1991 ZR-2 454 Big-Block, “Big Doggie” Experimental Corvette

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by K. Scott Teeters, written for Vette Magazine as republished from SuperChevy.com
Excerpted from: Trend Setting, Part 15: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline 01.23.16: There must have been something in the office water cooler in the late ’80s that inspired engineers to want to put seriously big engines back into Corvettes. Scott Leon was a project coordinator at the GM Proving Ground in Arizona. And although the Corvette was being hailed as “The Best Vette Yet!,” hammering the competition in the SCCA Showroom Stock series, and had won several magazine new car top speed competitions and was crowned “The Fastest Car In America!,” there were some that longed for the days of big-block horsepower and torque. So, Scott Leon cooked up a plan. Continue reading


1991 ZR-2 454 Big-Block, “Big Doggie” Experimental Corvette”


1990 ASC ZR-1 Corvette Spyder Show Car

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by K. Scott Teeters, Written for Vette Magazine as republished from SuperChevy.com
Excerpted from: Trend Setting Part 15: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline 01.22.16: Corvette product planners spend a lot of time playing “What if?” But at least 80 percent or more of what they come up with never goes into production. Continue reading


1990 ASC ZR-1 Corvette Spyder Show Car”


1992 Falconer All-Aluminum V-12 Experimental ZR-12 Corvette

1992-falconer-corvette-illustration

by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette Magazine and republished from SuperChevy.com
Excerpted from: Trend Setting, Part 15: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline 1.22.15: When the Dodge Viper debuted at the North American International Auto Show in January 1989, NO ONE knew what hit them! The Viper was new and fresh, yet the connection to the Shelby Cobra was obvious. Advanced orders were flooding in! You just know that the Corvette designers were going back to the office saying, “DAMN!” Continue reading


1992 Falconer All-Aluminum V-12 Experimental ZR-12 Corvette”


1989 Snake Skinner ZR-1: Suddenly, it’s 1963 Again!

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by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette magazine and republished from Super Chevy
an excerpt from: Trend Setting, Part 14: A look back at Chevrolet’s
experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline: 12.18.15: It was no secret in 1988 and 1989 that Chevrolet was developing a “super-Vette.” But when the Dodge Viper RT/10, with its 488-cid V-10 engine, debuted at the 1989 New York Auto Show the Corvette guys didn’t know what hit them. The Dodge boys were completely up front as to the source of their inspiration for the Viper—it was the minimalist, ’65 Shelby 427 Cobra. You just know that the Corvette guys went back to their offices, closed the doors and yelled, “What the @$#*!” Continue reading


1989 Snake Skinner ZR-1: Suddenly, it’s 1963 Again!”


1988 Running Corvette Indy: Chevrolet’s Testbed for Advanced Suspension and Electronics

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by K. Scott Teeters as republished from Super Chevy
Excerpted from: Trend Setting, Part 13: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental,
prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline 12.2.15: After seeing the fullsize Corvette Indy clay model, GM brass approved the construction of two running prototypes of the bold new design. Now it was time to make the Corvette Indy run. The clay models were a little over the top and needed to be pulled back, but the running Corvette Indy still sizzled. Chevrolet’s Advanced Vehicle Engineering had their Corvette work cut out for them because a more realistic version of the Corvette Indy was being build at the same time. This realistic version would become the CERV III. Continue reading


1988 Running Corvette Indy: Chevrolet’s Testbed for Advanced Suspension and Electronics”


For Sale: Zora Duntov’s Experimental 1955 Corvette $3,500 OBO — Time Machine Required

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by John Gilbert as republished from Super Chevy
1955 Duntov Corvette

Dateline 11.24.15: There were only 700 Corvettes built in 1955, so that places 1953’s production run of 300 units at number one in rarity and bumps 1955 to second place. For a 21st Century Corvette collector buying a rare vintage Corvette can cost a bunch of money, but if one had a time machine that would make it a completely different story. With a time machine a fellow could go back to the April 1965 issue of Hot Rod magazine and snag Zora Arkus-Duntov’s 1955 Corvette test mule for $3,500 or best offer. Continue reading


For Sale: Zora Duntov’s Experimental 1955 Corvette $3,500 OBO — Time Machine Required”


Bill Mitchell’s 1970 “Scirocco” Corvette Show Car

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art and  words by K Scott Teeters for Vette magazine, republished from Super Chevy
Trend Setting – Part 12: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

The Aero Coupe Becomes the Scirocco

Dateline November 2015: It is not known when a lowly 1968 Corvette coupe was pulled off the St. Louis assembly line and given a most unusual life. Corvettes are built to be driven and enjoyed by customers; however, this Cinderella Corvette was destined to be a beauty queen in a gilded cage. The designers and craftsmen at Chevrolet Styling were capable of beautiful work. They could have broken off and become their own custom coach-builders. Continue reading


