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1957 Corvette Kit Car
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Here's the story on this print:
Kit Car Profile No. 24 - 1957 Corvette
1957 was a pivotal year for the Corvette. Chevy's little beauty queen became a brute! America became a car-culture in the '50s. Hot rods were born and sports cars were coming from Europe. Chevrolet got into the act with the Harley Earl-designed, American sports car, the Corvette.
In the early '50s, American car makers knew very little about building sports cars. Earl's Corvette blew everyone away at the 1953 Motorama Show and it was rushed into production, using off-the-shelf Chevy sedan parts. Because no one was sure that the public would actually buy the Corvette, it was decided to use a new material called "fiberglass." If the car was a flop, GM wouldn't be out big-bucks for steel tooling.
A fiberglass body could be built from easily molded parts. Thus the Corvette became America's first production fiberglass car.
Unfortunately, the Corvette's performance wasn't on par with its looks. They tried, but the little Blue Flame-Six and 2-speed Powerglide transmission weren't making it with the sports car or hot rod crowd. Sales were dismal. In the first three years, Chevrolet only sold 4,640 Corvettes. Ford, on the other hand, sold 16,155 Thunderbirds in 1955 alone! Clearly, the Corvette needed something big. The best thing that Chevrolet did to ensure the Corvette's success, was to hire Zora Arkus-Duntov, and to name him to the position of "Director of High Performance Vehicle Design and Development." The Corvette never had a better champion. In a few years, Duntov turned the beauty queen into a brute.
When the new 265 V-8 small-block Chevy came out in '55, Duntov made sure there was a juiced up version for the Corvette. As wonderful as the Motorama Corvette was, the restyling of the '56 Corvette was better. No one noticed or cared that the styling cues were picked up from the Mercedes 300 SL. The new Corvette was taught, aggressive, and hot, because it now packed a dual-quad 265-cubic-inch engine with 255 horsepower. And thanks to the back-door racing efforts of Duntov, the Corvette was beginning to be taken seriously on the race track as well.
When the 1957 Fuel Injected Corvette was released, it was as if the Vette was finally "finished and complete." Fuel injection was exotic stuff in '57, and only found on exotic race cars from Europe. It was the ticket for serious road racers because it eliminated the problem of carburetor "slosh" that racers would experience in hard cornering and when slowing down. The system gave a smooth and even inflow of gas under any condition.
More efficiency means more horsepower. The 283 '57 Fuelie engine made 283 hp at 6,200 rpm. The high-winding, high horsepower engine put the Corvette on the performance map. Duntov also made sure that the suspension was up to handling the extra power. One magazine tested a Fuelie and ran 0-to-60 in just 5.7 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 132 mph!
Duntov cast in stone the Corvette's racing tradition by taking four race-prepared Corvettes to Sebring where they set records against Europe's finest. The '57 Fuelie option cost $484 and was only ordered on 1,040 of the 6,339 Corvettes sold that year. Corvettes were now "performance cars" that were somewhat affordable to the average person, and they make a great replicar.
Printed on high quality tan-colored parchment paper using a Xante professional grade printer.
This print comes in one size:
11” x 17”
Print is shrink wrapped on 11.5" x 17.5" cardboard so that they stay flat and clean and shipped via USPS Priority Mail. All prints are signed by the artist. They make a wonderful gift for the car lover in your life!
Kit Car Profile No. 24 - 1957 Corvette
1957 was a pivotal year for the Corvette. Chevy's little beauty queen became a brute! America became a car-culture in the '50s. Hot rods were born and sports cars were coming from Europe. Chevrolet got into the act with the Harley Earl-designed, American sports car, the Corvette.
In the early '50s, American car makers knew very little about building sports cars. Earl's Corvette blew everyone away at the 1953 Motorama Show and it was rushed into production, using off-the-shelf Chevy sedan parts. Because no one was sure that the public would actually buy the Corvette, it was decided to use a new material called "fiberglass." If the car was a flop, GM wouldn't be out big-bucks for steel tooling.
A fiberglass body could be built from easily molded parts. Thus the Corvette became America's first production fiberglass car.
Unfortunately, the Corvette's performance wasn't on par with its looks. They tried, but the little Blue Flame-Six and 2-speed Powerglide transmission weren't making it with the sports car or hot rod crowd. Sales were dismal. In the first three years, Chevrolet only sold 4,640 Corvettes. Ford, on the other hand, sold 16,155 Thunderbirds in 1955 alone! Clearly, the Corvette needed something big. The best thing that Chevrolet did to ensure the Corvette's success, was to hire Zora Arkus-Duntov, and to name him to the position of "Director of High Performance Vehicle Design and Development." The Corvette never had a better champion. In a few years, Duntov turned the beauty queen into a brute.
When the new 265 V-8 small-block Chevy came out in '55, Duntov made sure there was a juiced up version for the Corvette. As wonderful as the Motorama Corvette was, the restyling of the '56 Corvette was better. No one noticed or cared that the styling cues were picked up from the Mercedes 300 SL. The new Corvette was taught, aggressive, and hot, because it now packed a dual-quad 265-cubic-inch engine with 255 horsepower. And thanks to the back-door racing efforts of Duntov, the Corvette was beginning to be taken seriously on the race track as well.
When the 1957 Fuel Injected Corvette was released, it was as if the Vette was finally "finished and complete." Fuel injection was exotic stuff in '57, and only found on exotic race cars from Europe. It was the ticket for serious road racers because it eliminated the problem of carburetor "slosh" that racers would experience in hard cornering and when slowing down. The system gave a smooth and even inflow of gas under any condition.
More efficiency means more horsepower. The 283 '57 Fuelie engine made 283 hp at 6,200 rpm. The high-winding, high horsepower engine put the Corvette on the performance map. Duntov also made sure that the suspension was up to handling the extra power. One magazine tested a Fuelie and ran 0-to-60 in just 5.7 seconds, the quarter mile in 14.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 132 mph!
Duntov cast in stone the Corvette's racing tradition by taking four race-prepared Corvettes to Sebring where they set records against Europe's finest. The '57 Fuelie option cost $484 and was only ordered on 1,040 of the 6,339 Corvettes sold that year. Corvettes were now "performance cars" that were somewhat affordable to the average person, and they make a great replicar.
Printed on high quality tan-colored parchment paper using a Xante professional grade printer.
This print comes in one size:
11” x 17”
Print is shrink wrapped on 11.5" x 17.5" cardboard so that they stay flat and clean and shipped via USPS Priority Mail. All prints are signed by the artist. They make a wonderful gift for the car lover in your life!
