Uncommon Corvette

The sports cars of the mid to late 1950’s featured some of the most graceful lines of the period. As such, it seems only natural to me that customizers would use them as a foundation for their creations. However, with a few exceptions most customizers of the day avoided the Thunderbird and the Corvette in favor of the larger wheel base cars coming out of Detroit.

By the time the July, 1960 issue of Car Speed & Style came out, the custom car scene was already well on its way to becoming more of a contest than an environment to exchange styling ideas. The editors of the little book justified the notion with a simple sentence, “American sports cars just aren’t grand enough in size to execute a grand custom.”

Still, three little sports car were grand enough to make the pages of that very issue – 2 Corvettes and 1 Thunderbird. The vette pictured made the cover and is a shining example of what these cars could become when owned by capable hands. The Buick head and (especially the) tail lights are pretty smart and although I would have preferred a little more restraint, the scallops do a good job of accentuating the lines.

Enjoy the old shots…