Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon.
07-17-2013, 11:28 AM
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Drifting
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Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon.
Peter Brock did the orginal sketches for the Sting Ray (the original one) under the direction of Mitchell who had just returned from Europe and been inspired by the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. Peter's skertches were the ones Mitchell liked. Despite Peter's boss hiding Peter's sketches after Mitchell first saw them and trying to subtitue others, Mitchell kept asking for Peter's work. The end result was the '63 split window coupe and the Sting Ray racer. For the 60th anniversary, GM let Peter into the archives which has resulted in Peter Brock publishing a new book, Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon. The reason I'm posting this here is that GM has made a BIG fuss that the C7 is worthy of the Sting Ray name, I thought some would like to read the story of the original Sting Ray from the guy who did the job. As far as I know, it's currently in pre pub stage and availablke from BRE only at this time.
07-17-2013, 12:14 PM
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2016 C7 of the Year Finalist
Peter Brock did the orginal sketches for the Sting Ray (the original one) under the direction of Mitchell who had just returned from Europe and been inspired by the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. Peter's skertches were the ones Mitchell liked. Despite Peter's boss hiding Peter's sketches after Mitchell first saw them and trying to subtitue others, Mitchell kept asking for Peter's work. The end result was the '63 split window coupe and the Sting Ray racer. For the 60th anniversary, GM let Peter into the archives which has resulted in Peter Brock publishing a new book, Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon. The reason I'm posting this here is that GM has made a BIG fuss that the C7 is worthy of the Sting Ray name, I thought some would like to read the story of the original Sting Ray from the guy who did the job. As far as I know, it's currently in pre pub stage and availablke from BRE only at this time.
07-17-2013, 12:43 PM
#3
Race Director
I thought Larry Shinoda had some involvement in/credit for the Stingray design also? In fact, the NCM web site credits him with such in their profile on him in his bio in the "Hall of Fame" section.
Perhaps the confusion may arise from the work that Pete Brock and Bob Verzer did on the 1957 XP-84 Q concept Corvette, which had the basic body lines of the later Stingray. See the pic below. That concept was based on early development of the Corvair, and would have used a rear transaxle and IRS!
My understanding is that Shinoda took that concept and refined it into the '63 split window.
Perhaps the confusion may arise from the work that Pete Brock and Bob Verzer did on the 1957 XP-84 Q concept Corvette, which had the basic body lines of the later Stingray. See the pic below. That concept was based on early development of the Corvair, and would have used a rear transaxle and IRS!
My understanding is that Shinoda took that concept and refined it into the '63 split window.
07-17-2013, 01:05 PM
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I thought Larry Shinoda had some involvement in/credit for the Stingray design also? In fact, the NCM web site credits him with such in their profile on him in his bio in the "Hall of Fame" section.
Perhaps the confusion may arise from the work that Pete Brock and Bob Verzer did on the 1957 XP-84 Q concept Corvette, which had the basic body lines of the later Stingray. See the pic below. That concept was based on early development of the Corvair, and would have used a rear transaxle and IRS!
My understanding is that Shinoda took that concept and refined it into the '63 split window.
Perhaps the confusion may arise from the work that Pete Brock and Bob Verzer did on the 1957 XP-84 Q concept Corvette, which had the basic body lines of the later Stingray. See the pic below. That concept was based on early development of the Corvair, and would have used a rear transaxle and IRS!
My understanding is that Shinoda took that concept and refined it into the '63 split window.
As an aside, when I was working for large corporations, I evaluated the success of a project by how many people and what level they had within the corporation who were taking credit for the project! Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
By the by, I never trust the official history on anything. It was written to please and flatter those in power. As for personal histories, I believe they are reality as the person first experienced it and as they continually re experienceing it every time they relive the event. Memory is not recall, it is relive.
Last edited by I Bin Therbefor; 07-17-2013 at 07:45 PM.