to the performance oriented youth market, a segment dominated by Ford at the time. The approach proposed involved making performance oriented parts to be made available to the public and be included on the options sheet presented to Corvette buyers. The results started to appear on the 1956 Corvette in the form of option 469, which added a second four barrel carburetor (left) to the engine, resulting in a 15 hp increase to 225 hp. Also available was a special high lift camshaft, known as the "Duntov Cam". Labeled option 449, it was only available with the 225 hp engine.

Chevrolet went racing with the latest Corvette and was rewarded with excellent success. It started in January 1956 when John Fitch set a production car record of 145 MPH at Daytona Speed Week. He then drove a stock 1956 Corvette at the NASCAR speed week Flying Mile event in Daytona, setting a speed record of 145.543 mph.

New suspension revisions by Zora Arkos-Duntov gave Chevrolet the confidence to enter four Corvettes in the Florida International 12-Hour Grand Prix of Endurance, at Sebring, Florida. One car, entered in the C/Modified class finished first in its class and ninth overall. A car entered in B/Production finishes sixth in class / 15th overall. Another retired after only 20 minutes with a broken axle shaft. The fourth car, also entered in B/Production, blew its engine one hour and 20 minutes into the race.

Chevrolet had a long list of improvements to crow about with their new Corvette, and the sales brochure handled the job nicely. Pass your mouse over the various panels to view a detailed image to the right.

1956 Corvette Options, Prices

RPO	Description	Production	Price
101	Heater	n/a	$123.65
102	AM Radio, Signal Seeking	2,717 (78.37%)	$198.90
107	Parking Brake Alarm	2,685 (77.44%)	$5.40
108	Courtesy Lights	2,775 (80.04%)	$8.65
109	Windshield Washers	2,815 (81.19%)	$11.85
290	Whitewall Tires, 6.70x15	n/a	$32.30
313	Powerglide Automatic Transmission	n/a	$188.50
419	Auxiliary Hardtop	2,076 (59.88%)	$215.20
426	Power Windows	547 (15.78%)	$64.60
440	Two-Tone Paint Combination	1,259 (36.31%)	$19.40
449	Special High-Lift Camshaft	111 (3.20%)	$188.30
469	265ci, 225hp Engine (2 4 bbl. carburetors)	3,080 (88.84%)	$172.20
471	Rear Axle, 3.27:1 ratio	n/a	n/a
473	Power Operated Folding Top	2,682 (77.36%)	$107.60
Total Production: 3,467 Convertible: 3,467 (100.00%) Notes: Base Corvette with 265 cu. in. engine and three speed manual transmission: $3,120.00

Colors

Code	Exterior	Quantity	Interior	Soft Top	Wheels
	Onyx Black	810 (23.36%)	Red	Black / White	Black
	Aztec Copper	402 (11.60%)	Beige	Beige / White	Copper
	Cascade Green	290 (8.36%)	Beige	Beige / White	Green
	Arctic Blue	390 (11.25%)	Beige / Red	Beige / White	Blue
	Venetian Red	1,040 (30.00%)	Red	Beige / White	Red
	Polo White	532 (15.34%)	Red	Black / White	Red
Notes: Interior quantities: Beige: 887; Red: 2,580.