Tag: Larry Shinoda

Corvette Factory Show Cars 1961 Mako Shark-I, Part 2 – VIDEO

Published on by Scott

Bill Mitchell’s First Shark Corvette, the 1961 Mako Shark-I

Dateline: 8.7.19 – Photos from GM Archives – Upon Harley Earl’s retirement in 1958, William L. “Bill” Mitchell took over the reins as V.P. of General Motors Design. Earl hired Mitchell in 1935 and Bill essentially learned his trade working under Earl’s guidance. Mitchell was a car guy, an illustrator/designer, and came from the world of advertising. Bill was so good, such a natural, that a year after Earl hired him; he was put in charge of the Cadillac design studio! Mitchell got along famously with Earl, which was not an easy thing to do, as the 6”-4” Harley Earl was known to be a tough and intimidating taskmaster! By 1953, Earl handpicked Mitchell to be his successor, but warned Bill that he’d have to prove himself and make his own mark. Earl’s designs were long, low, and rounded. Mitchell’s philosophy was that a car’s lines should be crisp and sharp, like a freshly pressed business suit.

A year before Mitchell was given the keys to Earl’s Design Kingdom; he was tasked with designing a body for the proposed 1960 Corvette that was to be part of Ed Cole’s line of transaxle-equipped “Q-Chevrolet” cars. One of the members of Mitchell’s advanced design team was Peter Brock, the youngest designer ever hired by GM. One of Brock’s sketches was the closest to what Mitchell had in mind, and became the body for what was later called, the “Q-Corvette”. Unfortunately, the Q-Corvette never made it past a full-size clay mockup, as the entire Q-Chevrolet concept collapsed due to the high cost of tooling for the transaxles. But Mitchell couldn’t let go of Brock’s brilliant design. Shortly after Bill’s big promotion, he indulged himself by deciding to “go racing” with the 1957 Corvette SS mule chassis, draped in a roadster version of the Q-Corvette body design. This became Mitchell’s 1959 Stingray Racer.

Bill’s privateer racing effort wasn’t just “an executive at play”; he was testing the public’s reaction to what he had in mind for the next Corvette – HIS Corvette! Mitchell raced the Stingray Racer for two seasons and it was no secret at the track that the car was his. Even though the body of the car looked nothing like the then current Corvette, and didn’t say “Corvette” anywhere, a Fuel Injected 283 “Corvette” engine powered the car, and it was the VP of GM Styling’s car, so the connection was obvious.

Part of Mitchell’s natural genius was an inner knowing of what the public would like. The public response to the Stingray Racer’s body shape confirmed what Bill knew; the next Corvette would look like his Stingray Racer. Mitchell also understood “show biz” from his time in advertising and through working with Earl on many Motorama events. So, to keep stoking the Corvette and Chevy fans, he created a functional street version of the Stingray Racer. What looked like a prototype Corvette was in actuality another in a long line of teaser show cars. After nine seasons, Corvette lovers were ready for a new machine. The XP-755, aka, the “Mako Shark,” was truly the shape of the future. What Corvette fans didn’t know was that while the Mako Shark was knocking their socks off, Chevrolet was hard at work sorting out the final design of the 1963 Corvette.

This was no small task, as everything except for the engine, transmission, and brakes were completely new. Except for details such as, vent placement, grille, bumper shapes, and the shape of the coupe’s famous, iconic roof section, the second-generation Corvette was nailed down. Bill’s Mako Shark (the XP-755) was an exaggerated version of the work-in-progress 1963 Sting Ray (XP-720). The Mako Shark was a show car to tease the public, as well as Mitchell’s occasional personal daily driver. Think of cars, circa 1961, when looking at the Mako Shark! There were still cars from the late 1920s and 1930s on the road in 1961!

Larry Shinoda was Mitchell’s preferred, go-to stylist guy and seemed to be the best at pulling Bill’s ideas into reality. According to Peter Brock (National Corvette Museum 2017 Hall of Fame inductee), Mitchell was just as tough as Earl, but more jovial and at times profane. Bill just wanted to be “one of the guys”, but he knew what he wanted. (Brock’s book, “Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon” is a MUST READ for all second generation Corvette fans.) Since Larry Shinoda worked out the translation of Brock’s Q-Corvette design into the Stingray Racer, Larry was tasked to do the XP-755, “Mako Shark”. Larry was also working on the XP-720, the 1963 Sting Ray, in its development phase.

Keep in mind that show cars are supposed to be “over the top”. (Remember the 2009 “Transformers” Corvette Concept car?) Since Larry knew every line on the work-in-progress for the 1963 Corvette, he exaggerated and used older elements from the 1958 XP-800. Starting with a stock 1961 Corvette, the Mako Shark-I’s nose and tail had more “point” than the production Sting Ray would have, and was in fact, the nose was 12-inches longer.

Shinoda knew that Mitchell loved “surface details”, so the Mako Shark-I had lots to gawk at, including; gills in front of the front fender opening, recessed areas on the hood, grille details on the hood, tube header side pipes/mufflers, an XP-800-like bubble top with a periscope rear-view mirror system and grille-vents in the back of the bubble, scoops on the rear fender humps, vents behind the rear wheel well openings, and two pairs of triple taillights. The engine was a 327 with a small, Roots-type supercharger and four side-draft carburetors. Outrageous four-pipe side-pipes exited from each front fender. Originally the Mako Shark had a stock 1961 Corvette interior, except for tight bucket seats and a Ferrari steering wheel that was gift from Enzo Ferrari! Chromed Dayton knock-off wire wheels gave the car that “European look”.

