Editor’s Be aware: As we advised you on the finish of final yr, Peter is immersing himself in a double-secret writing undertaking for the subsequent few weeks. He’ll return with a brand new column on February fifth. Within the meantime, I’ll curate a few of my favourite previous columns. This week, Peter’s Rant about his and his household’s lengthy involvement with Corvettes is documented in “The Corvette Recordsdata.” In “On The Desk,” we have now massive information at GM Design, with the introduced retirement of Michael Simoe, senior vp, GM International Design, and the appointment of Bryan Nesbitt, at present govt director, International Cadillac Design, as his successor. Then, we element the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S, which closes the hole between the 911 Carrera and the much more performance-oriented 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid. We additionally check out the primary two fashions in Honda’s new 0 Collection line of battery electrical automobiles, which the corporate offered this week on the 2025 Client Electronics Present (CES). And we proceed to function the final 12-cylinder Ferrari to win at Le Mans. Our AE Music of the Week is the searing “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morisette. In “Fumes,” we have now the fourth installment of Peter’s much-lauded new collection, “The V8 Period,” recalling how the emergence of V8 energy reworked American sports activities automotive racing and propelled it into a completely new dimension of recognition. And in “The Line,” we’ll have pre-season racing updates that advantage mentioning. Onward! -WG
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. As longtime readers nicely know, the Chevrolet Corvette has performed an inexorable function in my ongoing automotive habit. I’ve been honored to have skilled a number of the most well-known and spectacular Corvettes ever constructed in interval and in actual time. These experiences are eternally etched in my thoughts, and for causes I’ll clarify later, I feel it’s excessive time I offer you a glimpse into my Corvette historical past, as a result of for me, it by no means will get previous.
(GM)
The 1959 Corvette Sting Ray racer (photographed within the GM Styling viewing courtyard on the GM Technical Middle in Warren, Michigan, in 1960). As I’ve said many, many instances in these pages, this machine is my all-time favourite automotive. I first noticed it one blistering summer season afternoon in our neighborhood in 1962, and I’ll always remember it. I used to be nonetheless in my bike-riding days again then, however I bear in mind resting with my buddies on a nook in our neighborhood after a protracted, scorching day of driving round aimlessly – we did that always again then – after we heard a rumble and roar coming from off within the distance. I knew immediately that it wasn’t bikes and that it was a couple of of no matter it was – and simply then a pack of essentially the most beautiful automobiles we would ever seen burst across the nook and got here rumbling proper previous us – the solar glinting off the barking pipes and the cover of bushes shimmering off the right mirror finishes of the paint jobs. This “horsepower practice” was led by the 1959 Corvette Sting Ray racer in Silver, adopted by the XP700 Corvette (a “bubble-top” present automotive with aspect pipes additionally in Silver – it was Mitchell’s favourite colour), the primary Mako Shark Corvette and an idea known as the Corvair Tremendous Spyder (additionally in Silver), a wild, racing-inspired present automotive with twin cut-down racing windscreens and three pipes curling out and round all sides within the again.
(GM)
A uncommon picture of the Corvette Sting Ray racer in its authentic purple livery, taken at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in 1959.
(GM)
The Corvette Sting Ray racer because it seems at the moment.
(conceptcarz.com)
The Corvette Sting Ray racer “dwell” at a automotive present.
(GM)
The 1963 Corvette Sting Ray manufacturing automotive and the 1959 Corvette Sting Ray racer, photographed within the GM Styling viewing courtyard within the fall of 1962.
(GM)
Legendary GM Styling Chief Invoice Mitchell photographed with the 1959 Corvette Sting Ray racer and the 1961 Corvette Mako Shark on the GM Technical Middle check observe, in Warren, Michigan, 1961.
