1959 Chevrolet CERV I Replica Headed To Arizona Auction

Chevy Corvette Chief Engineer and Stylist Zora Arkus-Duntov realized early in his career that the best place for an engine for weight distribution, visibility, aerodynamic efficiency, and even heat control, was just ahead of the rear axle. He came to this conclusion through racing in pre-WWII grand prix races and Le Mans racing in the mid-1950s. It was with these thoughts in mind that Duntov constructed the Chevrolet Experimental Research Vehicle, or CERV I, in 1959.

Zora Arkus-Duntov began campaigning to build a mid-engine Corvette in the 1950s. The packaging advantages were obvious, but the expense involved in research and development was prohibitive. Duntov built the single-seat CERV I as a way to do that costly research without having to engineer and build a full passenger car. The open-wheeled CERV I was constructed as a testbed, using lightweight materials and an experimental drivetrain, with new conceptual braking systems, suspension, and aerodynamics.

The CERV I body design came from the minds of Corvette mavens Tony Lapine and Larry Shinoda. Together, they created a light fiberglass body that weighed just 80 pounds. That fiberglass skin covered a frame of thinly walled chrome-moly steel. The suspension was fully independent with coil-over shocks all around. The inboard rear brakes and rear hub carriers were of weight-saving aluminum. In a harbinger of what was to come with the second generation Corvette to be introduced in 1963, the car’s rear suspension used the axle shafts as upper links and forged strut rods as lower links. The rear hub carriers, as well as the inboard rear brake drums, were crafted from aluminum to minimize weight.

Powering the CERV I was a 377 cubic-inch all-aluminum V8 backed by a four-speed transmission. A similar engine would crank out 550 horsepower in the 1963 Corvette Grand Sports. In the CERV I, it is rumored to have propelled the car well over 200 miles per hour around the Milford Proving Ground.

Our feature CERV I replica was constructed by the son of a former Chevrolet Engineering transmission tech who worked on the original CERV I at the GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. At an employee open house, the seven-year-old boy got to meet Zora Arkus-Duntov, sit in the CERV I cockpit and play with the controls. He was hooked on cars from that day forward. Sixty years later, after having worked as a GM engineer himself, the gentleman reverse-engineered the CERV I, closely recreating the original. The body is based on the fiberglass construction of Shinoda and Lapine. The Snowcrest White and Frost Blue paint is a match to the original. Power comes from a high-compression 388 cubic-inch Small Block stroker motor fed by a Holley Sniper EFI system. A Saginaw four-speed transmission backs the Small Block. The frame was done with computer-aided design with a bolt-in roll cage. The front suspension came from a Corvair, similar to the original, with a modified Corvette rear suspension. Braking has been updated with GM disc brakes. The interior is finished in bright blue vinyl as in the original CERV I.

This painstaking recreation has been displayed at the National Corvette Museum in 2022, driven at numerous historic venues including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, American Speed Festival, and on Woodward Avenue during the Woodward Dream Cruise. It has been featured in multiple magazine articles in Vette Vues, Corvette Magazine, and Hagerty Magazine. Included in the sale are over 600 photos of the build and a digital copy of the famous Jerry Titus Sebring test drive of the original CERV I published in the May 1962 issue of Sports Car Graphic magazine.