1959 Chevrolet Corvette Scaglietti Coupe
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More info & photos.
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The only one of the three cars which was completed by Scaglietti!
The fascinating and complex history of the Scaglietti Corvette began when Gary Laughlin, a wealthy Texas oil man and gentleman racer, had just broken the crankshaft in his Ferrari Monza. Like most Ferrari repairs, this was not going to be a cheap, simple fix.
At the time, Laughlin was an active participant of the American sports car racing scene and was a close acquaintance of many of the key figures, including fellow Texan Carroll Shelby. The two had witnessed a number of V8 powered home-built specials challenge, and often defeat, the best that Europe had to offer.
The idea developed that they should build a dual-purpose car based on the solid mechanicals of the Chevrolet Corvette. European-style alloy coachwork could help the chassis finally realize its potential. By chance, Laughlin owned a few Chevrolet dealerships and had a particularly valuable friend in Peter Coltrin, an automotive journalist who had gained an "in" with the influential Italians.
Laughlin met with Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby to begin discussing what form their new Italian-American hybrid would take. The general consensus was that they should create a car that offered the best of both worlds - a Corvette with the distinction, performance and style of a Ferrari, but with the power and reliability of a Chevrolet. The aim was to create a genuine high-performance GT with enough leg and headroom to meet American expectations. Once this was decided, Coltrin put Laughlin in touch with Sergio Scaglietti.
With the help of Chevrolet General Manager Ed Cole, three 1959 Corvette chassis were discreetly acquired from the St. Louis Corvette plant before bodies could be fitted - one was specified with a "fuelie" and a four-speed, the others came with twin four barrels and automatics. During one of his frequent trips through Europe, Laughlin met with Sergio Scaglietti who agreed to produce a small run of bodies for the Corvette chassis. At the time, Scaglietti was busy turning out Ferrari's Tour de France and purpose-built racing cars.
The Scaglietti Corvette would follow the lines of the Tour de France, albeit lines adapted to fit the Corvette's larger footprint. In an effort to impress, or perhaps, appease GM management, Laughlin specified a proper Corvette grille. The interior would be similarly hybridized with an intriguing combination of Americana - Stewart Warner gauges, T-handle parking brake, Corvette shift knob; and classic Italian GT - a purposeful crackle-finish dashboard, deeply bolstered leather seats and exquisite door hardware.
Enzo Ferrari would have been quite unhappy to hear that his exclusive coachbuilder was working on side projects for a group of Texans, so, to Scaglietti's credit, the car was largely a prototype and the work was executed in a shroud of secrecy. Towards the end of the project, Carroll Shelby, who by then was living in Italy, received a late-night phone call from Ed Cole. Cole had been chastised by GM management and was told to drop the project. It was poor timing. American car companies were under pressure to cut down on their high-performance and racing programs. They simply could not deal with the repercussions of a GM-backed Italian-bodied Corvette.
The only completed car arrived in Texas early in 1961, almost 18 months after the chassis had been obtained and delivered to Scaglietti. It proved to be the only one of the three to be finished in Italy and shipped back to the United States, the remaining cars were shipped to Houston in a partially completed state. After he received car number one, Laughlin had it fitted with the most current 315hp Rochester fuel-injected 283 and T10 four-speed manual transmission.
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Car Porn.......beauty meets speed (SFW)
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Clean :) & tripled
Car Porn.......beauty meets speed (SFW)
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Originally Posted by
basinbeater
The euro suv has never done anything for me. Bmw (whose cars I tend to love), audi, volvo, etc... Just look like lifted station wagons. You don't get the performance of the car, or the capability of a real suv. And they are frequently in the left lane not going fast enough.
Basically what I want is a Legacy GT wagon in the 08/09 era body style,but one or two years old. New outback doesn't do it for me. Finding something from another mfg that's CPO with low miles leaves me pretty limited. 328i wagon has zero space in the back, audi about 5k out of top of budget, x5 way out of reach, volvo fits bill except that I hate the looks so no shot, I love that x60 r type but again just out of budget.
I love the sport wagon...That's my wheelhouse.
X3 was closest thing I can find that has the looks, performance, and fits in budget.. Barely
Sent from the other side
Car Porn.......beauty meets speed (SFW)
Love my 328xi coupe manual. People may randomly see it parked around Tahoe shoulders when I'm skinning around in the backcountry.
27 miles to the gallon on the highway and full time 4x4.
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My 328xi touring 6 speed ain't so beautiful anymore after a deer ran into me at full speed right in front of the mirror.
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