They have been so loud we could not even hear ourselves screaming no matter it was we have been screaming, however after a cut up second to consider it we took off, pedaling our guts out after them. It was obvious that these machines have been heading for our a part of the neighborhood – and as we tried to maintain them in sight, I noticed they have been turning on to my cross road…
We got here across the nook and noticed them pull right into a driveway, precisely one block from my home. We stopped proper on the finish of the driveway with our mouths gaping all the way down to the asphalt, because the drivers of the opposite automobiles handed the keys to the driving force of the Sting Ray and he took them as much as the entrance door the place a lady collected them. Then, an Impala pulled up and the 4 males acquired in it and have been gone, leaving the automobiles sitting within the driveway all lined up ticking and spitting as their pipes began to chill. This grew to become the Friday afternoon ritual that summer season, as a result of that’s the best way Invoice Mitchell needed it. GM’s legendary design chief appreciated having a collection of his toys to play with on the weekends, and I used to be fortunate sufficient to dwell only a block away from him.
All of these automobiles have been particular, however the ’59 Corvette Sting Ray racer was by far my favourite the second I laid eyes on it. In the event you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing the unique Sting Ray racer in individual, it’s a beautiful machine. (Though for many who haven’t, you won’t be ready for a way compact it’s.)
Its taut, superbly rendered strains completely glow in Mitchell’s favourite colour – German “Silver Arrow” racing metallic. A favourite story? When Ed Welburn took over the reins of GM Design a few years in the past, the very first thing he did was order the restoration of the ’59 Sting Racer, which had fallen into neglect and in determined want of rejuvenation. And the GM artisans did an exceptional job bringing it again to its earlier glory. However the one space they didn’t contact? The seats, as a result of Ed needed them to stay of their authentic situation, in honor of all the well-known individuals who sat in them. An beautiful contact, and it stays the jewel of GM’s assortment of historic automobiles.
No, I don’t rely myself as a type of well-known folks, however I did have the glory of driving shotgun within the ’59 Sting Ray racer a number of instances with Invoice Mitchell on the wheel. The reminiscence stays as technicolor vibrant as if it occurred yesterday.
(GM)
The wild 1958 Corvette XP-700 idea from GM Styling.
(GM)
1958 Corvette XP-700 idea. This wild Corvette idea was the primary automotive I rode in with Invoice Mitchell on the wheel. Some could not just like the appears to be like of this beast, but it surely was surprisingly alluring in individual. The one factor I can report is that its “bubble” high – which was an infatuation of Mitchell’s on the time – redefined the idea of “photo voltaic acquire” because it baked your brains out in the summertime solar. And that was effective with me, as a result of to journey round in that cool, futuristic machine was a deal with past phrases. The XP-700 ultimately disappeared. Why? It grew to become the underpinnings of the subsequent automotive…
(GM)
1961 Corvette Mako Shark I. The Mako Shark idea (XP-755) was one other factor altogether. This machine bristled with exceptional particulars, just like the “gills” that doubled as sequential flip indicators, the wonderful aspect pipes and, after all its bubble high. However essentially the most exceptional attribute was its improbable paint job, which mimicked the gradations of a Mako Shark. That paint job was mesmerizing again then and wonderful in each sense of that overused phrase. In the present day, this machine is in determined want of a full restoration, however that paint job stays its signature. How did this all come about? One of many numerous anecdotes from the Mitchell period was that he caught a Mako shark on a fishing journey in Florida and had it mounted on a wall in his workplace. He stored telling the designers that he needed the paint job on the Mako Shark idea to look precisely just like the shark on his wall, with the identical colour gradations. After Mitchell rejected a number of makes an attempt at portray the XP-755 and amid rising frustration, just a few designers sneaked into his workplace late one night time whereas Mitchell was out of city and eliminated the shark from his workplace wall. They then had the paint store paint Mitchell’s prized catch precisely like the newest model of the paint job on the Mako Shark idea. They then put the shark again up on his wall and offered the brand new paint job on the Corvette Mako Shark idea to Mitchell, who pronounced it “good.”
(GM)
The paint job is actually wild – and beautiful – on the Mako Shark I.
(GM)
The 1961 Corvette Mako Shark I because it seems at the moment.
(GM)
The 1961 Corvette Mako Shark 1 and 1965 Corvette Mako Shark II, photographed on the GM Technical Middle in Warren, Michigan, in 1965.
(GM)
The 1963 Corvette Sting Ray stays one of the crucial iconic vehicles ever constructed.
