1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Racer

Bill Mitchell loved Corvettes, so it's fitting that his first secret Studio X car, and perhaps the most historically significant, was his 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer.

'I knew they had three or four chassis that Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov had built,' Mitchell told historian David Chippen in a 1985 interview. 'It had a tubular frame, de Dion suspension, inboard brakes, everything! And I went down in the hammer room and designed this Corvette Stingray in clay. Nobody in the corporation knew about it.'

The Corvette Stingray Racer began life as a challenge from William L. 'Bill' Mitchell who tasked a group of young designers to develop a revolutionary theme for an all-new Corvette. Research B Studio consisted of chief designer Bob Veryzer and his team of Peter Brock, Gene Garfinkle, Chuck Pohlmann and Norm Neumann.

Two full-size models were created: a coupe based on a theme by Brock and a roadster variant done by Pohlmann. Final design for these cars was by a team led by Larry Shinoda and Tony Lapine working in a secret studio.

The Stingray Racer debuted on the racing circuit with a red livery in 1959 but did not wear a Chevrolet or Corvette badge because of GM's adherence to the AMA ban on factory-supported racing. Powered by a fuel-injected, high-performance version of Chevrolet's 283 cubic-inch Small Block V8 engine, Dr. Dick Thompson (a dentist from Chicago) drove the car to an SCCA C-Modified class championship in 1960. More importantly, it introduced the folded-crease styling that would become a trademark of Mitchell's 1960s designs and the beginning of the path to his revolutionary 1963 production Corvette Stingray. 'When it came time to face-lift the Corvette,' he told Crippen, 'I took the lines right off that car.'

Roadster

The Corvette Stingray Racer began life as a challenge from William L. 'Bill' Mitchell who tasked a group of young designers to develop a revolutionary theme for an all-new Corvette. Research B Studio consisted of chief designer Bob Veryzer and his team of Peter Brock, Gene Garfinkle, Chuck Pohimann and Norm Neumann.

The basis of the Stingray was an engineering test mule chassis for the foundation of an official Chevrolet race effort culminating with the 24 Hours of LeMans. But, soon after its race debut, the Automobile Manufacturer's Association had banned manufacturer-sponsored racing, and the SS had been relegated to test track duty.

The Stingray Racer debuted on the racing circuit with a red livery in 1959 but did not wear a Chevrolet or Corvette badge because of GM's adherence to the AMA ban on factory-supported racing.

The Stingray featured a 92-inch wheelbase and was nearly 1,000 lb lighter than a 1960 production car. Its fuel-injected 283-cubic-inch (4.6-liter) V-8 engine produced 315 hp at 6,200 rpm. Billed as a car 'built to test handling ease and performance,' Mitchell arranged to race the car quite extensively. In the hands of Dr. Dick Thompson, it made its debut at Maryland's Marlboro Raceway on April 18, 1959, finishing in fourth place. It went on to win an SCCA National Championship in 1960.

The Stingray was then retired from racing and modified by Mitchell. A passenger seat was added, among other things, and it was exhibited as an experimental show car even while Mitchell regularly drove it personally on weekends.

The Stingray's body design strongly influenced the styling of the next-generation Corvette (1963). It also was a test bed for many technical developments with a four-speed manual transmission, extensive use of aluminum, and a de Dion rear suspension.

Because of its SS underpinnings, the Stingray was exceptionally light, with a dry weight of 2,200 pounds. The car today has a 327 cubic inch (5.4 liter), fuel-injected V-8 with 375 BHP.

This car was driven by Elvis Presley, the 'King of Rock and Roll,' in the film 'Clam Bake.' The son of an oil tycoon, Elvis drives the heavily-modified Stingray from Texas to Florida, where he trades identities with a water ski instructor, and hijinks and romance ensue.

Spectators who witnessed the Stingray Racer during its two seasons on the track were treated to a preview of key styling elements of the second-generation Corvette to come.