There are three types of people in the automotive realm, those who love the vintage feel, character, and styling of an early car, and those who enjoy the modern niceties of a late-model ride. Then, there are folks like David Orr with his 1954 Corvette.

David loves the style and classic lines of vintage cars but wants all the power, performance, and drivability that is synonymous with today’s cars. In the first three years of Corvette development, when the icon was arguably in its most vulnerable position within General Motors, the little two-seater could single-handedly win all the style points. To get a mega-dose of modern performance, drivability, and reliability, this car would have to wait another 70 years.

No, it’s not Polo White. This 1954 Corvette wears a Pale Yellow paint, a custom shade originally found on another classic, the 1936 Auburn.

David confided that he’s always loved the styling of the 1953 through 1955 Corvettes. For two of the three years, the car was only available with a six-cylinder engine that bellowed out 155 horsepower on a good day. Follow that up with a two-speed transmission and you can see why no one is quick to hang the “modern performance car” designation on the two-seater’s early iterations. David’s roadster (yes, it IS a proper roadster as there are no roll-up windows on ’53-’55 Corvettes) used to rely on an inline-six to get around town, but now, it has been endowed with the heart of what was once known as the King of The Hill Corvette. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

In the beginning, only three hundred 1953 Corvettes were built during the marque’s first year of production in a makeshift factory in Flint, Michigan. Production moved to a designated Chevrolet Corvette Assembly plant in St. Louis, Missouri the following year. Corvette production moved again, in 1981, to a state-of-the-art facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In 1990, a high-winding, international sensation was just finding its way out of the Corvette factory’s overhead door and onto the global stage. That car was the 1990 Corvette ZR1. A joint venture with Lotus in the U.K., the ZR1’s LT5 engine was unlike anything ever heard under the hood of a Corvette, let alone under the hood of a first-gen Corvette. But David Orr was waiting in the wings.

David had always dreamed of doing an early C1 Corvette and upgrading the car’s performance with an LT5 engine at its heart. Using a 1954 Corvette was the best option in our minds due to 1954 having the highest numbers of the first three years of Corvette production. Also, with 1953 being the first year of production, and the V-8 coming on the scene in ’55, prices are at a premium for these bookmark years of early Corvettes.

The Burgundy interior was stitched by Kirby Reynolds and keeps with the factory design, but with modern, understated upgrades.

David found the perfect donor in a 1990 ZR1 that had been wrecked but still had many usable parts. Even with the much-newer engine, technology had continually plodded forward and David decided to further upgrade his 1954 Corvette’s dual-overhead-cammed engine beyond its King of the Hill status.

 As you can see, David is no stranger to upgraded C1 Corvettes. He and his good friend, Bill Arkley, have built several cars together.

The LT5 engine was refreshed to 368 cubic inches before being installed in the Corvette. The engine rebuild was accomplished by none other than Graham Behan. Enthusiasts of the C4 ZR1 will remember that Graham was one of the lead engineers at Lotus who worked on the LT5 design team. Operating parameters are now controlled by a Megaquirt ECU controlling the LT5’s 8-Stack induction system and ignition firing order. The C4’s ZF six-speed transmission was carried over into the ’54 ‘Vette since the original two-speed Powerglide and its dainty shifter didn’t give off the performance vibe David wanted.

Putting Stacks On An LT5

You may be wondering how many LT5 engines could possibly be wearing a cool-looking, 8-stack induction system like David Orr’s. The answer is one. A friend fabricated the intake manifold, to which David then installed the individual Jenvey throttle bodies. The rest of the individual-runner induction system was custom-built from scratch. If you think building such a cool-looking intake system came easy, you’d be sorely mistaken. David burned the midnight oil, toiling over many necessary supporting systems to make the engine run properly. Items like the fuel rails, water lines, and vacuum system for the MAP sensor and power brake circuit needed to be hand-made.

The first attempt to get the engine to run in Speed Density mode did not produce the results David wanted, so he converted the MegaSquirt MSPro3 ECU to run in an Alpha-N configuration, which uses throttle position to determine engine load. Having options highlights the ECU’s flexibility, and reportedly, the engine runs much better and is easier to tune in Alpha-N.