Bill Mitchell’s 1970 “Scirocco” Corvette Show Car”


1970 XP-882 Mid-Engine/Transverse Corvette Prototype

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words and art by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette magazine and republished from Super Chevy
Duntov SLAMS Ford’s Pantera, AMC’s AMX/3 & Mercedes–Benz’s C111. Trend Setting – Part 10: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

Dateline November 2015: Between Car Life Magazine and Road & Track, the Corvette community was almost totally convinced that this would be the 1973 Corvette! Obviously that didn’t happen, but it was still a great day for Corvette fans at the New York Auto Show on April 2, 1970, because no one knew that Chevrolet was showing a mid-engine Corvette concept car. Mid-engine Corvettes were always lurking in the shadows with that, “Hey, sailor …” smile. But the XP-882 mid-engine experimental Corvette show car had drop-dead looks and it seriously looked like it “could be” the next Vette. It was everything a Vette lover would want and then some. Best of all, Ford and AMC never knew what hit them. Continue reading


1970 XP-882 Mid-Engine/Transverse Corvette Prototype”


1973 XP-895 Reynolds Aluminum Corvette Prototype: “The Seed of the C7 Corvette?”

1973-corvette-xp-895-prototype-illustration

by Scott Teeters as written for Vette magazine and republished from Super Chevy
Trend Setting – Part 11: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes.

Dateline November 2015: In the last installment of our series we told you about the 1970 XP-882 mid-engine, transverse Corvette prototype. Chevrolet landed a KO punch on Ford and AMC, never knowing what hit them. So why didn’t Chevrolet strike while the iron was hot? Perhaps because the XP-882 didn’t generate the sizzle from the crowd the way the Mako Shark II did when it made its debut in 1965, Chevrolet took the XP-882 home and did little with it for over a year. Continue reading


1973 XP-895 Reynolds Aluminum Corvette Prototype: “The Seed of the C7 Corvette?””


The General’s Aerovette – Concept Corvette: A Piece of History

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This mid-engine project started as XP-822. Eventually it was renamed the Aerovette, and was used to showcase GM’s newly-acquired rotary engine technology. Bill Mitchell’s design team gave the car a bold, aerodynamic shape, gullwing doors, and a window over the engine compartment to show off the then-installed experimental four-rotor engine. It was exhibited as the Four-Rotor Corvette with Sterling Silver paint and a silver leather interior. After GM abandoned its rotary engine program, Bill Mitchell gave the car new life by having the rotary engine replaced with a small-block V8. He then christened the car as the Aerovette. Images courtesy of GM Heritage Center.

by Randy Bolig as republished from Corvette Online
The Four-Rotor Corvette

Dateline November 2015: The concept car is an instrument used by automotive manufacturer’s to not only showcase ideas, but get the reaction of consumers about those ideas. These cars are never designed with a complete production likeness, but rather, to create a fervor about the possibilities. Continue reading


The General’s Aerovette – Concept Corvette: A Piece of History”


1990 CERV III Corvette: The “Finished” Corvette Indy, But Not the Next Vette

1990-cerv-iii-corvette-illustration

Words and Art by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette Magazine and republished from SuperChevy.com

Read the other Experimental Vettes Stories HERE.


Trend Setting, Part 13: A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

The CERV III was a real-world version of the Corvette Indy show car. It was also the first functional, electronic high-tech Corvette concept car. There was a long, dry spell of Corvette concept cars after the mid-engine 4-Rotor/Aerovette. Not only did the Corvette go through a total redesign, but electronic computer-control systems enabled fuel-injection to come back and along with it, solid, ’60s-like performance with modern emissions ratings on unleaded gas. Computers were the best thing to happen to the Corvette since the big-block. Now it was time to see how far the envelope could be pushed. Continue reading


1990 CERV III Corvette: The “Finished” Corvette Indy, But Not the Next Vette”


Corvette Prototypes and Concepts – Trend Setting: Part 9

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Words and Art by K. Scott Teeters as written for Vette magazine and republished from SuperChevy.com

A look back at Chevrolet’s experimental, prototype, concept car, and show car Corvettes

General Motors makes hundreds of kinds of cars and trucks. Some sell hundreds of thousands of units a year, which makes Chevrolet’s Corvette a complete enigma. Given the small number of Corvettes sold every year, it is a modern American manufacturing miracle that the car survived for 61 years. Continue reading


Corvette Prototypes and Concepts – Trend Setting: Part 9″