Jaguar starting designing the XKE back in 1957 with the idea of a fastback roof and independant rear suspension. Did GM get wind of such a new Jaguar and build the C2 with the same features in and effort to compete with the English sports car?
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Re: Was the C2 Corvette inspired by the XKE
...not really. Circa 1957 GM started designing a range of mid-sized sedans that were targeted for production in 1961. One very interesting feature was a rear mounted transaxle with IRS, and this led to the design of the "Q Corvette" as chronicled in Ludvisgen's book; but the 1958 recession caused management to cancel the sedan program and the Q Corvette went with it.
The C2 design utilized existing engines and transmissions and the tooling cost of the frame mounted axle and rear suspension components were considerably less than a transaxle, which the Corvette could not bear on its own.
Duntov knew the Corvette needed IRS... and disk brakes, but he had to do it in increments, and certainly the fact that 1963 sales volume increased 50 percent from 1962 (and could have been more, but the the new design limited production speed in the early months) guaranteed the development and tooling budget to bring the disk brake system to production.
I can be said that the XK-120 and other European sports cars (and Gen. Curtis LeMay) were a great influence on Harley Earl to design a two-seater, which led to the production Corvette.
Duke -
Re: Was the C2 Corvette inspired by the XKE
I would recommend picking up Pete Brock's book "Corvette Stingray - Genesis of an American Icon". Pete is about the only guy still living that was around when the Stingray was being designed.Comment
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Re: Was the C2 Corvette inspired by the XKE
'and the "fastback" appeared on the '53-'55 body style. The styling car didn't look too bad for the top just added to the body.Comment
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Re: Was the C2 Corvette inspired by the XKE
That was a show car called "Corvair", but it obviously never went into production.
DukeComment
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