Mitchell’s fertile mind was always expanding upon existing show cars and he had no reservation about pulling a show car back into his design studio for a refresh. Years later, the interior was redesigned with flat panels and gauges that looked very Ferrari-like, a 427 engine with an automatic transmission was installed, and Shinoda-designed alloy lace wheels shod with wide tires were used. The bigger wheel/tire combo nicely filled the wheelwell openings.

Unlike many of Harley Earl’s Motorama cars that were basically static, full-size model cars, Mitchell felt that his show cars should be fully functional vehicles, capable of being driven and shown off in public. As much as the completed 1963 Sting Ray is an iconic classic, I believe that if the Mako Shark-I, minus some of the show car pizzazz, had gone into production as the “1963 Corvette Sting Ray” it still would have been a success. Imagine the Mako Shark-I with the Sting Ray roof – that would have been hot! – Scott

 

Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Peter Brock, Pt 6 of 6

Published on by Scott

Peter Brock: The Man Who Penned the Sting Ray

Dateline: 2-28-19 – Images: GM Archives; Graphics & by K. Scott Teeters

Of the six men in our “Corvette’s Founding Fathers” series, Peter Brock had the shortest career at GM, but his contribution was enormous. Like all of the Founding Fathers, Brock had “gasoline in his veins” and was cut from the same cloth as Larry Shinoda; post-WW-II southern California, the birthplace of modern hot rodding.

Brock got the car bug at the age of 12 when he spotted a 1949 MG TC with a broken engine in back of the garage where he had his first after-school job. Brock studied the lines and mechanicals of the MG TD and at 15 bought the car. With help from his car pals, he got the car running. Brock’s second car was a 1946 Ford that he made into a fast, award-winning hot rod. Whereas Shinoda’s “Chopsticks Special” hot rods were scrappy-looking drag racers, Brock’s Hot Rod Ford was a sleek beauty that was quick at the drags and had class-wins at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1954 and 1956

.While pit crewing for some older car pals that were racing, Brock decided that he wanted to race, but Brock observed that racing was an expensive enterprise. He determined that he’d better first learn a trade. And since automotive design was his second passion, he’d have to go to Art Center College of Design.

Brock’s approach to getting into the school was stunning; he walked in and told the receptionist that he wanted to attend. The lady asked about his portfolio and Brock had to admit he didn’t know what a portfolio was. After she explained, Brock went to his car, created a series of drawings on blue-lined school paper, came back in after a few hours and said, “Here’s my portfolio.” He made his case that after a month, if his work wasn’t approved, he’d leave.

Brock didn’t see much value in life drawing, light and shadow, and graphics classes. But the “Transportation 101” class was exactly what he was looking for. With great teachers, classmates, and his enthusiasm, Brock was ready for his next big break. His only problem was that he ran out of money! GM Designer Chuck Jordan was then working as a headhunter scouting new talent. When Brock explained his situation to Jordan, he received a round-trip ticket to Detroit for an interview with GM, and later a job offer. Brock later said, “GM was like going to the best grad school. The best education a car designer could hope for.” At 19 Brock was the youngest designer ever hired at GM.

Brock couldn’t have been happier and would often work after hours. One evening Design Director Harley Earl entered the design studio and struck up a conversation with Brock. Earl asked Brock what he thought of GM’s design direction. Surprisingly, Brock told Earl that GM needed to look into the small car market because the Europeans was making inroads and GM needed a small “student’s car” for young people that couldn’t afford a new bigger car. Earl was intrigued. After several more evening conversations with Brock, Earl informed Brock that he was starting the XP-79 Cadet project and that Brock was to lead the design effort, under the direction of a studio boss! What an astonishing opportunity!

Brock went through the entire design process, from sketches, and line drawings, to a full-size mockup that looked like a small European GT. Earl loved the concept and expanded it to include a delivery vehicle. But when Earl showed the $1,000 Cadet concept at Styling’s 1958 line review meeting, there was dead silence. GM president Harlow Curtice said, “We don’t build small cars at GM!” The project was dead, but it did plant a seed that soon became the Corvair.

Harley Earl was about to retire, and his Olds Golden Rocket-like C2 Corvette concept was going nowhere. Around the same time the 1957 AMA Racing Ban killed all racing activity. But 46-year-old Bill Mitchell was about to take over as VP of Design upon Earl’s retirement, and had his own ideas of what the next Corvette should look like. The main Chevrolet design studio was where official GM advanced production designs were created, but Mitchell also set up a special Studio X where he could do his own private design work. After returning from the 1957 Turin Auto Show, Mitchell gave his Studio X team photos of cars that most impressed him; the streamliner record cars from Abarth and Stanguellini, and the Alfa Romeo “Disco Volante” coupe. He liked the bulging fenders and sharp horizontal crease line, and instructed his team to sketch some ideas based on the photos.

A few days later, Mitchell came back to review his team’s progress. He carefully looked at all the drawings and stopped at one and said, “Whose work is this?” Brock raised his hand and Mitchell said, “Nice! I’d like everyone to take a closer look here because this approach to the theme has some real possibilities. Your goal is to expand on this. Let’s see how we can approve.” Studio head Bob Veryzer might have been peeved because he put Brock’s drawing away! But during the next review, Mitchell asked, “Where’s that sketch I approved?” Veryzer put the Brock sketch back up and Mitchell said, “Yes, that’s the one! This is what I want!” That’s how Brock got in the lead design team.

