1955 could have been the year that Chevrolet stop producing the Corvette. It was plagued by slow-selling 1954 versions. Styling remained the same for the 1955 model year. GM decided to insert a new 265 cubic inch V-8 engine into car and as well as offered a manual transmission. The 195 horsepower idea worked. A Soviet emigrant named Zora Arkus-Duntov (also known as the 'Father of the Corvette') is credited as being the engineer responsible for making the manual transmission work with the new V8 engine. This transformed the Corvette into a true sports car bringing the 0-100 time from 41 seconds to 24 seconds. Just in time to do battle with Ford's Thunderbird. It is easy to distinguish the V-6 versions from the V-8 version. GM had an enlarged gold 'V' in the word 'Chevrolet' located on the front fender. This meant the vehicle was powered by the V8 engine. The 8 cylinder used a 12-volt while the six cylinder remained with the 6-volt electrical system.

625 of the 700 1955 Corvettes were equipped with the new small block V8