Bill Mitchell’s Early Years: Car Classics 1977
To download the PDF version of the October 1977 Car Classics magazine feature story, “Bill Mitchell ‘s Early Years”, CLICK HERE.
Bill Mitchell had a very successful design career before the Corvette
I’ve been collecting car magazines with Corvette feature stories since the 1960s. Over the last year or so, I’ve been sharing some of that treasure trove in PDF form. It’s my way of helping new Corvette lovers fill in some of the history they might have missed.
Here’s Bill Mitchell with his two favorite fish – the 1959 Stingray Racer and the 1961 Mako Shark-I. Snappy coat, Bill!
I can still remember flipping through a car magazine in late 1967, one of those “NEW 1968 CARS!” issues. There, it was the all-new, Mako Shark II–II-inspired 1968 Corvette parked right next to a 1953 Corvette. I looked at that ’53 and thought, “That’s a Corvette?”
Old paper magazines are more than just nostalgia—they’re “hard copy” history. Inside, you’ll find road tests, comparisons, and feature stories written from the perspective of their time. Sure, by today’s standards, a Fuelie Sting Ray compared to a 2026 ZR1X might seem like a Conestoga wagon, but in its day, it was an “Oh, WOW!” moment.
Old car magazines are like old friends
That’s why it’s such a pleasure to share these Corvette articles from my library with my CorvetteReport.com readers. Enjoy them, pass them along to your Corvette pals—or better yet, send them to CorvetteReport.com and hit that Subscribe button on the right.
The Mako Shark-II show car was about 7/8s the size of the production ’68 Corvette. Or at least, it looked that way.
Now, about this particular story. I bought the October 1977 issue of Car Classics brand new, mainly because of the cover photo. I already knew a little about the Stingray Racer, but this issue gave me a deeper look—and my curiosity was hooked.
The shape of the Stingray Racer and the 1963–1967 C2 Corvettes is nothing short of iconic. We were all smitten with those dramatic fender humps and flowing roof lines. What we didn’t realize at the time was what was happening underneath—the airflow under the car. The Stingray Racer and most racing Sting Rays shared the same flaw: front-end lift at high speeds. Luckily, that problem eventually got solved.
Bill Mitchell was one of the Corvette’s Founding Fathers. Read all about it.
Digging deeper into that October ’77 issue, I found not just one, but five Corvette-related stories tied to Bill Mitchell. You can read the first one, an interview with Mitchell, in PDF form HERE.
The next story is about Mitchell’s career, and here’s a fun fact: very early on at GM, his very first project was the 1938 Cadillac Sixty-Special. He was only 25 years old!
By 1958, it was Bill Mitchell’s turn to design Corvettes
Now, maybe cars from the ’30s to the ’50s aren’t really your thing—but this was Mitchell’s training ground. He learned design under none other than Harley Earl, and when Earl retired in 1958, it was Mitchell’s turn to shine. In the Corvette world, he set the visual tone for what we recognize as a Corvette today.
So here’s a closer look at how Bill Mitchell prepared himself to become GM’s VP of Design from 1958 to 1977. Enjoy! – Scott
To download the PDF version of the October 1977 Car Classics magazine feature story, “Bill Mitchell ‘s Early Years”, CLICK HERE.
Enjoy! – Scott
Corvette Generational History
Our 1953–1962 C1 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.
The 1962–1967 C2 Corvette Review: Engineering, Styling, Sales, and Legacy Story is now available.
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