Brock refined his design and explored removable roof panels, unique door hinges, and a roll bar built into the B-pillar. Several weeks into the project, Mitchell asked Brock if he knew anything about Earl and Duntov’s 1957 SS Racer. Brock explained that he and several of his designer friends drove around the clock to Sebring to see the car race. Mitchell was impressed and then explained that he had acquired the SS mule chassis and intended to use it as a successor to Earl’s car, and work on it as an “advanced concept”. Thus the XP-87 was born.

Based on Brock’s refined sketches, a work-order was released for a 1/5th scale model to be built. Because of UAW regulations, all of the clay work would have to be done only by the modelers and Brock couldn’t even touch the model. What Brock learned was that the modelers were outstanding, fast professionals, and totally open to his sugestions; they were there to serve the designers. Once again, Brock was learning from the best.

Around the same time, Ed Cole was pushing his Q-Chevrolet line concept that would have all 1960 Chevrolet cars, including the Corvette, use a transaxle for better weight distribution, and to eliminate the interior transmission hump. Duntov’s engineering layout included an all-aluminum fuel injected engine, a four-speed transaxle, four-wheel independent suspension, a platform chassis, and inboard brakes. A full-size space buck was built and Brock and the team translated the 1/5th scale mode into a full-size clay model. Brock commented that with the space buck, everything fell into place. Unfortunately, the entire Q-Chevrolet concept collapsed due to cost and was diluted down to a less expensive car more suitable for production.

Peter Brock explains the Stingray Racer.

But Mitchell still was hooked on Brock’s design. The XP-87 project morphed into Mitchell’s Stingray Racer and then into the 1963 Corvette project, both driven by the capable skills of co-designers Larry Shinoda, Chuck Pohlmann, Tony Lapine, and Gene Garfinkle. Because of the AMA Racing Ban, Brock saw no opportunity to be involved with anything connected to racing, so he left GM on good terms, and went back to California to begin his racing career.

Post GM Brock raced an ex-Le Mans team Cooper and later upgraded to a Lotus II Series 2, coming in runner-up two seasons in a row to veteran racer Frank Monise. Through providence, Brock was Carroll Shelby’s first employee and set up the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving, ran Shelby’s Goodyear Racing Tire operation, helped develop the very first Shelby Cobra. Brock also created the Cobra Daytona Coupe to take on the Ferrari, won an FIA GT World Championship, and World Speed Records at Bonneville.

In 1965 Brock started Brock Racing Enterprises and raced Hinos, Datsuns, and even a NASCAR Mercury until 1972. After Brock decided to end his racing career, he got into hang gliding. In recent years Brock has worked as an automotive photo journalist and authored a book about the Daytona Cobra Coupes, and “Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon. In 2017 Brock was initiated into the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Brock Brock’s single sketch was the beginning of the Sting Ray. – Scott

Here are the links to the previous five parts of the “Corvette’s Founding Fathers” series…

Pt 1 – Harley Earl

Pt 2 – Ed Cole

Pt 3 – Bill Mitchell

Pt 4 – Zora Arkus-Duntov

Pt 5 – Larry Shinoda

 

Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Larry Shinoda, Pt 5 of 6: Sting Ray & Mako Shark Designer

Published on by Scott

Larry Shinoda: Genius Designer/Stylist and Self-Confessed Malcontent

Larry Shinoda was the perfect designer/stylist for GM VP of Styling Bill Mitchell. In the same way that Mitchell fit with Harley Earl, Shinoda clearly understood what Mitchell wanted. As VP of Design, Mitchell’s job was to hold the vision for what he knew would be new and fresh, then lead his designers and stylists to bring his vision into reality. Corvettes were always Mitchell’s pet projects and he was famous for saying, “Don’t get cocky, kid! I design Corvettes around here!” Mitchell’s Corvettes were about design, speed, power, and performance. And for that, he needed a designer/stylist equal to Duntov’s engineering/racing prowess. Larry Shinoda was his man.

Shinoda was a self-confessed malcontent, and proud of it. As a kid, Larry was always drawing cars with pencil stubs he found. At the age of eight, he did a large color painting that years later hung in the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Just after his father died when he was 12-years-old, Larry and his family were swept up and sent to a Japanese internment camp. No doubt that this helped form his surly persona. While in the camp, Larry designed and built a reclining chair for his grandmother from wooden crates. After two years of internment, Larry and his family relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado to help with the family nursery business. But rural life wasn’t for Larry and he quickly relocated back to Los Angeles to finish school.

Late 1940s California was the birthplace of the hot rod car culture and Larry was all-in! He built hot rod Ford coupes and roadsters called “Chopsticks Special” that he street raced, drag raced, and speed raced on the dry lakebeds of California’s Mojave Desert. When he wasn’t racing, Shinoda worked at the Weiland Company to put himself through two years at Pasadena City College. After college Larry had a two year stint with the Air National Guard and spent 16-months in Korea.

Shinoda knew that if he was ever to be a designer, he’d have to go to the Art Center of Design in LA. What seemed like a great idea quickly went sour, and Larry was kicked out! Shinoda only wanted to design cars, and saw no value in watercolor and life drawing classes. One of Larry’s former instructors called him when a rep for Ford was interviewing for designer positions.

Shinoda put together his portfolio and showed up for the interview in his attitudinal car-guy gear; peg-let jeans, and a loud Hawaiian shirt over a Howard Cams t-shirt. The Ford rep was so impressed with his work that Larry was offered a higher-than-normal salary, plus Ford paid to transport his hot rod to Michigan! But before going to Ford, in 1953 Shinoda set the SGTA Bonneville Nations D-Class Speed Record with a two-way average speed of 166-mph in his Chrysler-powered roadster. Then in 1954 Larry won the Fuel Roadster class at the first NHRA Nationals in Great bend, Kansas. Yes, gasoline was in his veins.

