§ V.01What a 1953–1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1 is worth
A 1953–1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1 sold for a median of $83,100 across 1,566 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 1,566 sales fell between $65,000 and $126,500 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $5,600 to $825,000.
Data as of 3 November 2026 · 1,566 sales · January 2016 to 22 October 2026 · auction results only
§ V.02What moves a car within the band
Within that band, convertible cars are the most frequently traded body style in this set (1,341 of 1,566 sales), and manual cars account for 981 of them. Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of the range is wide.
The spread by variant, printed in full above, is usually wider than the spread by year: a roadster at $110,000 and a coupe at $53,750 are not the same market, and a single median that mixes them describes neither.
§ V.03Recent sales
| Car | Sold for | Date | Mileage | Sold by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 Chevrolet Corvette 3-Speed Project | $33,000 | 22 October 2026 | 20,550 mi | Hagerty |
| 58-Years-Owned 1956 Chevrolet Corvette 3-Speed Project | $35,000 | 20 October 2026 | 52,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1960 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed Project | $26,250 | 15 October 2026 | — | Bring a Trailer |
| 38-Years-Owned, 350-Powered 1960 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed | $49,000 | 14 October 2026 | 71,500 mi | Hagerty |
| Ex–Pikes Peak 1962 Chevrolet Corvette 327/360 Fuelie 4-Speed | $84,500 | 10 October 2026 | 51,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| Fuel-Injected, 327-Powered 1961 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed Project | $27,000 | 9 October 2026 | 48,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1955 Chevrolet Corvette 3-Speed | $70,500 | 8 October 2026 | 2,300 mi | Hagerty |
| 1954 Chevrolet Corvette | $80,000 | 6 October 2026 | 56,700 mi | Hagerty |
| 30-Years-Owned 1962 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed | $66,995 | 2 October 2026 | 25,700 mi | Hagerty |
| 1961 Chevrolet Corvette 283/315 "Fuelie" | $103,600 | 2 October 2026 | 73,970 mi | Broad Arrow |
| 1954 Chevrolet Corvette | $92,400 | 2 October 2026 | 7,873 mi | Broad Arrow |
| 6.2L-Powered 1956 Chevrolet Corvette 6-Speed | $98,500 | 28 September 2026 | 1,200 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1954 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed Project | $13,000 | 28 September 2026 | 78,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1962 Chevrolet Corvette 4-Speed | $58,900 | 25 September 2026 | 9,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1962 Chevrolet Corvette 327/300 4-Speed Project | $38,000 | 24 September 2026 | 36,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
§ V.04Price by model year
| Model year | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | $220,000 | 22 |
| 1954 | $70,950 | 152 |
| 1955 | $102,000 | 35 |
| 1956 | $79,000 | 91 |
| 1957 | $87,200 | 180 |
| 1958 | $110,000 | 186 |
| 1959 | $87,500 | 160 |
| 1960 | $80,000 | 137 |
| 1961 | $80,500 | 247 |
| 1962 | $78,250 | 356 |
§ V.05Price by body style and transmission
| Variant | Type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convertible | Body style | $83,999 | 1,341 |
| Roadster | Body style | $110,000 | 70 |
| Coupe | Body style | $53,750 | 27 |
| Manual | Transmission | $88,000 | 981 |
| Automatic | Transmission | $77,000 | 283 |
§ V.06Questions
What is a 1953–1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1 worth?
A 1953–1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1 sold for a median of $83,100 across 1,566 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 1,566 sales fell between $65,000 and $126,500 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $5,600 to $825,000.
What affects the price of a 1953–1962 Chevrolet Corvette C1?
Model year: by year, medians run from $70,950 for 1954 (152 sales) to $220,000 for 1953 (22 sales).
Body style: a roadster holds a median of $110,000 on 70 sales, against $53,750 on 27 for a coupe.
Transmission: Manuals hold a median of $88,000 on 981 sales, against $77,000 on 283 for automatics.
Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of sales spans $65,000 to $126,500.
Is the Chevrolet Corvette C1 1953-1962 going up or down in value?
Down. The 239 sales in the 12 months to 3 November 2026 had a median of $73,504, against $80,000 on 216 sales in the 12 months before, a fall of 8.1%. That compares whichever cars came to auction in each year, not the same cars sold twice, so read it as the direction of the market rather than a rate of appreciation.
How many Chevrolet Corvette C1 sales is that based on?
1,566 completed auction sales, from January 2016 to 22 October 2026. The table above lists the 15 most recent, each linked to its auction record. The figures were last rebuilt on 3 November 2026.
What is the difference between the typical range and the full range?
The typical range is $65,000 to $126,500: half of all 1,566 sales fell inside it. The full range is $5,600 to $825,000, the cheapest and dearest sale that survived cleaning. The full range is set by outliers, so it is a boundary rather than a guide to what most cars bring.
Which body style holds its value best?
On this set, convertible is the most frequently sold at 1,341 sales with a median of $83,999. The highest median among body styles is roadster at $110,000, though it rests on fewer sales. Each variant's median and count are in the table above.
Do manual or automatic cars sell for more?
In this set, manual cars account for 981 of 1,566 sales. Manuals hold a median of $88,000 on 981 sales, against $77,000 on 283 for automatics.
Does mileage change the value?
Mileage is recorded for part of this set, not all of it, so it is not used to adjust the median. It is shown in the sales table wherever the auction record carries it, and you can see the effect directly by comparing rows.
How current is this figure?
Data as of . The figures are rebuilt from completed sales on a schedule, and the date above is the date of the last rebuild, not the date this page was loaded.
§ V.07Method and sources
What these figures are. Every number on this page is computed from completed auction sales of Chevrolet Corvette C1 cars built between 1953 and 1962. The median is the 50th percentile of the sale prices; the typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile; the full range is the lowest and highest sale that survived cleaning. Percentiles are linearly interpolated on the sorted prices.
What is excluded. Asking prices, reserve-not-met results, withdrawn lots and unsold cars are not prices and are not counted. Parts, memorabilia, literature, scale models and other non-vehicle lots are excluded. Sales not made in US dollars are excluded, so these figures describe the dollar market. Duplicate records are removed. Sales below a plausibility floor (5% of the median) and above a ceiling (10× the median) are set aside, because a $22 "911" is a data error rather than a cheap car.
What was set aside. The highest recorded sale in this set is $7,705,000 (1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64, 28 February 2025), and 2 sales above $831,000 are held out of the median and the ranges: at that price the lot is a different asset, and including it would pull the headline figure away from what a typical car brings.
What it is not. This is not an appraisal or an inspection, and it does not predict what any particular car will bring. Two cars built the same year can differ by more than the whole typical range on condition, originality, documentation and provenance.
The set. 1,566 sales from January 2016 to 22 October 2026, drawn from 16 auction sources, principally Barrett-Jackson (666), Bring a Trailer (626), RM Sotheby's (62), Hagerty (40), Hemmings (37), Autohunter (31), Bonhams (30), Mecum (30), Broad Arrow (20), Gooding (8), Acc (7), PCARMARKET (3). Data as of .
See the disclaimer for the limits of a valuation of this kind.
§ V.08Compare with
- Chevrolet Corvette C4 1984-1996 — $18,500 median · 1,626 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Chevrolet Chevelle 1968-1972 — $58,300 median · 1,337 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Chevrolet C10 pickup 1967-1972 — $42,500 median · 1,190 sales · as of 3 November 2026
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