‘In fact, it has become an automobile archetype, with 8 design generations, denoted sequentially from C1 to C8.

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‘The Chevy Corvette, named after a small, highly maneuverable warship, was developed after Harley Mills, the head of the General Motors styling team, saw that GIs returning to the USA after serving overseas following World War II were bringing home MGs, Jaguars and Alfa Romeos. Yet there was no US equivalent. The result was the hand-built, EX-122 pre-production Corvette prototype, which was first shown to the public at the 1953 General Motors Motorama at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan on January 17 1953.

‘And why? Just look at a Chevrolet Corvette in profile and you will immediately get it: a motor car that is permanently prepared and poised for take-off at terrifically high speed. All it needs is for wings to manifest from inside its side panels. (Maybe that’s a design tip for the future…)

‘Right now at Beverly Hills Car Club we have a pristine example of a third generation Chevrolet Corvette, a C3. And we adore the color, one on which you could hardly improve (unless it was Prince’s Little Red Corvette, but that’s another story and another Corvette generation…): although its factory color code is #989 War Bonnet Yellow this C3 Chevrolet Corvette looks to us like pure GOLD – as gold as that iconic suit worn by Elvis Presley on an early album cover.

‘It is also rare: by 1972, the year after the birth of our ‘Vette, convertibles were a vanishing breed in the USA: in that 12-month period the C3 sold only 6,508 convertible models – so there are not many around.

‘This itself had debuted as long ago as 1962, at the 6th International Automobile Show, at the New York Coliseum. The detailing was partly inspired by the fast-moving short-fin mako shark, which inhabits offshore temperate and tropical seas worldwide.

‘It is also known as the blue pointer or bonito shark: ‘Mako’ is a word from the Maori language and – let’s be frank – when you consider its closeness to the term ‘macho’ seems most apt in connection with a Chevy Corvette.

‘The C3 Corvette boasted a 0-60 mph figure of 6 seconds and a top speed of 137 mph.

‘Although the Hollywood legend John Wayne owned a first edition Chevrolet Corvette, the extremely cool Matthew McConaughey was the proud owner of a C3 Stingray, clear evidence of his good taste.

‘At Beverly Hills Car Club we wouldn’t be surprised if any day he came knocking on our door. Mesmerised by the vision of our beautiful GOLD Chevrolet Corvette C3.

‘Not bad going for a car whose initial concept is 70 years old!

-Alex Manos, Owner