Shinoda spent a year with Ford learning the ropes of a big corporation and picking up a lot from fellow designers. Not contented with Ford, Shinoda jumped over to Packard where he befriended John Z. DeLorean. Earlier that same year, Larry was part of the John Zink crew that raced and won the 1956 Indy 500. Naturally, Shinoda designed the body and the car’s paint scheme. Shinoda and DeLorean quickly realized that Packard was a sinking and jumped to GM.

Hired as a senior designer by Harley Earl in late 1956, life inside GM was uninspiring. After his short orientation, Shinoda was transferred to the Chevrolet group where his unique flat rear fin design was incorporated into the 1959 Bel Air. Larry even showed how to manufacture the unique shape by welding the upper and lower parts of the shape and covering the weld with chrome trim. Larry then had a brief stint in the Pontiac design group and worked on the Wide Track Pontiacs and the 1960-1961 Tempests. To counter the doldrums in the Buick and Cadillac groups, Larry rendered the big cars with racing numbers, stripes, and mags. His bosses were not amused!

Sometimes providence has to bring the right people together. One day on the way home from work, Shinoda pulled up to a stoplight next to a supercharged 1958 Pontiac with VP of GM Design, Bill Mitchell behind the wheel. Larry let Bill get ahead of him, then totally smoked the VP! A few days later when Mitchell was in the Chevrolet studio, he asked who owned a white 1956 Ford. The studio boss said, “Hey Larry, don’t you have a white ’56 Ford?” Shinoda confirmed that indeed, he was the guy that dusted off Mitchell. Bill asked Larry to bring his car into the garage so he could check out the designer’s machine. When Mitchell looked under the hood, he nearly had a heart attack! The engine was a Bill Stropp race-prepared 352 with dual quads, headers, NASCAR shocks and a full roll cage. It was essentially a racecar! That was IT! Mitchell had found his go-to design/styling man.

Mitchell’s Studio X was the perfect place for Shinoda and it was there that he did all of the Corvette work he’s loved and admired for. Larry’s first project for Mitchell was to take Peter Brock’s 1957 Q-Corvette design and translate it to fit the mule chassis of the 1957 Corvette SS Racer. The result was the 1959 Stingray Racer. Mitchell erroneously thought the shape would act like an inverted airfoil and push the car down. The front-end lift was terrible and was unfortunately inherited by the C2 Sting Ray. Before the C2 Sting Ray project, since Shinoda had already designed the body of a winning Indy 500 car, he was tasked to create the body for Duntov’s Indy car-like CERV-I R&D vehicle.

Not only did Mitchell’s Stingray Racer win a championship, it was such a hit with the crowds, the design had to be the next Corvette, and Larry Shinoda was the man for the job. Translating a sketch into a racecar body is one thing; making the shape into a real automobile is a whole other thing. The only carryover parts were the engine and transmission, everything else had to be designed and styled. Although the Sting Ray was Mitchell’s vision, Shinoda and his team worked out the visual details.

 

Shinoda was the perfect man for the time. Design studios all over Detroit were white-hot with secret advanced design projects and a steady flow of concept cars. The following cars all have “Larry Shinoda” baked into their DNA, and they all still look good today; 1959 Stingray Racer, 1960 CERV-I, 1962 Corvair Super Spyder, 1962 Monza GT, 1962 Monza SS, 1962 Mako Shark-I, 1963-1967 Sting Ray, 1964 GS-2b, 1964 CERV-II, 1964 Rear-Engine XP-819, 1965-Mako Shark-II, 1966 Mako Shark-II, 1965-1966 and 2D, 1967 Astro-I, and the 1968-Astro-II.

Larry Shinoda was well rewarded for his contributions. Just before the Mako Shark-II project, Larry was promoted to Chief Designer for Special Vehicles, where he coordinated efforts with Frank Winchell’s Chevy R&D group and Vince Piggins Performance Group. But by 1968, the self-confessed malcontent left GM to work with his friend Semon “Bunkie” Kundsen, the new president of FoMoCo. Larry’s new position at Ford was Executive of All High-Performance and Show Vehicles. Shinoda was responsible for the Boss 302 and 429, the Torino Talladega, Cougar Eliminator, the King Cobra, the Torino Design Study, Cyclone Spoiler II, and the Mustang and Torino pace cars. But life inside Ford was more turbulent than GM, and after 16 months, Knudsen and Shinoda were fired. The Shinoda/Knudsen team then formed RV company RecTrans, which was soon bought by White Motor Company, with Knudsen as president.

The last chapter of Shinoda’s career began in 1976 when he created Shinoda Design Associates, Inc, with a staff of designers, clay modelers, technicians, engineers, and fabricators. Shinoda’s team worked to help client’s profitability with excellent design that would be appealing to their client’s; trucks, boats, motorcycles, golf equipments, products. Larry’s last Corvette project was the Shinoda/Mears Corvette body kit.

Larry’s older sister Grace had this to say about her famous brother, “Creative people take risks. They see things in new ways that the establishment doesn’t agree with.” She certainly knew her brother very well.

