The few sites that do describe what it's like to drive a C1 seem to compare it to a small truck, and after all, it does have a solid rear axle, leaf springs, and drum brakes that perhaps were not re-configured heavily from what was available in early 50s. Which means it's possible parts were shared between the C1 and an actual truck Chevy was producing in the day. But still, I truely believe the C1 must have had a better ride, with more agility and possibly greater capabilities in motion than anything else from America at the time, simply because it was smaller than anything else available at that time.

...Well, there was one American car which was smaller: the Nash Metropolitan, but this was an early city car, not meant to be fast and sporty like the Corvette.

GT4
In the game, what we have is a vehicle that feels over-confident, yet allows one to explore such behavior. Let me explain.

Braking can start extremely late for instance, despite the fact that the real-life car had drums all around, with narrow 6.7" size 15-inch tires that had giant sidewalls. That website I found that described the C1 as having a truck-like ride also said its brakes were horrible, which contradicts my experiences in the game, because the C1 happens to be one of the best trail-brakers I've ever driven in GT4! Braking late is always a possibility in this car, even with N tires to some degree.

Next, we have mid-cornering capabilities, which are also awesome. You'll find the '54 progresses here with extreme assurance, as it often feels downright gummy with grip. Nowadays, most cars need anywhere from 28 to 35 psi (pounds per square inch) of air, if you're sticking to manufacturer's specs. Back in the '50s, most cars rolled on bias-ply tires (rather than radials) and required much less air, typically no more than 20 psi. Look carefully at the C1 as it corners, PD actually modeled these low-pressure gumballs accurately: as the car leans from side to side, we can actually see its tires compress as weight gets thrown to them, and their contact patches increase (see picture below).

As I was saying, this car grips the road, rather than sloshing about with heavy mid-corner exaggerations (sliding) like I suspect it was supposed to. Even with N2 tires, which I use to simulate all-season radials, understeer does NOT dominate above oversteer; although the C1 does start to get more slidey with these tires. Add a 1-way diff, and it also becomes a fine drifting baby, just as confident with oversteer as it is with everything else when sport tires are in place.

The only major issue so far as handling goes happens when we boost power with either a supercharger, or a Stage 2 NA kit. Now, the rear tires have a habit of "lifting", which encourages inside-wheel spinning as the car's engine slips from 2nd to 1st gear and all that torque finally has something to say.

Overall? We have (in my opinion) an inaccurate car to play with here. Which works to our advantage in just about every arena we can enter.

 

It's rare you'll hear me complain that a car handles too well, and then praise it for maneuverability which is more sloppy, but that's just what I'm about to do.

 

Everything expected in GT4, everything we've seen from later Corvettes, is included in this game. So this means: understeer, lots of rear-end issues, and this sort of thing. If power is stock, there might not be too much slipping and sliding going on if sport tires are equipped, but with this car's factory-installed soft radials, that's exactly what we're going to see.

 

Braking is also terrible. :) Forget about trail-braking. The original Corvette never trail-braked like the car in GT4 did, trust me. In GT5, what we'll get if we try to perform such a daring stunt is a sideways slide into the nearest sand trap. Granted, I'm not using ABS here, so somebody who does use it will see better results than I do. But in my game, braking is terrible. The '54 Corvette's braking distance is no longer beyond-par when compared to modern GTs & sports cars. In GT5, it is only slightly better than the others it competes with during the few Historic events it can duel in.

 

I've found that during the Classic Muscle Car Championship at Monza, for instance, a typical muscler will need to start braking into the first turn (that deadly chicane) somewhere before 200 meters, assuming it's just rolled down Monza's entire front straight. Let's say a typical spot might be 210 or 215 meters. The '53 Corvette can only manage 200 in this same situation. So yeah, slightly better. If we could place the GT4 version of this car here at Monza, chances are we'd be slowing down from 150 instead of 200.      

 

The front-end is catatonically-slow, when it comes to doing its job (turning in). Eventually, the understeer stops. But (unlike GT4) you gotta usually prepare for some front-end pushing, even if it doesn't show you'll always feel better that you at least prepared for it. And this is while driving on medium sport tires, not radials or hard sports. We can blame GT5's horrible braking on my refusal to use ABS, but we can't blame GT5's understeer on this.

 

Now, understeer has been mentioned, but it's not all bad. Assuming the driver actually takes the time to brake earlier (a LOT earlier than in GT4), the front-end will do its job. But it feels nowhere near as confident as the car in that previous game. Assuming understeer (or even a slight push) shows up while entering a turn, it'll be awhile before it finally goes away.

 

 Leaving turns is also .... everything we'd expect from a 60 year-old, rear-drive car. Messy and sloppy. The car leans heavily on its worn-out springs (yet another trait not found in GT4).  Limited-slips and sport suspensions still tame this action, but only to limited degree.

 

On the other hand, this is just how it should be. If you ask me, I'd rather drive the GT5 muscle-Corvette, instead of GT4's anomaly, which is (in my opinion) a huge case of mistaken identity.