She sure is a beauty! One of my all time favorites. True unobtainium... but pretty well led to ones that aren’t... : IMG_3734 by bowie posted Aug 1, 2014 at 6:57 PM
Very interesting, thanks for posting. With all the crazy things that have been done to Corvettes I'm surprised it hasn't been cloned. Or has it?
Like Ali vs Frazier, this could go head to head with a Scarab and create equally dramatic discussions. Ferarri GTO? Well, it too could create drama in a purely aesthetic sense, and frankly I find all 3 mentioned to be as sexy as a car can be. Sexy. Now doesn't that conjure a thought or 10? If this felt like it was going somewhere else I commend your intuition. You mentioned it being in your clubhouse at or near the top and I agree, almost totally. The best ever? It came 3 years later and took another 3 to prove it's position in a dramatic 1-2-3 fashion. Yeah, that one. GT40. One of the 3 original developers of that masterpiece is a friend of mine living the good life in FL. But back to the car in the topic, I seem to have some cobwebbed recall of it advancing over time to bigger and better things, and maybe it was a 2nd version of the Mitchell Stingray through other or maybe peripheral channels. Capable of tremendous top speeds (go figure) it's glamorous body work created serious lift in the front, enough to be dangerous which required some reconfiguration for safety's sake. Maybe others well researched could shed light. At the end of it all one could hardly argue that Bill Mitchell was as genius to automotive style as old Hollywood was to creating leading ladies. Good stuff Ryan. Happy New Year.
The stuff that legends are made out of. Cooler than cool. I'd like to hear that 315 hp 283 scream through open side pipes at 8 k , being shifted up and down, round after round, chased by Ferraris, Jags, Aston Martins and showing them who's Boss. I need to see that Museum in Bowling Green one day.
Pretty good read and when you place it next to the 59 Vette it is really a remarkable design. In spite of the stodgy old suits upstairs, the "New" Corvette design was a no brainer. It is a beautiful car to study up close. As much as I like it though I would have a tough decision turning down a spot for a 62 GTO Ferrari in my barn.
WOW, after seeing these pics, I think I might have to agree. My short list: this, GTO, MB 300SLR Coupe, MASERATI A6GCS PF Coupe, Scarab. This is just Post War mind you.
Such a gorgeous car, saw it (or a replica?) at the Petersen museum almost 3 years ago. Was able to get really close to it and take some photos.
@Sancho That could be me in the service station, I was born old according to my old man. LOL @Ryan cool read man. I am not aware if you ever saw it but there was a red Stingray running around town here for a while that was patterned after that car. The proportions were a little different because the original car is a little longer in the flanks and the front quarters, and the windscreen was a little more swoopy, but it sure brought that original car to mind.
Beautiful car! But, I think if I were limiting it to cars driven by the King, I think I'd have to go for John Athan's well preserved AV8.
If I could afford a Vette, this would be the one,,, too bad no one splashed a mold off it at one time,,,
Not clear on the full lineage of the car but I can't believe Mitchell had a hand in that hideous snorkel hood scoop, though there has been talk of it being tied to the big block transplant in later years, maybe some clueless movie executive thought it was a good idea.
Although I like the car's initial styling best, I do like the hood scoop in a fun sort of way... It was used to make room for the injection on top of the BBC and I love how the plexiglass shows off the injectors themselves. That being said, this hood would look like shit in a very short period of time if the car was ever used as intended.... For the movie though? Totally boss.
Best looking sports car ever in my opinion. And those studio shots....Wow! He should have left well enough alone though, in my opinion. The re-do reminds me of too many classic customs that were unadvisedly "restyled" for whatever reason later. Red does match Technicolor Elvis better than silver, though!
This past summer I was able to photograph the Stingray at St John's and I came back several times to look it over once again. Another car though that I photographed that I would love to own and drive is one of the SR2s. This which I believe is the second and is a late 56, I believe, is hard to beat for good looks as well. Would be a different animal to drive but it still would be a hoot more than likely.
Back in the late 50's either GM or Fisher, I can't remember which, held contests every year for auto design. When you enter you would receive a set of wheels and axles. There may have been more parts ??? You would build a car of your choosing out of plaster of paris scaled to the wheels. The contests were judged and winners would receive cash prizes. One of my friends, Bill McKeil, entered in 1958 and 1959. The first car was a roadster and the second a coupe. Both years he won either $50 or $100 dollar prizes. The promoters kept the designs but the models were returned to the builder. Bill passed away 10 years ago but his brother still has the models. The whole point of this rambling is the first model was almost a dead ringer for the '63 Stingray and the coupe was awful close to the '67 Camaro. His brother is in Florida for the winter and the cars are in New England. If I can find some pictures I'll post them. I have wondered for years if this is where those two designs were born...
Back in the early 60's my dad was taking his 27 t roadster to a lot of car show across the country and at one of them they were pushing the stingray into the show floor and they needed someone to steer it they looked at dad and said hey man could you hop in and steer , He said I sure can ! so he got to drive it just not under power LOL
IMO, that is the best looking sports car ever built And 2nd is Reventlow’s Scarabs Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Good god, what a video (the crash, not Elvis.) Damn Boss if you don't have motor oil in your veins. Great story, gorgeous car!
I had never seen the film of the crash before (thanks for the link). Hard to believe the race pretty much carried on around the carnage.
As much as I like the car all nice and shiny there is something I like about this picture. It appears there may be a bit of dust here and there on the car. I assume that is the flying dentist behind the wheel.