08-12-2021, 01:13 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: ABQ, New Mexico
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1954 Chevrolet Corvette “Bubbletop” Roadster
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A unique jet fighter-like bubble-top canopy was fashioned for the fledging sports car by Model Builders of Chicago, Illinois. Depending on the source, between 20 and 25 of the clear plastic bubble tops were produced. The bubble-top mimicked those of the GM dream cars like the Bonneville Special and Cadillac’s Cyclone. A Corvette thusly equipped was owned by Eugene Kettering, chief engineer for GM’s Electro-Motive Division (producer of railroad locomotives) and son of GM engineer Charles Kettering. Others included Dwight H. Green, the former governor of Illinois, and R.H. McWilliams, president of the Royal Crown Bottling Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri. Reportedly costing $500 each, the fiberglass bubble tops were certainly a pricey option. Today, the bubble-top provides a glimpse into the futuristic thinking of dream car designers of the 1950s and is a unique example among 1954 Corvettes.
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