|
Here's the story:
Illustrated Corvette Series No. 7 - 1957 SS Corvette Racer
The Corvette SS was the first in a long line of great "what
if" cars from Chevrolet. The idea of using racing to inspire sales was
relatively new to Detroit in the '50s. After great press with the SR-2, it was
time to take on Europe's finest and race at Le Mans.
The D-type Jaguar was "the" car to beat in '56. Harley
Earl shook up everyone by bringing in the No. 3 '56 Sebring winner, a D-type
Jaguar, with the intention of fitting it with a Chevy engine and a modified
body, and calling it a Corvette!
Zora Arkus-Duntov was outraged and began his own plan for a Le Mans
racer. Duntov's plan was quickly approved and the Corvette SS racer was born.
But time was not on their side.
It was summer of '56 and a Sebring debut was only nine months away.
Duntov hand picked his crew and began working day and night. Since his crew had
never built such a car, Duntov bought a Mercedes 300SL tube frame to use as a
model for the chassis.
When the car arrived at Sebring it was still being worked on in the
transporter. Although not as refined as it looked due to little track
development time, the car was stunning.
The steel blue racer looked like an exotic European. Although most
of the parts were off the shelf or bought, the entire car was handmade. Parts
were cast in aluminum where possible. The body was even made out of ultralight
magnesium! The Corvette SS weighed in at 1850, 100 pounds less that the D-type
Jag.
Things went badly on the track due to a lack of time. Duntov had a
sister "mule" car that was used for testing. The mule actually ran
better than the finished car. The new braking system never got sorted out and
the magnesium body made the interior very hot.
The untested car had many problems and only ran 23 laps before it
had to retire. In June of '57 GM decided to adhere to the AMA ban on
factory-supported racing, thus ending the Corvette SS project. As a last hurrah
in December of '58 at the Phoenix test track, the car ran 183 mph! If only...
The Corvette SS was the first in a long line of great "what
if" cars from Chevrolet. The idea of using racing to inspire sales was
relatively new to Detroit in the '50s. After great press with the SR-2, it was
time to take on Europe's finest and race at Le Mans.
The D-type Jaguar was "the" car to beat in '56. Harley
Earl shook up everyone by bringing in the No. 3 '56 Sebring winner, a D-type
Jaguar, with the intention of fitting it with a Chevy engine and a modified
body, and calling it a Corvette!
Zora Arkus-Duntov was outraged and began his own plan for a Le Mans
racer. Duntov's plan was quickly approved and the Corvette SS racer was born.
But time was not on their side.
It was summer of '56 and a Sebring debut was only nine months away.
Duntov hand picked his crew and began working day and night. Since his crew had
never built such a car, Duntov bought a Mercedes 300SL tube frame to use as a
model for the chassis.
When the car arrived at Sebring it was still being worked on in the
transporter. Although not as refined as it looked due to little track
development time, the car was stunning.
The steel blue racer looked like an exotic European. Although most
of the parts were off the shelf or bought, the entire car was handmade. Parts
were cast in aluminum where possible. The body was even made out of ultralight
magnesium! The Corvette SS weighed in at 1850, 100 pounds less that the D-type
Jag.
Things went badly on the track due to a lack of time. Duntov had a
sister "mule" car that was used for testing. The mule actually ran
better than the finished car. The new braking system never got sorted out and
the magnesium body made the interior very hot.
The untested car had many problems and only ran 23 laps before it
had to retire. In June of '57 GM decided to adhere to the AMA ban on
factory-supported racing, thus ending the Corvette SS project. As a last hurrah
in December of '58 at the Phoenix test track, the car ran 183 mph! If only...
|
