While many special and highly limited Chevrolet Corvette sports cars have been released throughout the model’s 70-year lifespan, we’d argue that this classic one-off once belonging to Harley Earl trumps all.
Set to go under the hammer later this week, this 1963 Corvette Styling Car was created as a retirement gift for Earl who was the first-ever head of design at General Motors.
Earl was of course the man behind the design of cars like the Buick Y-Job – considered to be the world’s first concept car – as well as notable styling features like the wraparound windscreen, two-tone paint jobs, and the flamboyant tailfins of the ’50s.
With that being said, it was only fitting that his place of work rewarded him with a car he could truly call his own.
One of the Styling Car’s most notable features is a set of four-into-one side exit exhausts that only ever featured on four second-generation (C2) Corvettes, including the one built for the 1964 World’s Fair.
Earl’s car is finished in a tasteful Metallic Blue finish with a white stripe on the bonnet, matching that of the interior. It also features a unique aircraft-inspired dashboard that includes both an accelerometer and an altimeter on the passenger side.
Under the bonnet sits a 327ci (5.4-litre) V8 making 224kW, mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, no different from other C2s. However, this Corvette comes with disc brakes on all four corners which is a feature that didn’t appear on the model until 1965.
Earl is said to have driven this car regularly at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, as well as taking it on a few parade laps at the 1965 Daytona 500.
Thanks to the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Styling Car’s storied past, auctioneer Mecum estimates it will sell for a cool $US750,000 to $US1 million ($NZ1.2 to 1.6 million) when it goes under the hammer in Kissimmee, Florida, on January 12, 2024.
