The Story of Fiberglass, Pt 2 1951-1953 Corvette Takes Shape
Making the Plastic Corvette – Problems to be Solved Note, this story was first published in the January 2023 issue of Vette Vues Magazine. Photos:...
Tagged: Harley Earl
Corvette Engineer Mauri Rose
Mauri Rose was a genuine unsung Corvette hero. Having won the Indy 500 three times, Rose had the most racing experience of any GM engineer. Chevrolet Chief Engineer, Cole told him, “You are the man to do the sports car.”
Happy 70th Birthday/Anniversary Corvette!
What a very special day for lovers of Chevy’s “Plastic Fantastic”! The Corvette phenomenon was launched seventy years ago today. The car that few inside...
Charlene Wood’s Custom 2021 Stingray
The Corvette world is mostly populated by male owners and in the past Vette Vues has put a spotlight on many Corvette gals, including; Jill Jahn’s 1959 Corvette; Lyn Adam’s 1964 Grand Sport Roadster replica and her 2009 GT1 Championship Special Edition Z06 (Lyn has owned 28 Corvettes in her life!); Joanne Woodard’s Custom 2016 Coupe (Joanne sold her 2016 Coupe and has a C7 that she’s customizing that we will cover); and we’ve covered Mary Carol Plott’s 1967 427 Coupe, 1971 Convertible, 1981 Coupe, and 2001 Z06.
Duntov Was There Before Harley Earl Conceived the Corvette Photo Essay E-Book
But it all began somewhere and Mike Waal from Maryland is the man that has stitched together a written chronology of events and fascinating pictorial documentation of what quickly became an annual event. And the future Corvette would become a player in sports car racing.
Corvette Factory Show Cars 1961 Mako Shark-I, Part 2 – VIDEO
Larry Shinoda was Mitchell’s preferred, go-to stylist guy and seemed to be the best at pulling Bill’s ideas into reality. According to Peter Brock (National Corvette Museum 2017 Hall of Fame inductee), Mitchell was just as tough as Earl, but more jovial and at times profane. Bill just wanted to be “one of the guys”, but he knew what he wanted. (Brock’s book, “Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon” is a MUST READ for all second generation Corvette fans.) Since Larry Shinoda worked out the translation of Brock’s Q-Corvette design into the Stingray Racer, Larry was tasked to do the XP-755, “Mako Shark”. Larry was also working on the XP-720, the 1963 Sting Ray, in its development phase.
Corvette Chassis History Pt. 1: C1 1953-1962
But the unkindest insult leveled against the C1 Corvette was that it was a clumsy attempt by Chevrolet to build a “parts bin sports car.” As if to say that Harley Earl, Ed Cole, Maurice Olley, and Mauri Rose slap-dashed together car and presented it as “America’s sports car.” I will dispel this myth once and for all. Although it was Harley Earl that came up with the concept and directed the shape of the first Corvette, it was Chevrolet’s new chief of engineering and soon to become general manager, Ed Cole that was the corporate driving force behind the project. Cole was part of the generation of WW-II era men with a “Let’s get it done, now!” attitude. Cole loved being a corporate rebel. His motto was, “Kick the hell out of the status quo!” Cole liked to “shake things up” so he created his Dream Team to create his Chevrolet sports car.
Corvette Factory Show Cars, Part 1 -1958 XP-700 Corvette
The XP-700 was built on a 1958 283 Fuelie Corvette. In 1950s excess style, everything is “bigger and better”. The front was pure “custom car design” with an elongated, elliptical nose and a scoop under it. Mitchell wanted to break away from the Earl driven, big toothy grille, towards something slim and lightweight. The now-classic Dayton Knock-Off Wire Wheels were part of the effort to make the car look lighter. The Lucas spotlight headlights are moved forward and also had scoops under them. The recessed hood vents showed up on the 1963 Corvette, but with fake grille inserts, and the 1964 Corvette, sans the grilles. The front fender scoops were shorter versions of the production 1956-1957 fender scoops.
Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Larry Shinoda, Pt 5 of 6: Sting Ray & Mako Shark Designer
Larry Shinoda was the perfect designer/stylist for GM VP of Styling Bill Mitchell. In the same way that Mitchell fit with Harley Earl, Shinoda clearly understood what Mitchell wanted. As VP of Design, Mitchell’s job was to hold the vision for what he knew would be new and fresh, then lead his designers and stylists to bring his vision into reality. Corvettes were always Mitchell’s pet projects and he was famous for saying, “Don’t get cocky, kid! I design Corvettes around here!” Mitchell’s Corvettes were about design, speed, power, and performance. And for that, he needed a designer/stylist equal to Duntov’s engineering/racing prowess. Larry Shinoda was his man.
Founding Fathers Pt 3 of 6: Bill Mitchell, Creator of the Corvette Look
A few years before his death in 1988, Mitchell has this to say about the C4 Corvette, “That square box is pretty near plastic… the instrument panel – Dracula’s dressing room… it rides like a truck… it isn’t a style car, it’s an machine car… engineers are running it. Earl would never let that – I would never let that happen, and I condemn the guys for it!”
Founding Fathers, Pt 2 of 6 – Ed Cole, the Corvette’s Godfather, Pt 2 of 6
Ed Cole was born on September 17, 1909 and grew up on his family’s dairy farm. As a kid, Ed designed, built, and sold radio sets and when he was old enough, the natural mechanic started working at an auto parts supply store and building hot rods. For a time, Ed thought he wanted to be a lawyer, but that “car thing” got in the way.
WINNER of our January 2018 “Vette of the Month Photo Contest” – Mike Waal’s 1980 GT Corvette
Mike Waal from Maryland builds a Super Sano 1980 Corvette so that he and his wife Linda can “See the USA in their Chevrolet, CORVETTE!”...
Corvette Timeline Tales: Happy 65th Birthday to America’s Only True Sports Car, the Corvette! – VIDEOS
On this date in 1953, GM officials never imagined their little fiberglass concept car would one day become a world-class sports car and GM’s technological...
Corvette “Timeline Tales” Nov. 16, 1956: One magnesium-bodied XP-64 (Corvette SS) would be built for the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring race
The 1957 Corvette SS Racer’s exotic body turned out to be the hot ticket to failure! Dateline: 11.16.17 (VIDEO BELOW!) – This was such a...
