A Blue, 1966, Chevrolet Corvette C2 about to enter the Cinch Live Arena, as part of the Owners Club Display, at the 2023 British Motor Show
he Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater luxury[1] sports cars, manufactured and marketed by GM, under the Chevrolet marque, since 1953. The 1963 Sting Ray production car's lineage can be traced to two separate GM projects: the Q-Corvette, and Bill Mitchell's racing Sting Ray. The Q-Corvette exercise of 1957 envisioned a smaller, more advanced Corvette as a coupe-only model, boasting a rear transaxle, independent rear suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes, with the rear brakes mounted inboard. Exterior styling was purposeful, with peaked fenders, a long nose, and a short, bobbed tail. Meanwhile, Zora Arkus-Duntov and other GM engineers had become fascinated with mid and rear-engine designs. Duntov explored the mid/rear-engine layout with the lightweight, open-wheel, single-seat CERV I concept of 1959. A rear-engined Corvette was briefly considered during 1958–60, progressing as far as a full-scale mock-up designed around the Corvair's entire rear-mounted power package, including its air-cooled flat-six, as an alternative to the Corvette's usual water-cooled V8. By the fall of 1959, elements of the Q-Corvette and the Sting Ray Special racer would be incorporated into experimental project XP-720, which was the design program that led directly to the production 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. The XP-720 sought to deliver improved passenger accommodation, more luggage space, and superior ride and handling over previous Corvettes. While Duntov was developing an innovative new chassis for the 1963 Corvette, designers were adapting and refining the basic look of the racing Sting Ray for the production model. A fully functional space buck (a wooden mock-up created to work out interior dimensions) was completed by early 1960, production coupe styling was locked up for the most part by April, and the interior, instrument panel included, was in place by November.
Size: 5353px × 3500px
Location: Farnborough International Expo Centre, Farnborough,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 327, 1966, 2-door, 5350cc, american, anatole, blue, body--frame, braking, c2, car, chevrolet, classic, convertible, corvette, cu, front-mid-engine, generation, l84, lapine, larry, rear-wheel-drive, shinoda, small-block, sports, system, v8
