An asking price of $90,000 for a set of old, tattered seats might sound utterly absurd, but this unique eBay find has a story that justifies the price of the one-of-a-kind collectors’ item. Back in the early 1950s, a total of five pre-production prototypes were built by Chevrolet of a convertible two-seater sports car, that would mark the beginning of Corvette’s iconic story. Out of the five, two of them were made for shows and the first prototype to be built had an internal tracking number of 852 and was showcased at the General Motors Autorama at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York on Jan. 17, 1953. The sports car was powered by a Chevrolet 235ci inline-six and wore a white paint job, and it is often regarded as the first-ever Corvette produced by GM. The worn-out seats are from this very ‘stand-in’ Corvette and it can even be seen in a video clip of the 852 on display at the 1953 Chicago Auto Show.
The description on the listing reads, “These historical First Corvette Seats are the perfect conversational element for the finest Automobile Collector’s Man-cave (or She-shed).” The bucket seats were installed in 1952, which makes them 68 years old and also the first Corvette seats. In mid-June 1953, the seats were replaced with the production version, and the originals were returned to either engineering and/or the manufacturer for durability testing. Although the listing doesn’t share information on the chain of past owners, but the ad states that its complete history will be shared with the person who buys it. It will be interesting to see if someone shells out $90,000 for this historically important collectible. Maybe, it should find a permanent place the at Corvette museum.