Rebuilding The 1954 Corvette

As you can see, David didn’t start with a fully restored specimen to begin modifying it to his tastes. Instead, he located a body that was much worse for wear, to which he began swapping ‘glass panels with impunity. David did a lot of planning before setting out on such an endeavor, and he knew he wanted some massive tires to help connect that LT5 engine to the asphalt. As you can imagine, fitting a 315-sized tire under the back of a C1 Corvette takes a little doing. David modified the rear quarters, widening them 3 1/2 inches during installation to help make room for those huge rollers.

Among other things, Alf Ebberoth also helped with the rough reconstruction of fiberglass work on the body, including widening the rear quarter panels 3 1/2 inches. The finished fiberglass bodywork and custom paint were accomplished by Santiago and Jose, “The Boys” at Empire Restoration, in Sand City, CA.

Since he had the entire ZR1 Corvette, David decided to use as much of the car as possible. That meant he had the wide wheels, tires, and suspension components, but he needed to tie everything together. To do that, he acquired a Newman Car Creations frame for his hot little roadster.

Once the frame was in hand, the C4 Corvette’s suspension components were installed. Carl Johnson, of Hollister, CA did all of the frame modifications for the C4 suspension, as well as the motor and transmission placement in the Newman Car Creations design. The suspension was also upgraded to Ridetech coilover shocks on every corner. The independent rear suspension was beefed up with 4.10 gears to help get the car going, and C5 Corvette brakes up front to bring the car back to exit speed.

Since space is always an issue in a Corvette, a Vintage Air climate control system was added to the build so the Orr family can enjoy their little white two-seater throughout the year. A custom, Burgundy interior was stitched up by Kirby Reynolds of Gilroy, California, that still adheres to the basic styling of the early Corvette but with a much more modern feel. One deviation that could easily go unnoticed until you get in and out of a few early Corvettes is the 15-inch wheel from Corvette Central, which sits atop an ididit steering column. A set of AutoMeter gauges keeps track of the LT5’s vitals and blends nicely with the updated interior.

Driving An LT5-Powered Early Corvette

As you can imagine, this 1954 Corvette now handles like a much newer C4 Corvette.  And, the fact that it only weighs 2,800 pounds means a change in any direction is met with a minimum of resistance. The car’s handling is flat and firm, but not harsh, thanks to the individual tuning of the coilover shocks and proper sway bars. David states he has yet to take a corner where the car leans.

With the 8-stack intake system, the LT5 engine responds very well, getting into the engine’s power band at around 2,600 revs and carrying the power to 7,000 RPM! Those 315-sized tires in the rear can go up in smoke “easily” in second gear, and David admits he needs to be careful so the car doesn’t get away from him when the tall, skinny pedal gets pressed.

Once the heart of the world’s fastest Corvette, the LT5 now looks like it could have been installed in this 1954 Corvette from the factory!

We’re sure that grabbing gears is a LOT more enjoyable with the ZF six-speed than it ever was with that spindly, little shifter the 1954 Corvette came with. We think all the modifications made to this C1 Corvette make it the perfect modern performance car with classic style. The fact that it still has all those classic lines and vintage vibes helps explain why it also makes for a great trophy trawler for the Orrs. In the handful of events they have attended, the car has brought home several trophies. We’d say, by the looks of it, that trend will continue to be the norm. David explains that “85 percent of the car is still Corvette”, albeit likely from a newer model. We think it’s the perfect blend of both vintage and modern components, and wouldn’t expect anything less from such a cool-looking, modern performance car.

Let’s See Your Chevy!

We love to see and share other hardcore enthusiast’s rides, whether in the build process, finished, or if you’re simply enjoying them in their current state. We only need a few photos and some information about you and your Chevy. That said, the more information and images you submit, the more we can show (and talk about) your Chevy car (or truck) to the rest of our readers.

We look forward to seeing what you are doing to keep the Chevy Hardcore lifestyle alive. If you want to see more cars built and owned by our readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all the pertinent information, so we can include it in our Reader’s Ride section. And don’t forget, if we use your car in our Reader’s Ride section this year, we’ll send you a FREE Chevy Hardcore T-shirt! You can send your submissions to [email protected].