Zora-Arkus Duntov, the father of the Corvette, truly made the nameplate into what it is today. However, there are plenty obscure projects Duntov had his hands in over his decades-long career.
And two of them will be on display at The Revs Institute in Naples, Florida. A 1957 Corvette SS and 1963 Corvette Grand Sport will be featured in an exhibit dubbed “Duntov’s Stealth Fighters.”
The 1957 Corvette SS was born from a desire to better compete with European sports cars. The ethos is evident in the car’s design, which mimics a Jaguar D-Type in various angles. According to the museum, the Corvette SS designers held the D-Type in high regard. First called XP-64, for “experimental project,” the Corvette took the “SS” name for “Super Sport.”
The racer completed just 23 laps at the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring before the car was retired over various bugs and quirks. The SS would never race again, but the learnings would be applied to the Stingray sports racer.
As for the 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, it’s one of five ever built. The car is part of the museum’s permanent collection, while the Corvette SS is on loan from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Comments
The revs institute is an amazing museum and they take many of the cars there. I also highly recommend a visit to Muscle Car City just north in Punta Gorda. If you like GM muscle cars, you won’t be disappointed there.
Great colors!