Ed Cole’s 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. We acquired to know Ed (and Invoice Mitchell, after all) by way of our father, who was accountable for GM PR from 1957-1979. Ed took observe that my brother Tony was completely into automobiles, so he usually would ship over automobiles for my brother to drive. One yr he despatched over his private driver, which was a 409 cu.in. V8-powered Chevy Impala with a 4-speed. The one different 409 in existence was in “Dyno” Don Nicholson’s fingers on the NHRA finals. Evidently, we had a blast mopping up the whole lot in sight on Woodward Avenue that weekend. However essentially the most memorable automotive that Ed despatched over was his private 1963 fuel-injected Corvette Sting Ray coupe in Sebring Silver (with a 4-speed gearbox, after all). The brand new Sting Ray had been introduced, however there have been none on the road but, aside from Ed’s firm automotive. To today, the Sting Ray was one of the crucial dramatic and memorable auto introductions of all time, and driving it that weekend was like piloting a rolling house ship. No different automotive mentioned “The Future” like the primary Corvette Sting Ray. It was merely spectacular.
(The DeLorenzo Archives)
The 1964 “Zora-ized” Corvette Sting Ray (because it appeared for the SCCA Driver’s College in Watkins Glen, New York, 1964. Be aware the straight pipes out the again). By early summer season of 1964, my brother Tony’s automotive bug began to significantly flip towards sports activities automotive racing. He innocently requested “massive” Tony if we may order a Corvette firm automotive for the summer season, and little did he know that the journey was simply starting. As my brother mentioned: “He made two errors: 1.) He agreed to do it and a pair of.) He allow us to order it!” And order it we did: A Black/Black 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe with Heavy Responsibility finned drum brakes; Heavy Responsibility gearbox; knock-off aluminum wheels and radio delete. Little did our father know that Tony deliberate to take it to SCCA Driver’s College in Watkins Glen, New York. So, the second we acquired it we took the inside carpeting out, took the bumpers off, eliminated the spare tire service, after which we had a roll bar put in and we have been good to go. Or so we thought. Whereas Tony was sitting at his desk at Chevrolet Gross sales Promotion (his summer season job) just a few days later, the cellphone rang. That is how he remembers it:
“Whats up?”
“Tony, that is Zora Duntov.” Yikes, it was the God of the Corvette calling. “Your father has ordered a heavy-duty Corvette. Who’s going to drive it?”
“Um… He’s?!!”
Silence.
“Who’s going to drive it?”
“Um, I’m.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Uhhh… I will go to SCCA driver’s college at Watkins Glen.”
“Okay.”
And “God” hung up. However not earlier than requesting that we drop the automotive off at Chevrolet Engineering on the GM Tech Middle in Warren so he may “maintain just a few issues.” Two weeks later we went again to get the automotive, and Zora took Tony out to the little check observe that sits contained in the Tech Middle. And there it was, it was the identical Corvette but it surely sat decrease and it was sporting the largest Goodyear Blue Streak racing tires that might match contained in the fenders on the knock-off wheels. Zora additionally identified that the inventory exhaust system beneath now had flanges simply in entrance of the mufflers. These flanges had been placed on by Invoice Mitchell’s well-known Styling Storage mechanic, Ken Eschebech, so that when we acquired to Watkins Glen, we may connect 4′ lengthy straight pipes designed to hold on particular hangers, in order that they might shoot straight out the again. As a result of, nicely, you’ll be able to’t run a Driver’s College at Watkins Glen with customary mufflers, proper? Zora was a genius.
However these adjustments have been simply the tip of the iceberg. The automotive had been utterly gone by way of, together with the brakes, the suspension and certain sufficient, the engine. On reflection, we have been satisfied that Zora had the engine yanked, gone by way of and tweaked, as a result of the factor was a rocket.
That journey to Watkins Glen was an journey unto itself. We arrived very late one night time on the rustic Glen Motor Inn, and the one and solely Vic Franzese (the proprietor) checked us in, however not earlier than he may present us his lovely Lotus 11. The varsity went exceptionally nicely for Tony; at one level the Chief Teacher went to journey a few laps with him and emerged muttering one thing like “he is would not want any extra instruction” – and that was the start of Tony’s racing life. The return journey was eventful, too, as have been so drained by the tip of the weekend that we mentioned, “screw it” and left the straight pipes on, rattling hearts and bones all the best way again.
