The Chevrolet Corvette may be an American performance icon today, but back in the mid-1950s, its future was far from secure. Chevrolet’s fiberglass two-seater looked sensational, yet it still needed to prove it was more than a stylish boulevard cruiser wearing a sports-car costume. That is where a tiny group of factory-built Corvettes entered the picture. These machines helped drag the ’Vette out of the country club parking lot and into the wonderfully loud, oily world of motorsports. One of those historically important cars has survived, complete with an incredible ownership story and the sort of documentation that makes serious collectors start rearranging their garages. Now, this exceptionally rare 1956 Corvette is preparing to cross the auction block. This Is One Of Only Two Surviving SR-1 Corvettes Chevrolet produced just six SR-optioned Corvettes in June 1956, making them considerably rarer than most headline-grabbing limited-production supercars. This particular example is reportedly one of only two known survivors, so calling it rare feels like a serious understatement. You have better odds of seeing a modern hypercar parked outside a coffee shop than finding another one of these at your local Corvette meet. Importantly, this was not one of the competition cars that raced at the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring. Instead, it was one of six production Corvettes assembled in St. Louis with 13 special SR-1 options. The package grew from Chevrolet’s early racing efforts and helped establish the hardware later offered through the RPO 684 and 687 competition packages between 1957 and 1962. The SR program added the serious stuff early Corvettes needed for competition, including upgraded brakes, cooling hardware, suspension components and other performance-focused equipment. Racing had already demonstrated the Corvette’s potential, with John Fitch and Walt Hansgen taking a specially prepared example to ninth overall and first in its