Larry passed on November 13, 1997, but on January 6, 1997 he completed and signed a color rendering of a C5 Corvette Split-Window Coupe with C2-style front and rear fender humps and rear bumper cover. Clearly, Larry wanted to see more “Sting Ray” in the then-new C5. Unfortunately, Larry health issues got in the way and the project never went past the illustration. The following year, Larry was inducted into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame. And in 1995 Larry was inducted into the Mustang Club of America’s “Mustang Hall of Fame”. Larry Shinoda was outspoken (often to his own determent), candid, humorous, and firmly believed in whatever he was doing. – Scott

 

 

 

 

 

Founding Fathers Pt 3 of 6: Bill Mitchell, Creator of the Corvette Look

Published on by Scott

When Harley Earl’s XP-122 “Corvette” debuted at the 1953 GM Motorama, the clean design was way ahead of cars of the day. The look reflected Earl’s style; long hood, low, and rounded – a simple yet beautiful design. Earl was five years away from retirement and had already handpicked his replacement, William L. Mitchell. Bill learned the corporate ropes from Earl, and while a faithful lieutenant, had his own unique style that completely changed the look of the Corvette.

This is Mitchell and the 1959 Stingray Racer. Note the red paint and clear hood scoop. This is what the car looked like when it was in the Elvis Presley movie, “Clambake”. See the photos of The King and the 1959 Stingray Racer at the bottom of this post.

One of Mitchell’s famous quotes is, “I got gasoline in my veins!” Mitchell’s father owned a Buick dealership, so Bill grew up surrounded by cars. Born on July 2, 1912 in Greenville, Pennsylvania, as a kid Bill was always drawing cars. His father sent him to Carnegie Tech to learn to draw something besides cars, but it didn’t work. After college Bill got a job at Collier Advertising as an office boy, went to night school for art, and quickly worked his way into the art department. Still “drawing cars”, Bill befriended Sam, Miles, and Barron Jr. Collier with the common interest in, you guessed it, cars.

On the weekends Bill would hang out with the Colliers at their Tarrytown, New York estate, between the Rockefeller and Stillman estates. The guys had a blast roaring around the grounds in MG sports cars. The Collier brothers were so into racing, they started the Sports Car Club of America, and their pal Bill was their official illustrator. Walter Carey, an industrialist and friend of Harley Earl, saw some of Bill’s illustrations and asked him if he ever considered designing cars. Bill answered, “No.” Carey suggests Bill send him some illustrations to forward to Earl. This was the summer of 1935 and by December, Harley Earl hired Bill Mitchell to work as a designer at General Motors. Bill would work for GM until he was 65 years old.

Bill was a natural and a quick learner. A year later, he was in charge of the Cadillac studio! Through the 1930s to the mid-1950s Mitchell created the 1938 Cadillac Sixty Special, the 1949 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, the 1955-1957 Bel Airs, and many other now-classic cars. Mitchell got along very well with Earl and was never on the receiving end of an Earl’s volcanic dress-downs; Bill knew how to “go-along to get-along.” Mitchell liked Earl’s Corvette and since he knew that Earl’s design kingdom would soon be his, had his own vision for a future Corvette.

On May 1, 1954 Mitchell was promoted to GM Director of Design, but still under Harley Earl. To save the struggling Corvette, Earl was directing the next Corvette based on his Olds “Golden Rocket” Motorama show car. The new designs were classic Earl: very rounded, with a bulbous top, a split rear window, and fins. But GM decided to drop Earl’s new concept to reevaluate the Corvette.

Here’s Bill Mitchell with his two favorite fish – the 1959 Stingray Racer and the 1961 Mako Shark-I. Snappy coat, Bill!

Meanwhile, Mitchell’s group was working on what would later be called the “Q-Corvette”. Upon his arrival back from the 1957 Turin Auto Show, Mitchell gave design studio manager, Bob Veryzer’s team photos from the show, with instructions that he liked the bulging fenders and sharp beltline of the Abarth 750 and the Abarth Alfa 1000 streamliner. Mitchell was looking for something new and different. He told the group of designers, “I want this form to be a complete breakaway from what we’ve seen around here in the past.”

Peter Brock was part of the team and was the youngest designer ever hired by GM. Brock described Mitchell as, “… garrulous, rather extroverted and often profane when he wanted to emphasize a point. Mitchell made sure everyone knew he was the boss, but still loved being “one of the guys.” Mitchell closed out his informal meeting saying, “I’ll be back in a few days kids; show me what you’ve got.” The young designers created dozens of sketches with Mitchell keying in on a Peter Brock sketch. The design process went around and around, yet each time Mitchell came back to Brock’s drawing, which eventually became XP-87, the Q-Corvette, which eventually became Mitchell’s 1959 Stingray Racer, but as a roadster.

Mitchell’s Stingray Racer was another chapter in his feisty career. After his promotion to VP of Design and despite GM’s racing ban, he indulged himself by “buying” the mule chassis of the 1957 Corvette SS, and had his guys adapt the Q-Corvette body to the chassis so that he could go racing. In a large meeting, GM president John F. Gordon said, “I thought everyone knew we were out of racing.” Later Mitchell asked Gordon, “Were you talking about me?” Gordon replied, “Damn right I was!” Mitchell asked. “Do I have to quit?” Gordon snorted, “You’ve got to quite right now!” Bill wrote Gordon a letter explaining that he got his job from racing, because that’s what he did – like a doctor going to conventions. Later Mitchell asked Gordon if he’d read the letter and Gordon replied, “I sure as hell did. You’re a good salesman. You can go ahead. Keep it off the property and spend your own money.” Yes, Bill dodged a bullet! Mitchell raced the car for two years and won a championship with no external marking besides, “Stingray”. The fan response was so intense; the next Corvette had be the Stingray.

1963 was a banner year for Bill Mitchell’s cars, as the Sting Ray and his “personal luxury car” the Buick Riviera both arrived. Like the Sting Ray, Mitchell didn’t lay down a single line himself, he knew what he wanted and gave direction until he saw what he was thinking. His instructions for the Riviera were that he wanted to combine a Rolls Royce with a Ferrari. That interesting mix turned into another Mitchell classic.

