Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an American Icon
The well respected Motor Press Guild has just confirmed that Peter Brock’s insider story of how the Corvette Sting Ray came to be is a must-have book for anyone interested in automobiles or the automotive industry! Not only has the book won their Best Automotive Book award for 2013 but the MPG also awarded it their prestigious Dean Bachelor Award for overall Best Automotive work across all categories of books, articles, photography and video/film.
Peter Brock was just 20 years old when head of GM Design Bill Mitchell walked into the GM studio where Brock worked in 1957 with a handful of photos he’d taken at the Turin Auto Show. They were Mitchell’s inspiration for a new sports car, what would become Mitchell’s personal ’59 Stingray Racer followed by the ’63 Split Window Corvette Sting Ray. After weeks of designers sketching their concepts and ideas, off the design studio wall, Mitchell chose Brock’s sketch dated November 11, 1957 as the shape for the car. Brock would work with Mitchell in a secret studio to create scale and full size models of what would become the ’63 Split Window Corvette Sting Ray.
Illustrated with more than 20 of Brock’s sketches from 1957 and ’58 and more than 160 period photos, most of which have never been seen publicly before, Brock shares in his book what it was like to work with history making GM Design executives Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell and engineering geniuses Ed Cole and Zora Arkus-Duntov. Brock explains his sketches in detail, showing the various styling directions that were experimented with, including mid-engine designs that Cole and Duntov were campaigning for. Brock shares how clay models and the first iteration of the Stingray, a car built for Mitchell personally as GM management had banned all sports car projects, was built in secret in a hidden room Mitchell had created behind a tool room in GM Styling. GM archive photos show the clay models that were created, seating bucks, the secured courtyard where full scale designs were viewed, the wind tunnel tests and much, much more.
This book, which the MPG referred to as a “real page turner with beautiful, fascinating images and comprehensive descriptions”, uniquely captures a certain era in automotive history. Not only is it a great read, it is so beautifully illustrated it’s a worthy display on any coffee table.
BUY IT NOW: Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of An American Icon by Peter Brock EX GM Designer
Click the link to find more Peter Brock – BRE memorabilia in his eBay Store.
Press release announcing MPG’s 2013 Dean Batchelor Award winner after the jump.