There’s extra to this story. It was getting towards the tip of that summer season, when dad knowledgeable us that the automotive had to return to Chevrolet to be put again into inventory situation. It seems that our oldest sister’s boyfriend on the time, who lived in Chicago, had expressed curiosity in shopping for the automotive. We took the roll bar out, piled the inventory parts in it and voila! It returned two weeks later as if none of it occurred, with dad saying: “When that automotive comes again to the home, don’t contact it!” We did not. The unhappy finish to this chapter? The man in Chicago had it for 2 days. On the second night time it was stolen, stripped – and totaled.
Dollie Cole’s “Bluebird” 1965 Sting Ray convertible. Ed Cole was the sensible engineering genius and true fanatic who was one of many creators of the small block Chevrolet V8 and who led GM Product Improvement in its heyday. Ed is a real icon of the trade. Dollie was his radiant spouse, a fierce defender of all issues Ed and a fiery fanatic in her personal proper. She roared round Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham – two northern suburbs of Detroit – in her ’65 Nassau Blue Corvette roadster with a white inside, a detachable arduous high, a 4-speed and aspect pipes. Dollie additionally had a lead foot and drove the hell out of it. She famously dubbed it her “Bluebird.” Ed stuffed a big-block 396 V8 in it months earlier than the engines have been launched to the general public. She let Tony borrow it on a number of events. It was fast and suitably loud.
(GM)
The 1965 Corvette Mako Shark II. What might be mentioned about this machine aside from the truth that Invoice Mitchell and his handpicked designers turned the dial up previous “11” to provide you with one of the crucial iconic Corvette shapes of all time? The apparent successor to the Mako Shark I, the “II” bristled with spectacular particulars that even at the moment – in its “Manta Ray” guise – resonate mightily.
(GM)
The Mako Shark II reworked into the 1969 Corvette Manta Ray, which is the way it seems at the moment.
(GM)
The 1969 Corvette Manta Ray photographed at GM Styling in Warren, Michigan.
(GM Design)
The mid-engine 1973 Aerovette began life as an idea designed to showcase GM’s quickly growing rotary engine know-how. Invoice Mitchell’s design crew gave the automotive a surprising form, bi-fold gullwing doorways and a transparent giant rear window over the engine compartment to indicate off the experimental four-rotor engine. It was initially exhibited because the 4-Rotor Corvette with Mitchell’s favourite “silver arrow” paint and a silver leather-based inside. After GM deserted its rotary engine program, Invoice Mitchell then changed the rotary with a small-block Chevrolet V8 and renamed the dramatic design because the Aerovette. It’s spectacular in individual and stays beautiful to today.
(GM Design)
(GM Design)
(The DeLorenzo Racing Archives)
Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin, Could 1967. Tony DeLorenzo’s first race in a Corvette – and first win in “A” Manufacturing – got here at an SCCA Regional in Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin, on this brand-new 1967 L88 Corvette Sting Ray roadster sponsored by Hanley Dawson Chevrolet in Detroit. It was additionally the primary time a 427 Cobra encountered the brand new L88 in an “A” Manufacturing race. This well-traveled Sting Ray is likely one of the most worthwhile Corvettes on the earth not named “Grand Sport.”
