I have a friend who, in 2003 purchased a new 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette. Every 2003 Corvette built is a 50th Anniversary Corvette - but as we know Chevrolet created a limited edition series, and this is what my friend Charlie bought. And it is a beauty. Charlie purchased the car and put it in his garage, and there it remains. He feels very strongly that when he sells his baby it will bring him a profit and I believe it will. Another friend, Warren, did the same thing. When Plymouth created the Prowler - Warren purchased the Purple Prowler and stuck it in his garage, and there it sits. Now both guys will bring the cars out to clean and make sure they continue to start and that's cool. As for me, I'm not inclined to do this. Yes I have a C5 and my wife and I love it. It stays pretty much in the garage, only to come out on pretty days (usually on a weekend) when we can take the top down and cruise. Sometimes we just take it down to Keller's - the best car hop burger shack in Dallas, order cheeseburgers and a beer and watch other guys in their custom cars and others on their bikes. Great times. But back to the 50th Edition and Charlie. I started thinking about his car and jumped out to the internet - typed in 50th Anniversary Corvette and was amazed at what I found.
The 1953 Corvette was and is a remarkable car. The design contains some of the greatest lines ever placed on a chassis. It started the love affair for a lot of us. The C5 is also a great design bringing the Corvette back to the muscle it was missing in the 80's. No offense C4 dude's. So to mark the 50th Anniversary special Chevrolet gave us the Limited Edition series. Ah, but, there is another version of that beautiful C5.
"What if someone took the look of the original 1953 Corvette - and updated it to fit onto the high-tech chassis of the C5 Corvette?" Well that's just what a former GM designer, Steve Pasteiner did. His company Advanced Automotive Technologies took a C5, made some design changes and created the "1953 Commemorative Edition". Jump out to their site and take a look. You decide, and if you like the design, you can own one of these babes. I must admit the look is very intriquing, you have the '53 look on both the front and back end, some changes along the sides and they made some nice additions to the interior.
From the AAT Cars website - 'Our 1953/2003 Commemorative Edition combines the retro styling of the original 1953 Corvette with the modern power and comforts of todays Corvette. By blending the classic styling of the 1950's with performance, comfort, and technology of the 21st century, the 1953-2003 Commemorative Edition offers the best of both eras.'
AAT says they have delivered 155 of these models. More information and some terrific pictures are available at http://www.50thcommemorative.com/ This is a web site that Chaz Cone, owner of CEC #11 has begun and shows where each vehicle has been shipped and many stories and pictures from each owner.
This site is where I found the 53-C5 photo above.
George -
