Coachbuilt Corvettes: Flattery or Heresy?
Coachbuilt Corvettes: Flattery or Heresy?
by John Coyle
Corvette Forum
The Corvette’s fiberglass skin, potent powerplants, and race-proven chassis have long made it a favorite for coachbuilders. Crafting a supercar is a tiny bit easier when you can just play Picasso?and sidestep the whole minefield of designing mechanical bits. So the question is, does this respect for the underpinnings betray a disdain for the General’s “sheetmetal?” I’m not going to try to answer that question here. But the latest offering from Endora Cars made me think of a couple of recent Corvette-based designs I’ve seen, along with some choice examples from the past. Check them out, and let me know what you think in the Forum!
Endora SC-1: American Power With a Side of Schnitzel
Germany’s Endora Cars is the latest builder to step in the ring. The headlights almost conjure Honda’s NSX, and from the ? shot, we think the hindquarters resemble those of a porky new-school Camaro. And do you ever win by covering up wheels? No. You don’t.
Soleil Anandi: Designed by the Real Dutch Masters?
Dutch design firm Ugur Sahin revealed its Soleil Anandi in fancy-pants Monaco
in April. Overall, I like the accentuated lines, and dig the exaggerated door scallops. But the tail assembly looks so much like a Cylon that the creators of “Battlestar Galactica” could sure for copyright…
Italian Flair: Bertone Re-skins a ZR1
Jason Castriota is head of design for celebrated Italian design house, which is rightly famous for designing the iconic Lamborghini Countach. And his ZR1-based design is as busy as it is bold. From the side, it almost reminds me of a 599. The rear though? There’s so much going on there, it doesn’t remind me of anything? Except maybe an alien catfish. But in a good way.
Callaway C16 Speedster: No Windshield. No Roof. No Problem.
I saw Callaway’s Speedster at SEMA back in ?07, and was blown away. Would I want to drive it in the rain? Nope. And I don’t want to strap on a helmet to drive a street car either. But the overall effect is as stunning as it is impractical. From this discussion, it seems Forum members were split on its merits?
Pininfarina Rondine: Nice Guess. But it’s Not a Ferrari…
Pininfarina has been behind some of the most gorgeous cars ever made, and this one-off ?63 Rondine made us wonder what a protracted partnership with the General could have produced. The lines make us think this baby could have been separated from the Ferrari 330GTC at birth?
