Miguel Sánchez
When Chevrolet began manufacturing the Corvette, this was his first sports model. Although at first it was a failure, it quickly became one of the most iconic cars in history; a legendary car developed through seven generations and dozens of preparations.
This predecessor of the muscle car has been manufactured under a multitude of appearances, some of them not only based on a simple makeover of the body; from rehearsing with elegant futuristic forms as in the case of the XP-87 "Stingray Racer" up to the imposing ZL-1, the Corvette saga has not a few dreamy rarities.
And of all of them… Today we are going to show you two that tell a truncated story: That of how, even though it is one of the most iconic sports cars in the American engine, the units specifically designed for competition were not successful on the circuits. Two racing Corvettes that, not because they are defective material, are no longer truly spectacular: This is the SS 1957 and GrandSport 1963, both gathered at the exhibition Duntov's Stealth Fighters, in the Revs Institute of Florida.
ZORA ARKUS-DUNTOV AND HER RACING CORVETTE
Zora Arkus-Duntov It is a well-known name for fans of the American engine. After all, many know him as 'the father of the Corvette'; a title that, although it is shared with other General Motors officials such as Harley Earl, recognizes the merits of this intrepid engineer and pilot who managed to escape from the Nazis in a Europe at war.
Once the Corvette was launched in 1953, Duntov was busy adapting series units to competition. Apparently he was not very enthusiastic about the idea, being rather inclined to build cars designed for racing from scratch but ... You know that where there is a boss, he does not send a sailor, and GM executives were not really interested in the investment.
Harley Earl shared the same idea with Duntov, but knew that Duntov would not dare to publicly confront the management of the company. So ... he handed her a curious trap, based on exploiting one of the worst demons that we harbor inside: Pride. How? Then putting a beaming Jaguar D-Type in the middle of the design studio, challenging Duntov to make a sports car even better than he already did property British feline.
As if he were an impulsive teenager, Duntov fell into Earl's strategy and began designing and building a racing car behind the back of a General Motors that, when they discovered it, could no longer accept the idea. blessed creation from one of its big firms. And well, although the project was not born in the most orthodox way, the truth is that Duntov put great impetus in it since, as he declared on several occasions, his objective was the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
CORVETTE SS: A STRANGE FAILED HYBRID
Thus, a futuristic light alloy bodywork began to be developed with shapes that were halfway between those of the D-Type and those of the Corvette. An achievement of lightness and personality that was mounted on a tubular chassis that Duntov cheekily copied the one he equipped the Mercedes 300-SL.
And to power such a car ... A propeller evolved from the 8 liter V4 that rode most of the first generation Corvettes, modified in this case to offer 310CV and a maximum speed between 230 and 251 km / h. As you can see, GM created a first prototype that did not show bad manners to be a worthy competitor at Le Mans. However… Things weren't that easy.
Its premiere was planned for 12 Hours of Sebring, 1957; just two days before it was not known if the car would be able to run, and although the very Fangio y Stirling Moss They tested it with no bad results… The truth is that in the race itself, a first driver could only complete 22 laps before entering the pits, declaring that the car was unbeatable. He was relieved by another unit that could only do one more lap until Ed Cole -boss GM present at the circuit - ordered to remove the car.
The enormous warm-up of the cabin and the engine, the constant brake problems and the unstable and unpredictable behavior of the chassis meant that the history of the Corvette SS, far from reaching Le Mans, was left in a 23-lap tour of the American circuit before to be donated to Indianapolis Speedway Museum. Of course, few cars can say that with such a short history they have been driven by such capable hands.
DUNTOV DOES NOT GIVE UP: THE CORVETTE GRAND SPORT
Despite the resounding failure, Duntov was one of those characters exiled from a Europe at war who landed in the US eager to star in their own. 'epic of the New World'. Come on, a decisive guy with more morals than the Alcoyan incapable of throwing in the towel. That is why when in 1962. the Shelby Cobra they began to defeat the Corvettes prepared by Duntov on the tracks ... Pride stung his spirits again.
Although General Motors didn't want to hear about investing in racing more than necessary to make some modifications to the stock cars, Duntov was morale-sapping to see Carroll Shelby's lightweight racing cars take all the laurels. So, convinced that he could create a Corvette 450 kilos lighter than the standard one, he set out to build the 125 units necessary for its homologation.
Obviously, and as if he were a disobedient child, he did this again behind the back of General Motors and within his own facilities. What happened? Well, as if it were a teacher discovering a student doing mischief in the school bathrooms, Duntov was caught red-handed by the chief executive Frederic G Donner when he was still in the 5th unit.
Obviously the process was paralyzed and the cars were distributed between teams of brands affiliated to General Motors and a Chicago dealership that we do not know what he would do with a car not approved for circulation. However, Duntov did not give up completely and continued to insist that the Corvette grand sport He will try to defeat the infallible Shelby Cobra.
To do this he allied himself with an oil magnate under the aegis of a General Motors that - inexplicably - allowed him all sorts of personal projects. Three of the five units - one of them simply on the chassis - that were equipped with V8 engines of about 6 liters and 485CV! A madness that made a GM feel uncomfortable who saw Shelby protesting the presence of these vehicles illegal in the race of Nassau, 1963.
There two of the Corvette Grand Sport came second and third respectively, and yet… Duntov had been allowed to go too far in his passion for racing. Neither General Motors had changed its mind nor the way things had turned out was a good image campaign for the company.
The Grand Sport project was closed and with it Duntov's second attempt to do things his own way within a structure that is actually as planned and compartmentalized as that of one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. Quite a character is that of this Belgian engineer of Russian Jewish origins, who emigrated to the US when the Nazis almost laid their gauntlet on him in the south of France, but who perfectly represents the indomitable and individualistic spirit of the American adventure.
