Editor's note: This month's installment of KIT CAR Profiles is exactly what I wanted to get out of automotive artist Steve Stanford. I love the way the guy works. Sitting on the over-stuffed couch in his tiny drawing room, you can't help but notice the wall (and I mean wall; it's 8-feet tall and at least 12-feet wide) crammed with every type of automotive publication you can think of. And Steve has read them all. What's more, he remembers everything he saw, which is a great tool for the design work Steve loves to do.
A long time ago, I saw a couple of promo photos GM had published in the '50s featuring the Motorama Vette. I was always impressed with that design, but through my life I've never been a big fan of any year Corvette. That is, until recently, when I picked up an affinity for the '59-60 body styles. The twin headlights and sloping taillights appealed to me, as it looked more aggressive than the Sting-Ray and swoopy versions that followed.
Design-wise, I can't find too much fault with any Italian design of the early '50s (think OSCA, Maserati, Ferrari, Cisitalia, etc.) and sloping, sexy fastback roofs were everywhere on the Italian marques of that time. After attending the COCOA (Cobra Owners Club of America) meet last year, I really enjoyed seeing some of the racers sliding around the corners with their headlights taped up and venturis wide open. So, when I spotted another photo of the Motorama Vette in one of Steve's books, I started the conversation off with, "What if . . .," which is always the best was to get Steve's design gears cranking.
His version (the red one above) leaned a bit more towards what I see as the glamouratzi styling; something you might see coming out of the Vignale design studios, which would be right in line with the time frame for the car. But I wanted a purely Americanized version. An American sports car with rough-cast kidney beans, taped up headlights, a purpose-built and injected performance engine, and the color scheme-white with blue stripes-that owes its heritage to a Briggs Cunningham racer-another American-based vehicle that kicked the European's collective asses. -Eric Geisert
Some thoughts from the artist:Think you know Corvairs?Wait, you say, what's an air-cooled rear-engined '60s relic got to do with a blue-ribbon pedigreed thoroughbred like a Corvette (other than its parentage)? Well, if you know Corvairs and your Corvettes, you will remember the Corvair name first appeared on a customized Corvette fastback coupe for the 1954 GM Motorama exhibits (see sketch, top right).
KIT CAR's editor, Eric Geisert, was rummaging through my bottomless magazine collection while we were batting around ideas not too long ago and stumbled across a photo of this special Motorama coupe. He saw a potential for a cool new Corvette kit idea-or even a one-off custom. I agreed, and then he threw me a twist: "How 'bout we change the year from a '54 to the latter '58-60 body style?"
Really? I would have figured on the '56-57 single-headlight version, but Eric made the point that the more fussy quad headlight better balanced out this rather wild fastback rear-damned if he wasn't right! He suggested a "club racer" theme with taped headlights, racing stripes, and pin-drive Halibrand wheels.
Then, I wanted to try a more street custom/sporty car version with a lot of Ferrari influence. The grille (red car, upper left) bears a resemblance to GM's Motorama show XP-700 Corvette. But get this: that frontend was offered in kit form from the aftermarket back in the early '60s. A fastback roof for pre-'63 Corvettes was also advertised in that period (I saw both ads in the Oct. '63 issue of Hot Rod magazine). Finally, the red coupe wears Borrani knock-off wire wheels and distinctive custom side sculpturing.
Okay, Vette set, it's your turn. Inspired yet? -Steve Stanford