The DieCast Car Collectors Club’s 10th limited edition club car (LECC X) is a Franklin Mint fiberglass replication of a famous and yet not widely seen surviving one-of-a-kind Corvette. (See footnote). Although there was more than one variation of this centrally themed vehicle, the one we chose to recreate is the original 1963 Sting Ray that was a gift from Bill Mitchell, then GM’s Styling Chief, to the previous GM design guru and automotive legend, Harley Earl. The car became Harley’s personal Corvette and the very one that he drove in the 1965 Daytona 500 as the event’s Grand Marshall.
This, the first Sting Ray convertible, was essentially a stock 1963 model that Mitchell had customized for Mr. Earl. It featured a standard auxiliary hard top, but was presented with a warmed over 327 engine, a special paint job with center white stripe and custom fitted leather interior with matching white inserts. The car featured super-cool-for-its-time, outside exiting exhaust. These were basically the same side-exiting pipes that were first seen on the ’61 Corvette show car, the SP-755 Shark. The wheels were cast aluminum units that became RPO P48 options in the ’64 model year. Casting problems, with air leakage, prevented them from making a 1963 regular production debut. “Chevrolet Styling” actually produced a second show car with similar body styling. It was built for Frederick Donner, the GM Board Chairman. Mitchell had Donner’s car painted a candy apple red.
This model, the most compelling and original of all ’63 Sting Rays, brings us full circle to the first ever LECC, the 1998 Corvette in Aztec Gold.
(Footnote: Since writing this, the car has achieved considerable notoriety. Sold at Dana Mecum's Original Spring Classic Auction - 23rd Year, May 19-23, 2010, for $925,000. - TFP)
-Tony F Perrone