As soon as the 1963 Sting Ray released, Mitchell got started on the next new Corvette. When he brought in his team of advanced designers, lead by Larry Shinoda, he told them he wanted, “…a “narrow, slim, selfish” center section and coupe body, a prominently tapered tail, an “all of one piece” blending of the upper and lower portions of the body, and prominent wheels with protective fenders that were separate from the main body yet grafted organically to it.” While that sounds obtuse, it does describe the Mako Shark-II. When the Mako Shark-II was shown to management in April 1965, it was unanimous, the next Vette had to be the shark. Outrageously, they wanted it as a 1967 model.

Bill Mitchell’s personality was as intense as his designs. Mitchell didn’t hold division general managers in high esteem, and he hated engineers trying to be designers. He once told a general manager, “I don’t tell you how to make your car or run your plant. Keep your damn nose out of design.” Bill didn’t like smaller cars and once said, “It’s hard to tailor a dwarf.” Mitchell detested focus groups and committees and said, “You can’t design by committee. You have to say, “This is what I want to do.” On the same topic, he said, “Frank Lloyd Wright did not go around ringing doorbells asking people what kind of houses they wanted.”

Many that worked with Mitchell admired him greatly. Designer Roy Lonberger described bill as, “The most authentic man I ever met. His focus never changed, his design vision was laser clear. He changed designs with complete responsibility to design a car. He delegated responsibility, but never abdicated his own. You always knew where you stood with Mitchell because he told you.” Larry Shinoda got along wonderfully with Bill, but Duntov, now so well. They had a famous blowout when Zora came into Bill’s studio complaining about the Sting Ray’s split window. Incensed that a lowly engineer would demand he change his design, a shouting match ensued. Mitchell called Duntov “Zorro” and Duntov called Mitchell a “red-faced baboon”! Duntov was persona-non-grata in Mitchell’s studio for a long time. Designer Robert Cumberford said, “I liked him because he was enthusiastic about things, but he could be crude and vulgar.” Chuck Jordan, eventual VP of Design said, “He certainly loved women. Bill once told me, “If God made anything better than a woman, he kept it for himself.”

When Mitchell retired in December 1977, GM’s upper management decided that never again would they allow a VP of Design with so much power. Mitchell’s successor, Irv Rybicki was totally unlike Bill – some called him a “Yes Man” claiming that’s why 1980s GM’s cars were so boring. A few years before his death in 1988, Mitchell has this to say about the C4 Corvette, “That square box is pretty near plastic… the instrument panel – Dracula’s dressing room… it rides like a truck… it isn’t a style car, it’s an machine car… engineers are running it. Earl would never let that – I would never let that happen, and I condemn the guys for it!” He also said, “My time is over.” Fast forward to the Tom Peters C6 and C6 design era and I believe Bill Mitchell would approve. – Scott

Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt. 1 – Harley Earl, CLICK HERE.

Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt. 2 – Ed Cole, CLICK HERE.

Here’s Elvis Presley and the 1959 Stingray Racer from the 1967 movie “Clambake”.

Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt 1 of 6 – Designer Extraordinaire, Harley J. Earl

Published on by Scott

The Roman philosopher Seneca is credited for saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” When Harley Earl attended his first organized road race at Watkins Glen in September 1951, (the very first Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix was in 1948) two things were glaringly obvious to him; First; “sports cars” were not a fad, there was real passion for the unique European cars he saw racing through the streets of Watkins Glen. And second: General Motors needed to build an American sports car – right away!

By 1951 Harley Earl was entering the twilight years of his long career in design and innovation. He was a true living legend. Earl knew everyone who was anyone in the automotive world and then some. He wielded so much power inside General Motors that he had a button on his desk to get a direct call to GM’s president Alfred P. Sloan. Earl was a personal friend of United States Air Force General Curtis LeMay and one day in the early 1950s the general said to him, “Why don’t you make an American sports car?”

The Strategic Air Command general loved sports cars and owned an Allard J2. GM even built LeMay a special Cadillac-powered Willys Jeep. LeMay was also instrumental in helping start the Sports Car Club of America and in 1954 was the recipient of the Woolf Barnato Award, the SCCA’s highest award for club contributors. Barnato won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928, 1929, and 1930 and he was the only driver to ever win the Le Mans race every time he entered! Continue reading “Corvette’s Founding Fathers, Pt 1 of 6 – Designer Extraordinaire, Harley J. Earl” →

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 3

Published on by Scott

The 1964 Corvette GS-II – Frank Winchell’s Mid-Engine Engineering (Racing) Study with Jim “Mr. Chaparral” Hall

Dateline: 3.6.18 – Images GM Archives – This article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of Vette Vues Magazine

While Duntov lead the charge when it came to racing Corvettes, he wasn’t the only power player inside Chevrolet with a vision for a mid-engine Corvette. Frank Winchell was a low-profile company man who, unlike Duntov, did not like or seek out fame and attention. He was comfortable in his role as a corporate man. Winchell ran the Chevrolet R&D group from 1959 through 1966 and was a “take no prisoners,” “lets try it” kind of guy. While not a degreed engineer, he had a natural sense of how things worked and specialized in the design and development of automatic transmissions.

