What looks like a normal car purchase in this mid-century newspaper photo was actually a historic handshake.
The year was 1953 and General Motors had just begun limited production on what would become the company’s iconic sports car, a two-seat convertible called the Chevrolet Corvette.
In this photo, Wilburn C. Hailey, Sr., president of Hailey Chevrolet located at 1700 Broad Street, hands over a new Corvette convertible to Gordon P. Street, a prominent Chattanooga industrialist who was president of the Wheland Company here at the time.
The photo caption notes that it was the first Corvette sold in Chattanooga. There were about 300 of the 1953 Corvettes manufactured and sold nationwide.
Interestingly, Street’s foundry made the oversized steel brake drums that were standard equipment on the new Corvette, which sold for about $3,500 in 1953. Inflation alone would push that price up to about $35,000 in 2022 dollars, but some early 1953 Corvettes (which are extremely collectible) have sold at auction in recent years for more than $1 million.