Production was moved to a new plant in Saint Louis, Missouri in Dec 1993 for the 1954 production year. Although the plant could produce as many as 10,000 Corvettes per year, only 3,640 were produced in 1954. The poor success in 1953 created fear that the Corvette "experiment" may have been just that without the hope of continued production. However, in February of 1954 Ford unveiled its concept car, the Thunderbird, in Detroit. This helped keep the idea of an American sports car going. In October, Duntov wrote a memo to Ed Cole and Maurice Olley, noting the Corvettes apparent failure. However, he did not suggest canceling the project, but suggested that the Corvette needed its own division.

GM did learn some things from the previous year and were determined to make the Corvette a success. The 1954 Corvette came with a few more options. GM now produced Corvettes in Black, Blue and Red with the option of a Beige interior instead of Red. Polo White was still the base model color. Once again the Automatic Powerglide transmission was intended to be an option, but all 1954 Corvettes were delivered with it as the standard transmission. Even though GM made a few changes to try to peak the interest of the public, they neglected to correct the biggest problem. The I-6 at 150 HP remained a distracter to those who wanted a powerful sports car. GM did add a new camshaft that increased horsepower to 155, but this was a small consolation. The V8 did finally arrive in a 1954 Corvette frame in September. However, none were sold to the public. The base price for the little changed 1954 Corvette was $2,774. This was the one and only time that the price of a Corvette was less than the prior year.