Chevrolet Corvette C2 (1963–1967)

Second-generation Corvette at a glance

The C2 sits between the Corvette C1 roadster of the 1950s and the C3 that followed in 1968. The whole line, up to the mid-engined cars, is covered in the history of the Chevrolet Corvette.

Design: from the Sting Ray racer to the split window

The C2's shape grew out of several GM projects. Bill Mitchell, GM's head of styling, had built the Sting Ray racer in 1959, and ideas from it and from the 1957 Q-Corvette study were merged into the XP-720 project in the autumn of 1959. Larry Shinoda drew the final car, with help from Pete Brock, and Mitchell gave it the Sting Ray name. Inspirations included a mako shark and the 1959 CERV I research car, and for the first time in Corvette history the wind tunnel influenced the final shape.

The result looked like nothing else on American roads: a sharp crease around the body, hidden headlamps that rotated into view, and on the coupé a fastback roof. The 1963 coupé had a two-piece rear window divided by a spine. Zora Arkus-Duntov disliked it because it blocked the view back, and for 1964 Chevrolet replaced it with a single pane. That one-year feature makes the 1963 split-window coupé the most recognisable C2 today.

Chassis: independent rear suspension and disc brakes

Under the fibreglass body sat a new ladder frame with nearly twice as much steel in its central structure as the 1958–1962 car, yet the complete car was slightly lighter. The biggest technical step was independent rear suspension, derived from the CERV I, with a transverse leaf spring and a frame-mounted differential. At the front, unequal-length wishbones with coil springs and an anti-roll bar did the work.

The recirculating-ball steering was quicker than before, at 19.6:1, and power steering became an option for the first time, except with the two most powerful engines. In 1965 Chevrolet fitted disc brakes with four-piston calipers on all four wheels. Their swept area was 461 square inches, against 328 for the old drums, and only 316 cars that year left the factory with drums.

Chevrolet Corvette C2 engines by year

All ratings are SAE gross figures, which overstated the output of an engine as installed in the car. The L88 was rated at 430 hp but was estimated to make about 560 hp. It ran a 12.5:1 compression ratio, needed 103-octane fuel and came only with several compulsory racing options, so Chevrolet built just 20 in 1967. Fuel injection ended in 1965 after 771 cars and did not return to the Corvette until 1982.

Gearboxes were a three-speed manual, the popular four-speed manual (Borg-Warner, then Muncie) and the two-speed Powerglide automatic. Final-drive ratios ranged from 3.08 to 4.56:1.

Performance tests

Fuel use in the 1963 test was 14.1 mpg, or about 17 l/100 km.

Production by year

Compared with 1963, output in 1966 was 29% higher, and convertibles outsold coupés in both 1963 and 1964.

Z06, Grand Sport and other rare C2s

The 1963 RPO Z06 package was Chevrolet's back-door racing kit. It combined the fuel-injected L84 327 with a 36.5-gallon "big tank" and other racing parts; 199 were built. Six Z06 cars were built for Le Mans, and another finished third in the 1963 Daytona 250 in the hands of Billy Krause.

Zora Arkus-Duntov's lightweight Grand Sport went further. About 125 were planned for homologation in GT racing, but GM management stopped the programme after five cars: three coupés and two roadsters. Dick Thompson won the Grand Sport's first race at Watkins Glen on 24 August 1963. In the same year Pininfarina built the Rondine concept on a C2 chassis for the Paris Motor Show.