For inspiration, Tony Lapine (dark jacket) suggested that Zora Arkus-Duntov (light-colored jacket) look at the Gullwing Mercedes. Photograh Courtesy GM


A bare Benz chassis sat next to the wooden Corvette SS mockup, although Zora opted for a de Dion rear over swing axles. Photograph Courtesy GM

The widened space in the 300 SL’s chassis required for the laid-over inline-six was perfect for Cole’s compact V8! Zora liked almost everything else in the SL’s chassis but rejected its swing axles because of their proven tendency to create oversteer, replacing them with an innovative deDion-type setup.

Three of these new “Duntov chassis” were hand-fabricated within GM Styling’s facilities for Zora’s all-new Corvette SS. In the meantime, Earl had moved the exterior portion of the project upstairs to Clare MacKichan’s Chevrolet Design studio, where top GM stylists Bob Veryzer, Bob Cadaret and Robert Cumberford created a radical new form for Earl’s Prototype contender.

A full-size clay model, complete with an aerodynamic headrest to hide the driver’s protective roll-over structure, was sculpted to Earl and Zora’s satisfaction. To ensure minimum weight, Zora recommended a thin-walled magnesium body.

Earl’s only stipulation for the SS’s new exterior was that it include his “signature” Corvette grille that he’d had designer Bob Cadaret create especially for the Corvette’s New York debut four years earlier. Design continuity was vital to Earl’s philosophy in selling cars.

While the team’s ultra-lightweight, magnesium-bodied racer was being carefully constructed, a second, fully equipped SS mule wearing a fiberglass skin was also built so Zora could begin some early evaluation tests in Michigan.

Since Zora considered himself a highly qualified racing driver, he would often surreptitiously “evaluate” his ideas within the parklike grounds of GM’s Tech Center instead of taking them to the corporation’s vast testing facility several miles away in Milford. He’d been severely reprimanded several times for such activity and finally resolved to comply.

One such test in a modified production Corvette had resulted in a crash that crushed several of Zora’s vertebrae and put him in a full body cast for weeks. Cole was none too pleased. He insisted Zora return to work, as there was no time to lose with Sebring just a month away. Despite the painful inconvenience, Zora resolved the difficulties by coming to work in a kilt.

He’d hoped to drive the SS at Sebring, but management wasn’t about to again let him risk his life on track. With the amount of time and money already invested in the Corvette SS program, there was no way they would relent. Instead, Zora contracted American racer John Fitch to head up the SS’s on-track development and manage the team at Sebring.

In addition to the new SS racer, Earl also had three special-bodied Corvettes built to complete the Sebring team. These highly modified 1957s, called the SR-2, were meant to show that Chevrolet’s “Corvette team” was just as interested in developing the performance of its regular production cars.

Initial testing with the ’glass-bodied “mule” in Michigan had gone reasonably well, so as soon as the Sebring track was opened for practice, Fitch and Zora moved their entire operation to the famed Florida circuit for actual on-track practice.

Fitch, certain that he’d have a serious contender for the overall win, had contacted world-class racers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss to drive the SS in the 12 Hours. Both had agreed to come early to test the new prototype and race it, provided the new design could deliver the performance required to win overall. Each was careful to explain to Fitch and Zora that they had other commitments should the SS not meet their expectations.

Zora had only experienced one serious problem in getting the SS built to his specifications: brakes. He knew that Dunlop had developed disc brakes especially for the Jaguar team to run at Le Mans two years earlier and they’d been the key component to the English team’s win there. Zora had spent hours conferring with GM’s top engineers to see if they could develop something comparable, as there seemed no chance that Chevrolet or GM would commit to buying the “unproven” English design or even using the radical new braking system in an obviously factory-backed effort. Such a move might signal to the world that GM was foregoing drum brakes on its upcoming production cars.

GM’s engineers, working with Kelsey-Hayes, had developed the finest drum brakes in the world for Buick and were extremely proud of their beautifully finned alloy units. They’d met every rigorous test they could devise and were certain their specially built drum brakes could meet or match the English disc brake’s design by using even better materials than those already developed and tested for the SR-2.

Zora knew from experience what the engineers didn’t know: that racing at Sebring would create conditions they couldn’t even imagine. They respected Zora’s sage advice but had to admit they’d never been to a race. Still, they were certain their special materials would match race conditions. They promised to deliver. Zora was used to being rejected, but he’d already achieved so much with his radical SS program that he knew he’d be pushing beyond the corporation’s accepted limits of intradivisional business decorum to demand the English brakes.

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