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History:
In the history of American sports car racing there have been a lot of could'a-would'a-should'as, perhaps none greater than the Corvette SS. It was designed by the godfather of Corvette, Zora-Arkus Duntov, to compete with the Europeans at Le Mans. In a relatively short period of time the car was readied for the 1957 Sebring 12 hour. In addition to the race readied car, which featured a magnesium alloy body and upgraded small block with over 300 HP, a test mule of the Corvette SS, designated the P-car, was brought for practice, which had a heavier, unpainted body and a less powerful engine. In the race the SS did not fair well, as it dropped out after just 23 laps. The car suffered from its lack of development time, and driver John Fitch questioned Duntov's choice to install drum brakes rather than discs. Despite the race performance, the cars potential did not go unnoted. In practice, Maserati drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss both turned laps in the test mule P-car. On just his first two laps in the car, Fangio smashed the track record by three seconds with a time of 3:27.4. Moss also obliterated the old record (3:29.7) with a 3:28 lap time. After they had both turned laps, Corvette driver John Fitch then took the car back out and could only get a couple of seconds closer to the track record, but could not break it. Shortly after Sebring, the AMA rules changed and prevented factory sponsored cars, killing the Corvette SS before it could get to Le Mans, leaving many to wonder what could have been with more development time and better drivers.
This car is also the predecessor to the '59 Corvette Stingray prototype race car that is in Gran Turismo 6.
Corvette SS:
In the history of American sports car racing there have been a lot of could'a-would'a-should'as, perhaps none greater than the Corvette SS. It was designed by the godfather of Corvette, Zora-Arkus Duntov, to compete with the Europeans at Le Mans. In a relatively short period of time the car was readied for the 1957 Sebring 12 hour. In addition to the race readied car, which featured a magnesium alloy body and upgraded small block with over 300 HP, a test mule of the Corvette SS, designated the P-car, was brought for practice, which had a heavier, unpainted body and a less powerful engine. In the race the SS did not fair well, as it dropped out after just 23 laps. The car suffered from its lack of development time, and driver John Fitch questioned Duntov's choice to install drum brakes rather than discs. Despite the race performance, the cars potential did not go unnoted. In practice, Maserati drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss both turned laps in the test mule P-car. On just his first two laps in the car, Fangio smashed the track record by three seconds with a time of 3:27.4. Moss also obliterated the old record (3:29.7) with a 3:28 lap time. After they had both turned laps, Corvette driver John Fitch then took the car back out and could only get a couple of seconds closer to the track record, but could not break it. Shortly after Sebring, the AMA rules changed and prevented factory sponsored cars, killing the Corvette SS before it could get to Le Mans, leaving many to wonder what could have been with more development time and better drivers.
This car is also the predecessor to the '59 Corvette Stingray prototype race car that is in Gran Turismo 6.
Corvette SS:
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