AMERICAN BEAUTY

For eight generations and 70 years, the Chevy Corvette has been the backbone of the US sports car industry. As it turns 60, the C2 remains the most desirable of all

- TON ROKS

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.