In Chapter 35 of Karl Ludvigsen’s 2014 edition of “CORVETTE – America’s Star Spangled Sports Car”, in Chapter 35, titled, “Winchell’s Raiders”, Karl shares that one of Winchell’s nicknames was, “General Bullmoose” after Al Capp’s Li’l Abner character, General Brashington T. Bullmoose, the cold-blooded capitalist tyrant tycoon. (This was obviously NOT a compliment) Chevrolet engineer and author of the book, “Chevrolet = Racing…? Fourteen Years of Raucous Silence!!, Paul Valkenburgh, said, “Winchell hated the phrase, ‘That can’t be done.’ Upon hearing that, there would be an inner explosion like a mine blast. He might grab an engineer by the lapels to bellow, ‘What that means is that you can’t do it. So, by God, I’ll find someone who can!’ And he usually did.”

It has been said that Duntov managed with love and enthusiasm, where as nobody worked “with” Frank Winchell – they worked “for” him. Frank was a tough “take no prisoners” kind of guy. So, it is no surprise that the two strong willed men had different ideas of what the Corvette should be. Duntov and Winchell respected each other, but they often locked horns. Continue reading “

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 3″ →

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 3

Published on by Scott

The 1964 AWD CERV II – Duntov’s planned Ford GT40-Killer and Le Mans Champion.Dateline: 11.23.17 – For decades the topic of a mid-engine Corvette was simply “pie in the sky.” It was a fanciful piece of Corvette lore going back to the early days when Zora Arkus-Duntov was driving the Corvette brand. Every so many years, the topic would resurface, so when I heard it again for the umpteenth time, just after the C7 arrived, I said, “Oh, sure…”  But, it’s going to happen, finally! The mid-engine C8 Corvette will make its grand debut at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as a 2019 model.
In the interest of explaining how we got to where we are with the whole, long, mid-engine Corvette story, lets buckle into the Corvette Report Time Machine, set the dials (yes, we still use “dials” here at Corvette Report) and go back to 1963/1964 when that wiley, silver-haired Russian fox, Zora Arkus-Duntov tried once again, to build a “Corvette” to race at Le Mans.  Indulge me while I bench race a little here, Continue reading “

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 3″ →

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 2

Published on by Scott

The 1962 Monza GT – Corvair-based, Mid-Engine Sports Car – Think Porsche 550/1500 RS Spyder and you’re close!

By the early 1960s the Fuelie Corvette, equipped with Duntov’s “Racer Kit” suspension and brake packages, established itself as a solid, dependable platform for a B/Production or A/Production SCCA racer. Several cars had killer reputations on the track, including; the Nickey Chevrolet-sponsored 1959 “Purple People Eater” driven by Jim Jeffords, Dave MacDonald’s “Don Steves Chevrolet” C1 Corvettes, C1s raced by Dick Thompson and Dick Guldstrand, as well as Grady Davis’ 1961 B/Production and 1962 A/Production “Gulf Oil” Corvettes, and others. Setup right, these cars could be unbeatable.
Yet, despite their track success, the European sports car community did not accept the early Corvettes. Why? Because Corvettes were big and heavy, compared to European sports cars. Traditionalists considered Corvettes to be crude, with more in common with a Chevy Bel Air than anything from Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Aston Martin and other low-volume European exotics. Corvettes were “mass produced” while European sports cars were “hand-crafted.” This perception did not go unnoticed inside Chevrolet, and some were thinking of a “Plan B” for the Corvette.

The Monza GT and the Monza SS roadster were never intended to be replacements for the Corvette. After all, the basic platform was the rear-engine Corvair. Now before you go, “Puke! Puke!” lets go back to 1957 for a brief look at where the Corvair came from, Chevrolet General Manager, Ed Cole’s aggressive and innovative, “Q-Chevrolet” line of cars. Continue reading “

The History of Mid-Engine Corvettes, 1960 to C8: Part 2″ →

Corvette Odd-Ball: Was the 1938 Adler Trumpf Rennlimousine the Genesis of the Iconic Sting Ray’s Roof?

Published on by Scott

Was Corvette Designer Larry Shinoda Inspired by an Old German Pre-WW II Racecar?

1-Side-by-Side-Rear

Dateline: 7.22.15 The lineage runs like this. In 1957 Chevrolet’s new general manager, Ed Cole (the engineer credited with the design of the small-block Chevy engine – the greatest, longest-in-production engine in Detroit history) decided that by 1960 ALL General Motors cars would use a transaxle to improve weight distribution, handling, and to open up interiors for more space. It was call the “Q-Chevrolets” and yes, there was to even be a Q-Corvette. Continue reading “

Corvette Odd-Ball: Was the 1938 Adler Trumpf Rennlimousine the Genesis of the Iconic Sting Ray’s Roof?” →

1963 Corvette – The First Production Sting Ray

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 5.16.12

The Illustrated Corvette Series “First” continues with a look back at the FIRST production Sting Ray.

A few years ago, someone created a series of Chevrolet billboards using classic, iconic images of some of the most popular Chevrolet cars. Naturally, there were several layouts featuring Corvettes. While this is a totally biased opinion, I think the above “The Original American Idol” is the best. Four words sum it up perfectly and the back end of the one and only, split-window coupe says a thousand words.

Our friend and VETTE Magazine founding editor, Marty Schorr, recently posted a review of the new 911 Porsche Carrera S at his CarGuyChronicles.com blog site. Writer, Howard Walker expounds on the fact that while the latest version of the classic 911 shares no hardware what-so-ever with the original and first ‘63 911, the spirit of the original 911 is still in tact. It’s an amazing combination of the rear-engine layout and the fact that the car still “looks” like a 911, only bigger and much better. I have often wondered what today’s Corvette would look like had Bill Mitchell never designed the game changing Mako Shark II. As I have written here in stories about Mitchell’s Mako Corvettes, the Mako Shark II was so astonishing, it simply HAD TO BE the next Corvette. End of conversation! And, we’ve moved on from there.

