If the Corvette is the most coveted and well-known sports car in the American automobile industry, then the man responsible for creating the myth and leading GM’s brands through their wonder years as the company’s head of design, Harley J. Earl, is among the most influential and greatest designers to ever come out of the country.
While Earl had left GM well before the second generation Corvette (Sting Ray) was born from the creative hands of another great designer to hold the brand’s styling reins, Bill Mitchell, the fact that one of his personal rides, a one-of-a-kind Corvette, is up for sale, does capture our attention.
Said car is a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Convertible that was given directly from General Motors to Earl for his 30 years of employment in the brand (from 1928 to 1958) as well as for his involvement in the birth of the original Corvette.
It is one of only Corvettes in existence built with the custom side exhaust system from the factory, and also features custom gauges and dash treatment unique to this model.
The car will cross the block at Mecum’s Chicago auction this October (10-12) at the Schaumburg Convention Center.
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