58 Corvette

The 58 Corvette was an even better model than its predecessor. Not only were the looks improved for the better but it also was much heavier than the 1957 model . Now if you were used to driving lighter Corvette models, with this particular model you could have expected a weight that was around 3000 pounds, that meant a 200 pounds difference from the model before it. This was mainly because the length of this model was slightly increased by 9,2 inches and also the width was affected, increasing by 2.3 inches. This rendered the overall dimensions of this car to 177.2 and 72.8 inches.

On the other hand, there were also some other minor improvements to the design to give the car a sleeker look. They really took a careful look at the bumpers and decided not to have them attached to the body anymore, but have them attached to the frame and then have those secured using long brackets which ultimately provided greater protection. The base paint was changed and it featured an acrylic lacquer instead of enamel.

The interior was also a detail which was considered by the designers and there were some key revisions made to it. Because the previous models were subject to a lot of criticism by the people, the designers made sure that the driver would be able to have all of the dials in front of him.

Even though this new model looked overall flashier than its predecessors, there were some complaints regarding engine performance because when it came to horsepower, the 1958 Corvette model did not have any improvements. The engine was the one that was using fuel injection, and it was a Duntov-cam 283 which ran at 6200 RPM and featured 290 horse power.

Furthermore there was an option on the Corvette involving twin carburetors which ran at 270 bhp but even though it was a good option, there weren’t many buyers who decided to opt for it. In that order, the 230-bhp V8 was responsible for nearly 50% of the engine installations and only a small number of units were sold with a fuel injection engine (1500). Thus 500 units featured the 250 BHP engine and the rest of the 1000 units featured the 290 BHP engine. This is the second in its train and job in the same 5885

The base price of the 1958 model was $3591 and it was a great price considering what the car could perform for that kind of money.