1963 Corvette part 2
Further, developing and installing the right drive train would be vital. So, for the Stingray, Duntov selected a fuel-injected 283-cubic inch V-8 engine which produced 315 horsepower at 6,200 rpm. The 283-cubic inch V-8 also showcased a “Duntov” crankshaft that, while very durable, also aided in weight reduction within the engine. It was rumored that this Stingray could hit 60 miles per hour from a standing start in just 4 seconds.
Word quickly spread of the new Corvette’s performance potential, and this attracted some of the top names in racing to find out first hand what the new Stingray was truly capable of.
Dr. Dick Thompson, one the SCCA’s (the Sports Car Club of America’s) top Corvette contenders, stopped by to visit Mitchell’s design studio, took one look at the amazing new race car, and immediately announced that he wanted to drive the car in all C-modified events for that season.
Although this class was almost exclusively reserved for Europe’s elite automotive manufacturers, Thompson shocked everyone, including Bill Mitchell, by out-running and outperforming the competition. Thompson regularly took the Stingray Special to victory lane and went on to win the Corvette’s only championship season in 1960.
Bill Mitchell and the Stingray Special.
The Corvette Stingray Special.
Dr. Dick Thompson in the Stingray Sport at the Marlboro Motor Raceway, 1960.
Although Mitchell and Duntov succeeded in developing a true race-car variant of the Corvette, this car’s time on the track would ultimately be short-lived.
Because Mitchell had more-or-less developed this car on his own, and because Chevrolet was an active participant in the AMA‘s racing ban, there was no source of sponsorship to support any sort of racing team.
Mitchell did sponsor his own team for a short period of time, the financial burden proved too great and the Stingray Special’s racing career was over almost before it had really started.
Still, even as that chapter of the Stingray drew to a close, Mitchell modified it and exhibited the car as an experimental show car which he boasted was “built to test handling ease and performance.” Even though the Stingray Special had started its life as a racer, Mitchell saw an opportunity to develop it into something far greater. Like Duntov before him, Mitchell knew that the evolution of the Corvette would occur as much on the racetrack as it did on the open road.
The Stingray Special made its public debut at the 1961 Chicago Auto Show on February 18, 1961.
In that way, creating the Stingray Special had actually helped Mitchell to develop a second generation Corvette prototype from which development of a production model could occur.
Ironically, the Stingray Special would never carry either the Chevrolet or the Corvette designations, although it would be identified and labeled a Corvette on its subsequent tour as a show car.
The car – which had been reworked to show quality – was debuted at the Chicago Auto Show on February 18, 1961, and the response it received was overwhelmingly positive. During its tour, the car made quite an impression on the public, and there was considerable speculation that the Stingray Special was actually being shown as a preview.
From its inception, the second generation Corvette would be a departure from its predecessor. Duntov had visions of building a contender to the best Europe had to offer, while Mitchell considered the second generation Corvette to be his pet project – in large part because of the time and monetary investment he had put into the Stingray Special. In fact, Mitchell dubbed the second generation project the “Sting Ray”, which he named after the earlier race car of the same name (although the name would now be spelled out as two separate words.) It would also be the first Corvette to bear Mitchell’s signature.
Zora Arkus-Duntov and the CERV I (Chevrolet Experimental Research Vehicle.) (Image courtesy of GM Media.)
At the same time, Duntov, along with other GM engineers, had become fascinated with mid-engine and rear-engine automotive designs, which was probably inspired after Duntov witnessed the successes that Porsche had experienced in their own rear engine automobile designs.
1963 CORVETTE OVERVIEW
1963 Chevy Corvette was the final result of more than a half-decade’s worth of research both on and off the racetrack. Conceived by Bill Mitchell and Zora Arkus-Duntov, the second-generation Corvette literally evolved from a racecar – namely the Stingray racer that Mitchell created (and privately funded out of his own pocket.)
Even its title, which was an axiom deliberately given to the race car because of its resemblance to an actual stingray, stuck and further defined the C2 for all time as the “Corvette Sting Ray.”
The car was an instant marketing success. Given its improved and re-imagined styling from the C1, and the impressive advancements made to the car’s performance and handling, there had been no doubt that the second-generation Corvette would be a triumph. Even so, nobody could have guessed that Mitchell’s ingenious design and Duntov’s engineering wizardry would produce a sports car that would become as popular or as successful as the 1963 Corvette ended up being.
Production Options and Build Statistics
Total 1963 Corvettes Built - 21,513
Convertibles - 10,919
Coupes - 10,594
Convertible Serial Numbers: 30867S100001 to 30867S121513
Coupe Serial Numbers: 30837S100001 to 30837S121513
Continued....
