The 1958 Chevrolet Corvette convertible that Bob Brown has on the auction block spent a long time as a “prop,” to use Brown’s description.Brown, president of Atlanta’s Red Baron’s Antiques, said in a recent phone interview that he sold the Vette 25 years ago to a customer who owns “what I think is still the largest house in Atlanta.” The customer, a teetotaler, replicated a 1950s-style soda fountain in his house and parked the Corvette there for years before Brown repurchased it.”I get a lot of cars from people who leave them in the living room,” said Brown. News source: Forbes.com He expects the ’58 Vette, which he says is “almost mint,” will fetch $100,000 to $150,000–two or three times the price of a 2007 Corvette.More than 50 years after its introduction, the Vette is still one of the most beloved and popular sports cars. Collectors adore the first-generation Corvettes (1953 to 1962 models), but might not be aware that the vehicle almost did not survive.The first Corvette, the 1953 model, came about because storied General Motors (nyse: GM – news – people ) designer Harley Earl wanted to take on Jaguar’s elegant, sporty XK120 coupe–the car driven by such Hollywood stars as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable.The 1953 Vette copied a great deal from the XK120, but it was not a great sports car. With a 150-horsepower, six-cylinder engine, it was slow, and it had a non-sports-car transmission: a two-speed automatic. It was notable, however, for being the first mass-produced car with a fiberglass body, and for being twice as expensive as any other Chevy of the day (base price: $3,550).The Vette seemed destined for failure until the 1955 model, into which Chevy dropped an optional V-8 engine (Corvettes to this day use V-8s). The Vette became a performance car, sales began to take off and a legacy was born. The 1956 Vette could reach 118 miles per hour, and 1957 Corvettes with fuel-injected engines could reach 132 mph. Finally, the Vette could take on Jag’s XK.Brown’s 1958 convertible is from the first wave of great Corvette performers. While the standard ’58 engine was a 230-hp V-8, Brown’s model came equipped with the optional, 270-hp engine. His car uses a three-speed manual transmission (much sportier than the gearboxes on the first Vettes) and is red and white, with a red interior.While Corvette styling changed a lot between 1953 and 1958, one element stuck around: the “toothy grille,” as car designer Robert Cumberford calls it–even though it had fewer vertical bars by 1958. The Standard Catalog of American Cars writes that “Corvette styling was jazzed up for 1958” with such elements as quadruple, chrome-rimmed headlights with fender-length chrome strips running between each pair of lights; a pair of vertical chrome bars on the trunk; and larger bumpers