1954 Sportsman Red?

I am trying to figure out if my Corvette could have originally been one (of 100) of the factory original Sportsman Red cars.  

It is currently white, but is red in the gas cap compartment and red behind the headlight bezels.

I have been told that they did not keep track of the details, by VIN, back in 1954.  Can anyone offer some assistance?

I am thinking about taking off the bumpers and trying to scrap off the white paint to see what is underneath.  

I understand where you're going with this, but the red under the white might just be a prior repaint.  Try sanding down through the current color in an obscure place where they might not have stripped all of the original paint off, like a door jamb or under the body trim where the fender and rocker panels meet.  Original paint will show itself in this order:  Bare fiberglass, dark gray primer, original exterior paint.  Then, various levels of repaints on top of that, with the possible deduction of some original paint if / when they stripped the car at some point prior to a repaint. Good luck to you.  

by the way.....   i ran across this link...

it has color charts for factory paint colors back to the early 1900's...

http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/

it might really come in handy....

oh.. by the way.... early corvettes that were sold new at harry mann chevrolet on crenshaw blvd in los angeles .. were almost all repainted by harry mann's body shop....   harry did not like the waves in the panels...  so he called them a defect... repainted the whole car after a block sanding to get them perfect...   chevy really hit the fan when they saw all the brand new cars with warrantee paint jobs....      i was told this by a former harry mann salesman... so if your build sheet shows it was sold by harry man... that explains the perfect panels...  

Hi Folks,

I ordered, then purchased my 1963 Corvette new at Harry Mann Chevrolet which (for those that may be interested) was located at 5735 Crenshaw Blvd (at West Slauson) in Los Angeles, California.

Also, I owned my own 1954 which I purchased from the original owner in Simi Valley in 1963 and also worked on many 1954, 1955 and later Corvettes in our shop for several years.

I do not recall that Mann Chevrolet had a common practice of repainting new Corvettes at his dealership, however, it is possible.  Also, do not remember any significant "warranty" practices being performed on most cars sold during that era.

Great discussion!!!

Don Cordier  
Don Cordier Aviation
Van Nuys Airport
Van Nuys, California USA
TEL: 818-400-2848