1963 Chevrolet Corvette Harley Earl Styling

Harley Earl joined General Motors in 1928 and retired in 1958. He was the Vice President of Design for General Motors and during his three-decade career, his designs would be among the most influential in the industry. His work includes the late-1920s and 1930s LaSalle, the Buick Y-Job and the LeSabre styling exercise, the Motorama dream cars, the tail fin design of the late 1950s, wrap-around windshields, two-tone paint, and pillarless hardtops.

The Harley Earl Corvette roadster, General Motor's shop order 10323, was hand-built by General Motors styling facility in Warren, Michigan, and was completed in January of 1963. At the time, Earl was retired and living in Florida, where he regularly drove the car until he passed away in 1969. It was given prototype features such as the side-mount exhausts and an auxiliary gauge cluster on the dash, featuring over 15 gauges to monitor. There is an altimeter, accelerometer, inside/outside temperature readings, and a vacuum gauge. The RPO L75 327 CID engine offered 300 horsepower and was backed by a Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual transmission, and was among the first to ride on revised cast-aluminum wheels with two-prong knockoffs. There is a specially installed air conditioning system and features not used on production Corvettes until 1965, including the hood, dual-circuit four-wheel disc brakes, custom blue-and-white leather seats with matching door cards, and battery placement (behind the passenger's side seat).

Earl served as Grand Marshal for the 1965 Daytona 500, using the Corvette as a parade car, whose winner's trophy is named for him. The car remained with Earl at his home in Palm Beach, Florida and was regularly driven by him.

by Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2020