Corvette Prototypes:

 

 

 
Corvette Indy and Cerv III
The CERV III made it's debut at the Detroit International Auto Show. The car's mid-engine V8 is a 5.7 liter 32 valve, dual overhead cam LT5 Engine with the addition of twin turbos and internal modifications. Speed 225 MPH , horsepower is rated at 650.



1973 XP-882
Arguably more stunning than the Two- Rotor XP-897GT was the so-called "Four-Rotor Car" that appeared a bit later in 1973. Built on the first XP-882 chassis under the aegis of company design chief Bill Mitchell, it carried a pair of GM's experimental two-rotor engines bolted together into a 420 horsepower "super Wankel." A Corvette-like face and obvious high performance potential were taken as strong suggestions that GM was brewing a radical new Corvette for the late Seventies or early Eighties.



1973 XP-898
It looks a bit like post-1982 Corvettes, but the one-off XP-898 of 1973 was actually built on the chassis of Chevy's small four-cylinder Vega. It's mission was to test feasibility of a new "sandwich" fiberglass body construction using a foam filler that could be varied in thickness to provide desired strength in specific areas. Though it looks a bit dated now, XP-898 would have been a great replace-ment for the '68-vintage "Shark" Corvette in, say, 1975.


 
1965 Mako Shark II
The Mako Shark II show car made it's first public appearance at the New York International Auto Show in April, 1965. It's lines were the culmination of two beasts of the oceans, the Manta Ray and the Great White Shark. It was timeless. This was GM's design chief William Mitchell's greatest achievement.  It was the ultimate example of Mitchell's demands of his designers when he told them to make every car they design "look like it's moving when it's standing still!"
 

 
1957 SS XP-64
In 1957 the Corvette SS was developed to be the Corvette race car that would beat the best of the European sports cars; the Ferraris and Maserati.  It took Zora Arkus-Duntov only 6 months to develop this purpose built racer.  The SS engine developed 307 hp at 6400 rpm from its 283 cubic inch iron-block.  The aerodynamic drag of the SS was similar to that of the famous D Jaguar and its frame weighted only 180 pounds and was patterned after the Mercedes-Benz 300SL.  The instrument panel was useful and elegant.  A clock was included which proved useful in the endurance races.  The car was a spectacular hit at Sebring in 1957.  The SS legend has grown ever since.

Those not familiar with the SS, it is more in the lines of a Grand Prix racer. Single windshield with torpedo shaped head rest, gives this car a look that would let it blend well with the European race courses.

Source:

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