But it did, and now it can be yours – provided you have a couple million lying around.
One of the latest rarities to appear for sale is this 1954 Chevrolet Corvette SO 2151 Prototype, which is set to be auctioned off next month at the Gooding & Company Pebble Beach auction.
If you've never seen this model before, you're not alone. Before the Corvette began series production in 1953, Chevrolet produced 15 handlaid fiberglass bodies for experimental or Motorama use. The Motorama was an auto show held by General Motors from 1949-1961, and after the event, most show cars would be destroyed or repurposed, including Corvette prototypes.
At least two such prototypes were built according to 'shop order' (SO) 2000, and according to the auction listing, “it is believed that one was retired early so its body could be reassigned to a new project – SO 2151,” the car you see here.
SO 2151 began with the body being returned to General Motors' Art and Color department, where legendary designer Harley Earl oversaw its development. The car was intended to serve as a proposal for what the 1955 Corvette could look like and introduced features like a decorative hood scoop, an egg-crate front grille, exhaust tips exiting from the bumper, and slanted front fender vent accents. Once complete, the body was painted Bermuda Green, with a matching interior contrasted by tan highlights.
Unfortunately, despite its stunning looks, the 1955 Proposal Car never made it to production. Yet somehow, it was not destroyed and found itself in the hands of several owners over the years, including George F. Campbell in 1975, who learned all he could about the car's history and collected as many parts as possible so that the car might someday be fully restored.
He never managed to complete the job, but its current owner continued his work. The restoration took three years and over 1,800 hours, but now it is in exactly the specification it was in 1954. As a result, the completed restoration took home The Founders Award at The Amelia in 2023, its only show appearance to date. With such history and rarity, this is expected to sell for between $1 million-$2 million when it goes on sale over the weekend of August 18 & 19.
If you don't have quite so much money lying about, you can experience a C1 Corvette in the virtual world as part of Forza Horizon 5. The current C8 Corvette Stingray is still an exciting proposition too.
Keyword: 1954 Chevrolet Corvette SO 2151 Prototype Shouldn't Have Survived