Before we even get into it, just please take a minute to look at this stunning 1957 Chevrolet Corvette. Ok. Now that we have given it the proper respect, we can get into what makes this Corvette the rarest one of its kind. As you may have realized by looking at the photos, this Chevrolet Corvette is not your run-of-the-mill ‘Vette. No sir. This is a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport, and it’s the only one ever made, and it’s for sale. 

Meet the ultimate Chevrolet Corvette; the 1957 Super Sport

This is the 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport. According to Silodrome, this is the only one of its kind ever made. Chevrolet made the Super Sport a fully-functional road car but was meant for the auto show circuit. The point of building this beautiful little roadster was to promote the then-new Rochester Ramjet fuel injection system for the 1957 Corvette. This new addition would bring the car a lightning-fast 283 hp.

Within four years of the Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport, it had a wreck during an illegal street race (car companies used to be cool as hell), where it was put away in damaged condition for decades before getting restored. 

We almost lost this Chevrolet Corvette prototype 

As with many fantastic concept cars from this period, we almost lost this one forever. This period predated the insanity of car collectors and really collectibles as a monetary concept in general. So, once this Corvette Super Sport was done with its shows, it really didn’t have much value to the manufacturer and little to others either. 

Interestingly, the Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport started life as a regular ‘56 C1 Corvette. It was mostly used to be a display car for a dealer until GM needed a donor car for the Rochester Ramjet fuel injection system. This regular little C1 got sent back to the design department to get gussied up for its promotional life. 

The car was sold in ‘59 to its first private owner. In 1960 the car was crashed into a telephone pole while street racing and was stored in disrepair for years before it ended up in a junkyard. Somehow it remained uncrushed until 1997 when the Corvette Super Sport was bought and restored by a fella named John Baldwin. 

The car was first shown to the public, post-restoration, at the 2017 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, exactly 60 years after its unveiling in New York City in 1957.

What did GM do to make this Corvette different? 

The original engine was swapped for a new fuel-injected 283 cubic inch, 4.6-liter V8 producing 283 hp. GM paired this new engine with a close-ratio three-speed transmission. Other than the engine bay, all of the other modifications were focused on modifying the body and upgrading the interior.

This exterior and interior are clearly pretty different from the normal ‘57 Vette of the day. According to Silodrome,  the original windscreen, wipers, side windows, and folding roof were all scrapped. A new twin-bubble windscreen was added, the deleted side windows were capped with bespoke covers, and the side coves on the car were covered with anodized aluminum panels. The results are staggering. The 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport is Jet Age design at its finest. 

GM finalized the car’s look with a brilliant white and blue motif, complete with a racing stripe. The interior of the rarest Corvette ever followed the same aesthetic, with loads of blue flooding the dahs, seats, and side panels. Hell, it even got magnetic cup holders and a place for a clipboard to keep pace notes were the car to ever race. Badass. 

How much is the Corvette Super Sport worth?

The 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Super Sport is heading to auction at Mecum in January of 2022, where it has the attention of many major car collectors. Mecum hasn’t given an estimated value, but that’s likely due to the blue-chip nature of the rarest Corvette ever. I guess we will have to see what happens in January.