June 30: Chevrolet built the first Corvette on this date in 1953

Sixty years ago today -- June 30, 1953 -- the first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off a General Motors assembly line in Flint, Mich. Another 299 cars would follow that year -- all white convertibles with red interiors, whitewall tires and black tops. Original Corvettes also featured a solid rear axle, two-speed automatic transmission, 150-hp inline-six-cylinder motor, and sticker price of around $4,000 ($3,498 plus $248 destination charge, plus an "optional" $145.15 signal-seeking AM radio and $91.40 heater, which GM included on every car sold in 1953). Still, four grand was cheap for looks like these; a brand was reborn, and the motoring world would never be the same. Check out the period commercial after the jump: