C1 · 1953–1962

C1 Options & RPO Codes

Before the RPO alphabet there were numbers. The first Corvette era ordered its options by numeric code — and hiding among the heaters and whitewalls are the codes that turned a boulevard cruiser into a racer: the twin-quad 469, the fuel-injected 579, and a suspension package that cost a fifth of the car. Every option code in the year pages' production tables is explained here; click a code in any year's table to land on its entry. Paint codes stay with their year pages.

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The base car · Engines · The racer's codes · Transmissions & axle · Wheels & tires · Body & comfort

The base car

2934 — Base Corvette Convertible (1953–57)

The car itself, from $2,774 in the early years to $3,176.32 by 1957 — every first-era Corvette was a convertible, and this was its model number.

867 — Base Convertible (1958–62)

The renumbered base car for the four-headlight years, $3,591 to $3,875 — the same code that would carry into 1963 as the Sting Ray convertible.

Engines

449 — special high-lift camshaft

1956, $188.30: Zora Arkus-Duntov's famous cam — the hot-rod part that took the 265 to real racing speeds and set up the 150-mph Daytona runs. The first true performance option on a Corvette order form.

469 — the twin-quad V8

Two four-barrel carburetors on the small-block: 225 hp on the 265 in 1956, then the 283 at 245 hp (469/469A) or 270 hp with the high-lift cam (469C, $182.95), continuing to 1961 (with the 270-hp version coded 468 that year). The affordable path to serious speed — fuel injection's carbureted little brother.

579 — Ramjet Fuel Injection

The headline of 1957, $484.20: Rochester mechanical fuel injection on the 283. In its hottest tune — 579B — it made 283 hp from 283 cubic inches: one horsepower per cubic inch, the number Chevrolet advertised from the rooftops. Milder 250-hp versions (579A/579C) served street cars; 1958–59 brought 250 and 290 hp (579, 579D). The technology that returned on the C4 as TPI began here.

579E — the airbox racer

1957, $726.30: the fuel-injected 283 with a cold-air box drawing from beside the radiator, a tach on the steering column, and racing intent in every part. A handful were built, they went straight to the tracks, and “airbox” cars are among the most valuable C1s in existence.

353 / 354 — the 1961 fuelies

The fuel-injected 283's last year before the 327: 275 hp (353) or 315 hp (354), both $484.20.

396 / 582 / 583 — the 1962 327s

The small-block grew to 327 cubic inches for 1962: 300 hp (583, $53.80), 340 hp (396, $107.60), and the fuel-injected 360 hp (582, $484.20) — the engines that would carry directly into the 1963 Sting Ray under new codes.

The racer's codes

684 — heavy-duty racing suspension

1957–58, $780.10 — on a $3,176 car. Stiffer everything, quicker steering, ceramic-metallic brake linings with cooling scoops: the package Zora built so privateers could race the factory's car without the factory. The spiritual ancestor of every Z06 package since, and the direct forerunner of 687.

687 — heavy-duty brakes and suspension

1961–62, $333.60: the racing package's later form — finned drums, metallic linings, quick steering. The box the SCCA crowd ticked before Z06 existed.

686 — metallic brakes

1961–62, from $26.90: the hard linings alone, for drivers who wanted fade resistance without the full package.

1625 / 488 — the 24-gallon big tank

1961 ($161.40) and 1962 ($118.40): the oversized fuel tank for endurance racing — the idea that became the C2's 36-gallon “tanker”.

Transmissions & axle

313 — Powerglide automatic

The two-speed automatic — the only transmission in 1953–54 (313M), and the $188–$199 option thereafter. The reason early Corvettes needed Zora's defending.

303 — 3-speed manual

The standard stick from mid-1955, coded on the 1957 sheet — the transmission that made the Corvette a sports car.

685 — 4-speed manual

From April 1957, $188.30: the Borg-Warner four-speed that completed the car. Within a few years it was the default choice of every serious buyer, and its M20 descendants ran for decades.

471 / 677 / 678 / 679 / 675 — the axle menu

Positraction arrived in 1957 in three ratios — 3.70 (677), 4.11 (678), 4.56 (679), $48.45 each — after the plain 3.27 ratio option (471, 1956). From 1959 the 675 code covered the limited-slip. Shorter numbers, quicker cars, busier engines.

Wheels & tires

276 — 15×5.5 wheels

The wide-wheel option, 1957–62 — half an inch more rim for the rubber of the day.

290 / 290B / 1408 / 1832 / 1833 — tires

The 6.70×15 menu across the decade: whitewalls around $31 (290/290B/1832), blackwalls (1408/1833) — nylon-cord for the serious.

Body & comfort

101 — heater

Yes, the heater was optional — $91.40 in 1953 (101A), around $102–$118 after. Most buyers paid; the racers happily didn't.

102 — signal-seeking AM radio

The signal-seeking AM set, $137.75–$144.45 (coded 101B in 1953) — the era's top-shelf electronics.

419 — auxiliary hardtop

From 1956, $215.20 (or free in place of the soft top some years): the removable roof that transformed the car's profile — ancestor of C07 and every hardtop after.

473 — power folding top

1956–62, $107.60–$139.90: a power soft top in the fifties — a luxury the Corvette wouldn't offer again until 2005.

426 — power windows

From 1956, $59.20 — the code later generations knew as A31.

440 — two-tone paint

1956–61, $16.15–$19.40: the contrasting-cove look that defines the era — the single most recognizable styling option of the first Corvette decade.

441 — Direct Flow exhaust

1962: the freer-breathing exhaust, no charge.

470 — top color substitution

Beige or white soft top in place of black, no charge.

100 — directional signals

$16.75 in 1954–55 — turn signals, optional. A different world.

The small comforts

Parking brake alarm (107 / 420A, about $5), courtesy lights (108 / 421A), windshield washers (109 / 422A, $11.85), sunshades (261, $10.80), the 3.08 highway axle (203), and positive crankcase ventilation (242, $5.40) — the humble end of the order sheet, two codes per idea as the numbering changed mid-decade.

Paint codes

Exterior colors and their production figures are on each year page from 1953 through 1962. The story continues in the C2 glossary, where the numeric codes give way to the RPO alphabet. Spot an error? Tell us.