Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

[Patrick T.]

Maybe like this one? Thanks

[Dick W.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

[David R.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

This is the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket concept car, built for the 1956 GM Motorama. Also known as XP-400 / SO 2490. It is very well-documented and often photographed - a handout brochure was even prepared for it. And while it does carry a split rear window, and was even considered as a possible future Corvette styling theme for, say, 1958 or so - it wasn't really a prototype for the 1963 Sting Ray. The styling for that car was lifted from Bill Mitchell's 1959 Sting ray racing car, built on the Corvette SS mule chassis.

[Patrick T.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

Thanks for your informative comments........I think!

[Jack H.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

While similar to the Olds Golden Rocket, the above car is different. Here is a link to a pic of the Golden Rocket 1956 Motorama car:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/56/28/f756289da91288e0af4c9191eb5a70a4.jpg

The car in post #1 is claimed to be a circa 1956 clay model prototype for the 1958 Corvette and based on the Olds Golden Rocket Motorama car as suggested in this wiki entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Golden_Rocket

[David R.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

You're right, Jack - I should have clarified a bit better. The car shown is not the actual 1956 Olds Golden Rocket, but a styling clay based on that car as a possible styling direction for the 1958 Corvette. The front end of the clay is quite different from the Golden Rocket.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

You've likely read the books, but what is known as the Q Corvette is as close to a Sting Ray predecessor as any other car.

[Duke W.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

The original design concept was developed by Bertone for the Alfa Romeo series of BAT concept cars, beginning in 1953.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_BAT

Duke

[David R.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

While some of the Bertone Alfa Romeo BAT cars did feature a split rear window, I think it's a huge leap to say that any of them were "the original design concept" for the 1963 Corvette.

[Richard L.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

And the VW Bug had a split window from 39-53. So not a new concept, but what really inspired the 63 Vette?

[David R.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

I would say that Patrick is right - the so-called "Q-Corvette", which dates from 1957, is probably the closest to an actual concept 1963 Sting Ray.

[James G.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

I would say that Patrick is right - the so-called "Q-Corvette", which dates from 1957, is probably the closest to an actual concept 1963 Sting Ray.

As the Vice President of Design at GM, Bill Mitchell asked his design team in 1957 to create a car that was “a complete breakaway from what we’ve seen around here in the past.” The sketches he received moved away from the rounded forms that were in vogue since World War II. Peter Brock, a young designer who later garnered fame designing the Shelby Cobra Daytona, had a sketch that caught Mitchell’s fancy and was selected for further development. Larry Shinoda took this design to another level and created the 1959 Stingray Racer XP-87. The XP-87 eventually evolved into the production Corvette Sting Ray for 1963.

PETER BROCK actually created the original design. Bill Mitchell liked it and had LARRY SHIONDA take it to the finished car level. 1957 until 1963.. READ PETER'S BOOK

[James G.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

I would say that Patrick is right - the so-called "Q-Corvette", which dates from 1957, is probably the closest to an actual concept 1963 Sting Ray.

PETER BROCK actually created the original design. Bill Mitchell liked it and had LARRY SHIONDA take it to the finished car level. 1957 until 1963.. READ PETER'S BOOK

[Jaime G.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

PETER BROCK actually created the original design. Bill Mitchell liked it and had LARRY SHIONDA take it to the finished car level. 1957 until 1963.. READ PETER'S BOOK

well stated Jim. It was a design Brock generated and Shinoda perfected.

[David R.]

Re: Did the Split Window Coupe have a prototype?

All good (and true) comments . . . but the original question was not "Who designed the SWC?". It was "Did the SWC have a prototype?". Two very different questions. And the "Q - Corvette" appears to come closest to fulfilling that role, even if it was only a model and not a running car.

And yes, anyone who has not read Pete Brock's excellent book should definitely do so.