When the earliest examples of a car are no longer suitable for driving
05/04/2019
There are two cars here and both have an unusual history. Let's start with the Chevrolet Corvette pictured above. This is the oldest C1 chassis that has survived, namely the third built (E53F001003). The complete car is even pictured in a GM photo showing the first three cars being completed.
Chassis 3, however, had a difficult life, as it was used for test purposes like the other two and almost destroyed. However, it was then sold with a later body, as was the body that was sold with a later chassis.
Chassis 3 was kept for a long time by an enthusiast who actually wanted to restore the car, but it eventually came into the possession of a collector who decided to produce a cutaway model using an early plastic body. That's what happened and now the National Corvette Museum has been able to purchase this cutaway model. You just can't drive the car anymore.
The earliest VW Golf Cabriolet still in existence dates from 1978 and bears chassis number 8. It was converted into a cutaway model for presentation purposes, in which you can see the body reinforcements (orange) that had to be installed for the conversion to a convertible.
Of course, this Golf Cabriolet can no longer be driven as it was. It is also a museum piece and graced the stand of the Volkswagen spare parts business at the Techno Classica in Essen in April 2019.
