by Scott Teeters as written for Vette Vues
62-Thankfully, Chevrolet cancels the 4-seater Corvette “Thunderbird Fighter
In the 1950s and 1960s, unlike some of the small, low-volume European carmakers, Detroit was all about “how many cars did we sell.” From 1955 to 1957 the Corvette and Thunderbird were obvious competitors with the T-Bird vastly outselling the Corvette in 1957, 21,380 units to the Corvette’s 6,339 units – over three-to-one! Then Ford shocked everyone by walking away from the 2-seater sports car platform to a 4-seater, almost mid-size coupe and convertible. Sales shot up to 37,892 in 1958 and by 1961, Ford sold 73,053 Thunderbirds, compared to Chevy’s 10,939 Corvettes. Cole wanted Chevrolet to have a piece of the action, so he suggested (ordered) that a 4-seater ’63 Sting Ray Coupe be built as an R&D project. Continue reading “
Corvette Timeline Tales – 10.18.62 – Chevrolet cancels the four-seater Sting Ray project”
