Author: Steve Burns

A couple weeks back we received the regular Insider’s newsletter from Corvette Market magazine. Included in the email was a link to a video clip of one of the 3 Scaglietti bodied C1 Corvettes assembled in Italy. Having never heard of this trio before we did some Googling to find out more about them. Turns out these three cars were the brainchild of three men from Texas, including one named Carroll Shelby.

The story of the cars is a very interesting one. Here’s the short version: Back in the late 1950′s a racer and oil man named Gary Laughlin, Jim Hall, and the aforementioned Shelby discussed how to get a big, V8 powered American car to have the style and performance of a European car. Once the plan was in place the three used a media contact, Peter Coltrin, to begin conversations with Sergio Scaglietti. Scaglietti was the leader of the Italian coach builder of the same name which was assembling bodies for Ferrari among others at that time.

As the plan progressed the team got GM involved. Soon after, three bare 1959 Corvette chassis without bodies were pulled from St. Louis and sent to Italy to be fitted with custom Scaglietti coachwork. One chassis was a fuelie four speed and the other two were dual-quad automatics. When the nearly three year long project was completed, three stunning pieces had been created. The resulting cars were 400lbs lighter than a standard Corvette, but still retained all that American horsepower up front.

This is where the story takes a turn. Amid pressure from upper management, GM declined to pursue the Italian-bodied Corvette idea. Laughlin took delivery of one car, Hall another, and the 3rd one was sold elsewhere.

Shelby would later take the big-motor-small-car concept to Ford with an AC Bristol. We all know how that plan worked out.

GM’s cancellation of this project begs the question, “what if?”

• What if GM had decided that this project was a success?
• What if Carroll Shelby and Zora Duntov had worked on the Corvette together?
• What if there were no Shelby 427 Cobras or no Shelby Mustangs?

Finding information on these cars was somewhat difficult. After sifting through out of date and conflicting information, an old thread on Corvette Forum and an article on Coachbuild.com seem to have the best info we’ve found. We’ve summarized the Scaglietti Corvette story here, but each of the sources has more detailed information and some great firsthand stories on the cars. In addition, you can follow the discussion thread we started on the NCRS Discussion Board.

So where are they now? One car, the blue one, is in California, another appears to have been or currently is in Japan. At this point we’re not 100% sure where the 3rd one is, but we’re pretty certain it’s overseas as well. If you’ve seen any of these cars in person or know where they are now let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear more about them.

Sources:
Corvette Forum
Coachbuild.com

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At the 1954 Motorama, GM unleashed three Corvette-based concept cars onto the show circuit. Dubbed the Convertible Coupe, the Corvair, and the Nomad, the trio caused a stir when they debuted in New York in January of 1954. As we all know, the Nomad made it to production a couple years later, but in a non-Corvette form. If you always wanted to own the original Nomad, get your bidding fingers ready to bid on this recreation currently listed on eBay.

According to the eBay listing, the car was completed in 2006 after a 7 year build and nearly $400,000 invested. The creator of the car used old photos, factory drawings and other items to document and reproduce the original Nomad. The exterior is finished in silver blue like the original and is complimented by the matching silver and blue interior. Most of the chrome pieces had to be custom fabricated.

Power for the Nomad comes courtesy of a Chevy 350 backed by an automatic transmission. Power steering, power brakes, and radial tires make the car a great driver. Items like air conditioning, power windows, and AM/FM signal seeking radio enhance the driving experience.

After studying photos of the original (last row of photos in the gallery) and the recreation, it’s clear that virtually no detail was omitted during the build. As of this writing, bidding has already headed north of $50k without meeting the reserve. Based on the $400,000 build cost we suspect it’ll take quite a bit more to take this car home. Based on the attention to detail alone, we think this one will be worth every penny the new owner pays for it. Get your bids in now before the auction ends on October 27th.

Source:
eBay

Related:
Corvettes on eBay: How to Sell a 1984 Corvette
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Paragon Reproductions hosted their annual open house a couple of weekends ago at their sprawling facility in Rankin, MI. Attendees were able to wander each of the several buildings on the grounds, buy a host of C1 – C4 Corvette parts, and enjoy a complementary lunch. Of course, one could also check out the 100 or so Corvettes that showed up too. We made a late summer road trip up to Paragon and you see can see some of our photos from the event after the break.

The name Paragon should be familiar to most everyone who owns a Corvette. The longtime parts house sells original and reproduction parts for each of Corvette’s first 4 generations. In addition they also perform restorations of small parts all the way up to complete cars.

Our day began with clouds and a cool late summer breeze in the morning. The grayness eventually gave way to bright sunshine and the day morphed into a fantastic Michigan weekend day. We estimate about 100 Corvettes were parked at various locations around the grounds of Paragon’s facility. The free event made for a great, carefree day full of relaxing and good times with fellow Corvette owners. If you’re able next year, plan on making the trip up to Paragon Reproductions for their 2012 open house.

You can check out some photos from Paragon’s open house below:

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