There was allot of testing and development work done by GM engineering on the very first few 1953 Corvette's. VIN #001 and and #002 are well documented. VIN #003 is less well known. There were two main Corvette clubs for 1953-1955 Corvettes in the early 1970's. The Classic Corvette Club headquartered in Alma, MI and the Vintage Corvette Club of America in Fresno, CA. The latter was run by Ed Thiebaud. In the early 1970's the VIN tage for #003 surfaced in Ed's garage.

Years later in the Midwest another enthusiast restoring a basket case (1955 ?) found his frame was stamped for 1953 VIN #003. In 1987 at a Monterey auction the one with the VIN #003 tag was sold to 3 enthusiasts. (One was an early NCRS "officer", another was a Bloomington "official" and the third was the late Les Bieri (RIP). Last January 2006 the estate of the last owner sold the restored Corvette with VIN #003 at BJ. Below Ed with #003 in the October 1973 issue of the Blue Flame Special magazine, publised by Ed's club: the Vintage Corvette Club of America (VCCA).

Ed had VIN #005 for sale in the April 1973 VCCA Blue Flame Special magazine.

Ed had VIN #013 for sale in the July 1972 VCCA Blue Flame Special magazine.