When Jaguar launched the E-type in 1961, it was like a bolt of lightning from above. Beautiful, bold and distinctly sporting. Just two years later, another lightning bolt struck the USA when Chevrolet lifted the covers off the new Corvette Sting Ray.
Even among the American automotive industry's finest new lines for the 1960s, the second-generation Corvette was a stunner. In terms of both styling and speed it was light-years ahead of its predecessor. The first-generation Corvette hadn't been an immediate success, but the Sting Ray was so popular from day one that the St Louis factory had to move to double shifts - and even then couldn't keep up with demand. With a waiting period of two months, buyers paid the list price without hesitation, which was unusual for the deal-hungry American public. Above all else, the immediate appeal of the Sting Ray was the undiluted flair of its sports-car styling.
'Our' C2s come from a jointly owned garage in the small Dutch village of Westzaan, North Holland. The older of the two, the March 1963-built Daytona Blue coupe, spent most of its life in New York State before being imported to The Netherlands in 2006, where it is now cherished by owner Sander van Ballegooij. Michael Westenberg's Rally Red convertible is dated September 1965 and was delivered new in Washington, DC, before emigrating in 2004. "It's one of the last 300 of the '65 model year," says Michael, "so it has some 1966 parts. When the original components ran out, they simply installed those from the new line. That's how it was back then." Both owners are sticklers for originality and proud that their cars stand up to the exacting judging standards of the National Corvette Restorers Society.
この記事は Classic & Sports Car の November 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Classic & Sports Car の November 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Mick WALSH
'Had someone said that this worn-looking titan would win the most famous old-car event, we would have laughed'
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF
Rewriting the rulebook on what an SUV can do, and how it can make you feel
FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE
Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal
"It's a car for posing in really"
Broadcaster Michael Buerk reflects on more than three decades with his beloved Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 fixed-head coupé
HONDAS DECK THE HALL
The Japanese firm's Los Angeles collection is now on public display for the first time in two decades
ABSOLUTELY buzzing
Honda's Si Civics brought agile, cheap fun to motorists long before the Type R name got anywhere near a hatchback
THE FEMININE TOUCH
In 1955, General Motors styling guru Harley Earl brought 11 talented women into the male-dominated world of automotive design. What was their lasting impact?
Out on a limb
Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market
Restyles with substance
Panther Westwinds blended a passion for pre-war designs with modern-era mechanical usability and remarkably fine coachbuilding
Dead ringers
The Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp share much, having emerged from the same stable, but are poles apart at heart