Steve Magnante's 1001 Corvette Facts. Steve Magnante

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      126 Were any 1956 Corvettes built with 6-cylinder engines? Although seven Blue Flame machines emerged from the St. Louis plant in 1955, by 1956 the 6-cylinder was strictly a thing of Corvette’s past.

      127 Did Ford’s Thunderbird save Corvette from extinction? Yes, absolutely. Chevrolet was about to discontinue the Corvette at the end of the 1955 model run, but after witnessing Ford’s sale of 16,155 Thunderbirds in 1955, General Motors decided to keep fighting and gave Corvette a reprieve. It wasn’t so much a case of profiteering, but rather a matter of corporate pride.

      128 Although certain elements of the chassis and suspension were carried over from 1955, the 1956 Corvette received an all-new body and interior. Naturally, the launch was a big event, so what better place to hold it than the Waldorf Astoria Hotel Grand Ball-room, the same place the first Corvette debuted in 1953?

      129 It was common practice for GM Motorama show-car stylists to share certain styling features among their dream-car renderings. Although the 1956 Corvette marked the first (and only) appearance of crescent-shaped side coves on a mass-produced GM offering, numerous Motorama show cars also carried the theme. Among them were the 1953 LeSabre, 1954 LaSalle II, the 1954 Olds F-88, and 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne. The Biscayne’s use of the coves was most unusual; they were reversed to give the impression of giant missiles set into the flanks of the body.

       A Corvette institution, the side coves were considered for use on other GM makes and models. This 1958 model marked the first year for the added shielding adjacent to the wheel opening.

      130 Corvette’s side-cove theme was taken to the extreme on certain other Motorama dream cars. On the Oldsmobile 88 Delta and Cutlass and the Buick Wildcat II, all from 1955, the coves were deeply set under the body, exposing the trailing ends of the front tires and eliminating the rocker panels ahead of the door openings. The effect recalled the long, sweeping front fenders of 1930s Duesenbergs. Although a daring exercise, the layout left minimal protection to the vertical body sides from road debris and spray flung up by the front tires. These cars highlighted the designer’s never-ending struggle to balance exciting looks with daily practicality.

      131 Corvettes and movies went hand in hand from the beginning. The 1967 feature film Hot Rods to Hell was memorable for its inclusion of a modified 1958 Corvette. In the 92-minute drive-in movie classic, a conservative family in a pea-soup-green 1961 Plymouth Belvedere is terrorized by a gang of hooligans driving an assortment of hopped-up machines. Leading the pack is a bright-red Corvette with flamed side coves, yellow racing stripes, Radir mag wheels, a tall roll bar, and deleted front bumper and grille. The Corvette eventually was wrecked in a game of chicken.

      132 Alternate titles for the film Hot Rods to Hell were 52 Miles to Midnight and 52 Miles to Terror. Because it was a decidedly low-budget production, it is likely that only one 1958 Corvette was used/destroyed in the making of the film. This assumption is supported by close inspection of the film; the unique flamed graphics and 1958-only ribbed hood and chrome trunk strakes appear identical in every scene. Most action movies involving cars are guilty of continuity lapses (1959–1961 Corvettes doubling for the 1958 hero car, non-exact placement of flame and stripe graphics from one stunt car to the next, etc.), but not this gem.

      133 One glance at the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL revealed its heavy influence on Corvette designers. In particular, the GM stylist in charge of the Corvette’s body redesign, Bob Cadaret (supervised by Bill Mitchell), clearly mimicked the German supercar’s ovoid grille opening, arched front bumper ends, and high-set headlamps, not to mention the blatantly copied twin hood blisters. It is not known how the 300SL’s designer, Paul Braiq, felt about СКАЧАТЬ