| It was a classic story of a promising car that | | | | experimental braking system. |
| didn't have a chance to really prove itself. And | | | | The car's hasty debut was the 12 Hours of |
| from it was born one of the more significant | | | | Sebring, in early 1957. Juan Fangio and Stirling |
| legends of Corvette history. | | | | Moss had initially agreed to pilot the car in the |
| The Corvette SS began in 1956 as a pet project | | | | race, but development delays plagued the car, |
| of General Motors' styling director Harley Earl, who | | | | giving the superstar drivers second thoughts. |
| wanted Chevrolet to take on the big names in | | | | These misgivings proved well founded -- |
| international endurance racing. Earl's initial idea was | | | | replacements John Fitch and Piero Taruffi battled |
| to design a racy body, drop it onto a Jaguar | | | | a number of gremlins from the very beginning of |
| D-Type chassis, and swap the Jag's six for a | | | | the event, and were forced out after just 23 |
| Chevy V8. | | | | laps. |
| But that notion wouldn't do for Corvette | | | | The SS nonetheless showed considerable promise |
| engineering guru, diehard racing fan Zora | | | | when it was running well, and the team looked |
| Arkus-Duntov. When he heard of the plan, he | | | | forward to trying the car at Le Mans that year. |
| pushed for an all-new chassis design that would | | | | Unfortunately, the Automobile Manufacturers |
| incorporate ambitious engineering concepts. | | | | Association enacted its infamous racing ban |
| Duntov's arguments won out, if for no other | | | | before the June event, relegating the Corvette |
| reason than the fact that the D-Type's main | | | | SS to being a testbed and show car. |
| structure was a monocoque configuration and | | | | But the story doesn't end there. In 1958, Earl's |
| therefore had no separate frame to drop any | | | | successor, Bill Mitchell, bought the spare Corvette |
| sort of body onto. | | | | SS chassis. He then collaborated with his staff to |
| To save time, Duntov purchased a | | | | design a new body for it and he campaigned the |
| Mercedes-Benz 300SL frame and from that drew | | | | car himself -- "privately," so as to dodge the AMA |
| much of the inspiration -- if not verbatim design | | | | ban. Mitchell's racer was significant for introducing |
| elements -- for the Corvette SS's structure. To | | | | one of the most beloved of all Corvettes shapes, |
| this platform, he added a race-prepared 283-cid | | | | the 1963-67 Stingray design. |
| Chevy V8, a de Dion rear axle, and an | | | | |