The 1967 Corvette 427 L88 racing automotive. Tony started his racing profession in one thing a lot extra sensible and reasonably priced than a Corvette, which turned out to be a ’65 Corvair. We began out pounding round at our native observe right here in Michigan – Waterford Hills – and from there it was on to Nelson Ledges, Ohio, and Mid-Ohio; a one-time occasion at an airport in Grayling, Michigan; Lime Rock Park, Vineland (New Jersey); and on and on. Two years later Tony talked Hanley Dawson, who owned Hanley Dawson Chevrolet in Detroit on the time, into sponsoring a Corvette in SCCA Racing. And after he agreed to try this, we ordered one in all 20 L88 Corvettes made in 1967, in Black, after all (it really turned out to be the primary one constructed that yr). I’ll always remember happening to the dealership after it arrived and us taking it across the block. The factor was a monster in each sense of the phrase, and the sound that L88 made was non secular. The primary weekend we had it we put in a roll bar, changed the inventory exhaust system with a set of “OK Kustom” headers (from Flint), added a set of “Torq-Thrust” American Racing wheels, a set of Firestone racing tires, and we eliminated the windshield, minimize the windshield posts down and put a plexiglass windscreen on. The debut race – and win – for Tony and that well-known L88 Corvette got here six weeks later in an SCCA Regional race at an obscure highway race observe in Wilmot Hills, Wisconsin. He went on to qualify for the SCCA Runoffs with that automotive, after which it will definitely disappeared. It surfaced once more, and after Tony documented its authenticity, it was restored again to its road configuration; then it was returned to its racing configuration – with Tony driving it within the Monterey Historics – then again once more to its road configuration. This has grow to be one of the crucial worthwhile L88 Corvettes in existence, and I feel the final time it modified fingers was for just below $2 million.
The 1969 Corvette “Daytona GT” L88 convertible. After the Owens/Corning Fiberglas sponsorship got here to fruition for our Corvette crew, we had the concept of constructing a restricted run of road Corvettes that will be branded because the “Corvette Daytona GT.” We construct a prototype, which was primarily based on a Black/Black (after all) Corvette convertible powered by a 427 L88 and geared up with our competitors headers and aspect pipes, our FIA-specific Plexiglas coated entrance headlights, American “Torq-Thrust” wheels and racing tires. We even displayed it on the Detroit Auto Present at Cobo Corridor that yr. From the “Greatest Laid Plans” File, the calls for of Tony’s burgeoning – and profitable – racing effort overwhelmed the whole lot else, and the Daytona GT concept fell by the wayside. However that wasn’t precisely the tip of the story. The automotive was saved at my mum or dad’s home, and I used to be tasked with conserving it in working situation, which I carried out with relish. Evidently, a Black/Black L88 Corvette with open aspect pipes triggered fairly a stir on Woodward and the encircling environs. It was the quintessential Dangerous Ass machine. What occurred to it? A Lufthansa Airways co-pilot befriended Tony at Daytona, and he ultimately requested Tony if he would contemplate promoting him a OCF-prepared Corvette. A deal was reached, and the Daytona GT was transformed to OCF Corvette Racing specs. However not earlier than Randy Wittine, the sensible GM designer who created all of our iconic racing crew liveries again then, got here up with a wild “psychedelic” paint job for it that was drop-dead beautiful. (Footage exist someplace, however they haven’t turned up.) Tony and I dropped it off at Detroit’s Metro airport, and watched it being loaded on to a Lufthansa freighter. That pilot proceeded to terrorize the equal of German SCCA nationwide racing with that monster, humbling the standard assortment of Porsche 911s within the course of. The automotive ended up again within the states in some way and is now used for classic racing. One other Corvette life nicely lived.
(Chevrolet pictures)
A more in-depth look demonstrates how ZR1 generally is a standout observe software and a strong grand touring car abruptly. ZR1 with ZTK, which incorporates the high-downforce Carbon Fiber Aero Bundle, bursts from a standstill on ultra-grippy Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires, taking a transparent edge to 60 mph. The equally balanced customary aero ZR1 sails to a 152 mph quarter mile entice pace, 2 mph sooner than the ZTK-equipped ZR1. All exams have been performed with 93 octane pump gas and have been carried out on a non-prepped drag strip floor.
Fast, repeatable launches are enabled by Corvette’s customary Launch Management and Customized Launch Management options, discovered all through the lineup from Stingray to ZR1. Launch Management is programmed to handle tire spin, transmission clutch software price, and extra, enabling speedy launches mechanically. Customized Launch Management permits the driving force to have extra management to regulate for real-time circumstances, optimizing acceleration runs by adjusting launch RPM and wheel slip targets from the steering wheel controls.
(GM Styling)
Invoice Mitchell pulling out of his driveway on Bradway Boulevard in Bloomfield Village, Michigan, within the 1959 Corvette Sting Ray racer. He drove his favourite automobiles on a regular basis.
