Through time, there have been a lot of odd one-off project prototypes and design studies that were built by manufacturers. Some were great ideas or included things that were later used in other cars. The story behind the 1963 4-Seater Corvette is one of the more interesting ones about a car that would never be made in production.
The project was the brainchild of Chevrolet’s General Manager Ed Cole, who wanted to keep the rival Ford Thunderbird in check. Sales numbers for the Thunderbird were very impressive and were directly impacting the sales of Corvette. Cole’s solution was to add two more seats to the Corvette. With the ability to carry passengers, Cole thought Thunderbird ‘s sales would take a hit as these 4-seater Vettes hit the market.
By most accounts, no less names than Bill Mitchell, Zora Duntov, and Larry Shinoda all hated it, but Cole was the boss, so they started development on the car with Shinoda leading the way. The idea was to produce an actual running prototype to get the feel of the project. In order to do that, 6″-10″ had to be added to the length of the car, the roof would have to be raised, rear window modified, and the doors had to be lengthened. In short, everything that made the ’63 Corvette beautiful would have to be modified.
The prototype was complete in early 1962 and was presented side-by-side with a 1962 Thunderbird. Rumor has it General Motors Chairman Jack Gordon got stuck in the back seat as the front seat locked and wouldn’t unlock. Engineers had to unbolt the seat to extricate Gordon, and this malfunction was the tipping point to cause Gordon to axe the project. Thank goodness!
*Some photos are from The Old Motor
