AutoExtremist Rants: Sixty Years of Corvette: A Testament to the True Believers

[Rob]

Sixty Years of Corvette: A Testament to the True Believers

Monday, August 12, 2013 at 05:20PM
By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. Next weekend marks yet another huge week for the yearlong 60th Anniversary of Corvette celebration, as America’s sports car will be the featured marque at the Rolex Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca (Mazda Raceway), this continent’s premier historic racing weekend.

The story of how the Corvette came to be never gets old and I was reminded of this fact by a new book that has just come out, Corvette Sting Ray – Genesis of an American Icon by Peter Brock with other images here, the now-legendary designer who at the age of just 19 came up with the initial sketch that would become the fabulous 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, one of the most iconic cars of all time.

Brock’s story is worth the read, as his sketch was chosen above all others by the mercurial chief of GM Styling – the great Bill Mitchell – in the initial design review for the second-generation Corvette. Remarkably enough, that sketch was then hidden by Brock’s boss to prevent Mitchell from seeing it again in the next design review (in favor of his boss’s own sketch, of course). When Mitchell didn’t see Brock’s sketch on the wall in the second review, Mitchell asked where Brock’s rendering was, at which point Brock’s boss pulled it out of his drawer and pinned it back up on the wall.

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[ltmax]

All this, and...

Great writeup for our undeniably great sports car. I will expect that as we pay attention to his descriptions of the Vette and it's history, we'll also pay attention to his point blank descriptions of the current GM CEO and its board. I've read it, and if half of what he says about Akerson is true, GM is in deep sht, to the point where it must be figured out how to remove him now.
Happy reading.

 

[Iroc2Vette]

Too much of the 14th floor is loaded with executives who look at their products just as 'UNITS.' Not one whit of passion for what they make. It's a huge downfall in attitude, imo. But, it's been like that ever since Sloan was in charge...if not even before him!

 

[Rob]

Too much of the 14th floor is loaded with executives who look at their products just as 'UNITS.' Not one whit of passion for what they make. It's a huge downfall in attitude, imo. But, it's been like that ever since Sloan was in charge...if not even before him!

I don't know about the 14th floor, but I can tell you, based upon my interviews and experiences with some of the key players and designers back during the official unveiling of the car back in January, there is a TON of passion for the Corvette at General Motors.

And while they're may be some top executives that could care less about the car and just look at it as a "number of units sold", there are just as many that live, breathe, eat and sleep Corvette.

 

[Iroc2Vette]

I remember when GM was fixin' to go out of business back around 2008 and the executives went to Washington to meet with politicians to beg for TARP funds. They came in their company jets. I guess if it would've been me, I'd have arrived in the latest model Corvette, Cadillac CTS-V or something similar to help showcase pride in what the company made. Instead, Wagner acted like a typical CEO of something he seemed to care little about.

But, I'm glad to hear that passion for product is brewing at GM. It's a huge improvement over the previous executive attitude that was so prevailing at not only GM, but, the other companies, too. Not to mention the serious adversarial-ness between GM management and the UAW.

 

[ltmax]

Great to hear about real drive for the Vette within the Co. The problem is that one wrong decision/edict/order from the top will fk it up for everything. Why did the Cadillac VP leave? Corporate VP's do NOT just up and leave for no real reason. Cadillac is in a PRIME POSITION to stick the knife into Lincoln once and for all then move on to foreign victims, but that won't happen if there's real incompetence or indifference at the top. How can GM find and install an authentic car guy at the top? This is what is needed.