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