When you need a half hour break from the family over the next few days, you could do worse than putting on the headphones and watching this short documentary about Corvette’s efforts at the 1960 24 Hours of LeMans. Corvette has become a prominent (sometimes dominant) team at the 24 in recent years, but that wasn’t necessarily the case in 1960 when the ‘Vette was still wrestling with the sentiment that the car was underpowered at its debut 7 years earlier.
Magnificent shot of racer and cofounder of the company that still bears his name, Louis Chevrolet in a Sunb(ḙ)am at the 1916 Astor Cup race.
The small blue car lurking behind that ’61 Corvette is a 1927 Bugatti. It was as exciting as any car can be, but it was a little short on creature comfort and only the best coordinated and most sinewy could hope to drive it. The Corvette, on the other hand, guarantees unstinting devotion to all the details of driver-passenger comfort and accommodation with no sacrifice in flashing performance or impeccable handling. Anyone who can drive well can drive a Corvette; the only thing that really sets is apart from today’s automobiles is the absolutely ecstatic way it goes down the road. Build into every Corvette is a lifetime supply of pure sports car excitement such as you’ve never known before.
Corvette by Chevrolet
Chevrolet Division of General Motors. Detroit 2. Michigan
Can you imagine what people would say if you suggested that Chevrolet show another car company’s product in their ads today? I almost can’t believe this happened.
The use of the American national racing colors and stripes really makes this ad for me.
Via 1950s Unlimited.
I’m a little disappointed that even in ’61 the ad copy led with luggage space and seat adjustability. Get to the performance info, people!
’61 Corvette
New form and fineness for America’s only sports car.
There’s a winging new shape for the ’61 Corvette, and beneath these crisp contours, you’ll discover new refinements that reach right down to Corvette’s powerful heart.
Settle yourself in the cockpit and feel the no-nonsense comfort of those new bucket seats. They’re individually adjustable and the seat tracks themselves can be moved farther back for more driving space. Notice the increased foot and leg room made possible by a driveshaft tunnel that’s 19% narrower. There’s more trunk space, too; the luggage compartment is 20% larger for even greater touring convenience.
For muscle, the ’61 Corvette retains five versions of America’s most famous high-performance engine, the Corvette V8. Quick and sharp as a whiplash, this engine is available with up to 315 horsepower in a Fuel Injection version. There are three transmissions to choose from: a brand-new three-speed Syncro-Mesh with new quick accelerating ratios, the close-ratio four-speed Syncro-Mesh for the keen type, and Powerglide for the boulevardier.
There’s a feeling of pure confidence about the ’61 Corvette, a feeling born of the knowledge that this is the genuine article! See this new one at your Chevy dealer’s and you’ll know…
If you wanted a Corvette before, there’ll be no holding you now!
Chevrolet division of General Motors, Detroit 2, Mich.
Corvette by Chevrolet.
via Chromjuwelen.
They didn’t set the world on fire with their showing but even though none of them finished higher than 19th for the main event, the Corvettes that made the trip across the Caribbean to attend the 1956 Bahamas Speed Week sure looked damned good on the streets of Nassau.