Name That Car...
1/14/10, 12:47 AM
#1442
Bullitt Member
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Wow, that took some research, but I learned some great automotive history that never knew before.. Thanks Tony!
Several years before Shelby had even started Shelby Motors of even approached Ford for that matter three Texans, Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall and Gary Laughlin wanted to kick the European’s butt and Jim and Gary owned Chevy dealerships back in Texas so they used their influence with management at Chevrolet to get Chevrolet Racing to help them buy three 1959 Corvette chassis without bodies so they could build what they hoped would be a great sports car to compete with the Europeans.
Three 1959 chassis where shipped from the St. Louis assembly plant to coach builder Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena, Italy. The three of them copied an alloy body like the ones used on the Ferrari Tour de France, considered to be one of the most awesome cars of it’s time. In order to make it a legal car to compete with they had to put the car into production and factory support was needed to obtain frames, engines and gearboxes but this is when Carroll approached Harley Earl who was vice president at General Motors and chief engineer Ed Cole who both thought it was a great idea.But the bad news was the GM Brass did not and furthermore Chevrolet had recently had a change in policy that all but eliminated sponsorship of any private race cars. There were no more Vettes built by Shelby after that (1959). As soon as Carroll learned about Ford’s new thin-wall block he went to Ford with his proposal and the Cobra came to be. The rest is history and yes… even the Corvette guys wished they could be part of that history.
As for the three Vettes that were in fact built by the three guys from Texas, (Not Shelby Motors) here are the facts…
In collector circles they are known as the “Scaglietti Corvettes”, Gary Laughlin’s car was the first one built and at this time is in a collection in Japan. The second car went to Jim Hall. It was rebuilt in 1989 and displayed at Pebble Beach and some other concours. and then sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 1990 where it sold for a world record price of about $500,000. Now it is in the Patrick Getriede collection in France. Last but not least and the only one that is in the United States is owned by Mike McCafferty.
Three 1959 chassis where shipped from the St. Louis assembly plant to coach builder Carrozzeria Scaglietti in Modena, Italy. The three of them copied an alloy body like the ones used on the Ferrari Tour de France, considered to be one of the most awesome cars of it’s time. In order to make it a legal car to compete with they had to put the car into production and factory support was needed to obtain frames, engines and gearboxes but this is when Carroll approached Harley Earl who was vice president at General Motors and chief engineer Ed Cole who both thought it was a great idea.But the bad news was the GM Brass did not and furthermore Chevrolet had recently had a change in policy that all but eliminated sponsorship of any private race cars. There were no more Vettes built by Shelby after that (1959). As soon as Carroll learned about Ford’s new thin-wall block he went to Ford with his proposal and the Cobra came to be. The rest is history and yes… even the Corvette guys wished they could be part of that history.
As for the three Vettes that were in fact built by the three guys from Texas, (Not Shelby Motors) here are the facts…
In collector circles they are known as the “Scaglietti Corvettes”, Gary Laughlin’s car was the first one built and at this time is in a collection in Japan. The second car went to Jim Hall. It was rebuilt in 1989 and displayed at Pebble Beach and some other concours. and then sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in 1990 where it sold for a world record price of about $500,000. Now it is in the Patrick Getriede collection in France. Last but not least and the only one that is in the United States is owned by Mike McCafferty.
1/14/10, 01:00 AM
#1443
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Learning that GM could have had the concept that became the Cobra was interesting. I came across these cars while looking for another car and thought they the history was very cool.
1/15/10, 07:11 AM
#1455
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Serbian Steamer
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