So, buckle up and lets take a blast back to 1963 for a look-see at the first production Sting Ray! – Scott

I call the Corvette the “The American Automotive Horatio Alger Story.” It’s the ultimate automotive rags-to-riches story. You could also call it an automotive Cinderella story. While the C6 has taken more flack than it deserves, it’s good to look back to the very beginning to get a really clear picture of how far the Corvette has come in 60 years. Today, new designs are market researched, but in the ‘50s, it was a seat-of-the-pants approach, driven by men with strong personalities. “Father” of the Corvette, Harley Earl, was the director of GM’s “Art and Color Section.” from 1927 to 1958.  His successor, William L. Mitchell picked up the mantle and drove the Corvette where Earl never imagined.

The Sting Ray design began in ‘57 as the Q-Corvette concept and morphed into Mitchell’s weekend warrior Stingray Racer. Mitchell wanted to go racing, and do some informal market research. By ‘59, the Corvette was due for a change and Mitchell had the design already worked out. Late in ‘59, Mitchell assigned stylist Larry Shinoda to make a full-size, clay coupe version the Stingray Racer. By April ‘60 Continue reading “1963 Corvette – The First Production Sting Ray” →

Vette Videos: Larry Shinoda and Peter M. De Lorenzo Talk About Corvette Design Legend, Bill Mitchell

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 4.1.12

Shinoda shares his Mitchell “fish story” and De Lorenzo shares his “”neighborhood kid on a bike” Mitchell story!

Here's Bill Mitchell with his two favorite fish - the 1959 Stingray Racer and the 1961 Mako Shark-I. Snappy coat, Bill!

Here’s one for the Kawinkydink Department. I thought we were all done with our look back and the life and career of Larry Shinoda – wrong! This morning while surfing around the net, I found a video about Bill Mitchell. Before I knew it, there’s Larry Shinoda telling stories about his former boss, Bill Mitchell!

Most of us in the Corvette community are very familiar with the unique “shark” paint style used on the Mako Shark-I, Mako Shark-II, and the Manta Ray concept/show cars. Larry shared a wonderful story about how the guys in the painting department perfected that distinctive paint scheme.

Also interviewed in the video is the late David E. Davis, former Campbell-Ewald Advertising man, former editor of Car and Driver, and founder and former editor of Automobile Magazine. Here’s the video…

The second video is hosted by Peter M. De Lorenzo, editor and chief of AutoExtremist.com and son of former GM VP of Public Relations Anthony De Lorenzo. Continue reading “Vette Videos: Larry Shinoda and Peter M. De Lorenzo Talk About Corvette Design Legend, Bill Mitchell” →

A Look Back At Race Cars & Corvairs Designed by Larry Shinoda

Published on by Scott

Dateline: 3.30.12

A brief overview of six racing cars and three experimental Corvairs Larry Shinoda designed.

Check out our awesome slide show tribute to Larry Shinoda’s designs at the bottom of this post.

Larry Shinoda’s designs were so strong that when his name comes up, it’s almost always first associated with Corvettes. But Larry’s talent for designing fast-looking cars wasn’t limited to Corvettes. I suppose that when you are the go-to-stylist for a legend the likes of Bill Mitchell, you get a few peach projects. In retrospect, what helped make Shinoda’s design work so edgy was his passion for racing. In a sense, Larry’s NHRA Nationals win in ‘55 put him in the same category as 1954 Le Mans racer Zora Arkus-Duntov. As Bill Mitchell used to say, both men had, “gasoline in their veins.”

Shinoda’s race car design credits include: Pat Flaherty’s 1956 Indy 500-winning John Zink Special, Bill Mitchell’s 1959 Stingray Racer, Zora Arkus-Duntov’s CERV I and CERV II, the GS-II (Grand Sport II), Jim Hall’s Chaparral-2, and Peter Weismann’s 1963 rear-engine Indy car.

Although the Corvair never really caught on as a performance car or a sports car, designers such as Shinoda had some jaw-dropping ideas for Chevy’s rear-engine car. The 1962 Monza GT Coupe was in direct competition with Ford’s mid-engine 4-banger Mustang I concept car. What an interesting Chevy vs Ford battle that would have been! When you work in an R&D department often many “variations on a theme” are explored.

The Monza SS was an open cockpit-type design with a racer-like cut-down windshield. Another version was explored with a more traditional type of windshield. And in the same way that other GM divisions glommed on to Harley Earl’s Corvette concept in ‘53 and came up with their own “Corvette” concept cars for the ‘54 GM Motorama (the ‘54 Pontiac Bonneville, Buick Wildcat, and Olds F88). We have an example of a Monza variation that looks a lot like a roadster version of the 1964 XP-833 Pontiac Banshee. It was very common back then for designs to get tossed about within GMs divisions.

One Shinoda design that was not shared by any of GM’s other divisions was the 1967 Astro I. Corvair production peeked in ‘65 for approximately 235,000 Corvairs built. By ‘67 the number went to just over 27,000! The Corvair-based Astro I concept/show car arrived in 1967 and was probably started around ‘65 – ‘66, before the car started to tank. Unlike the Monza GT that eventually became the ‘67 Opel GT, the Astro I was so over the top, none of its design elements were used in any serious fashion. Instead, Chevrolet used the “Astro” name on one of their full-size vans and there was nothing “Astro” about it. Continue reading “A Look Back At Race Cars & Corvairs Designed by Larry Shinoda” →