1959 Scaglietti Corvette

Interesting info. Checked around and the last time one was listed it was priced at $990,000. So yeah, not cheap by any means.

 

The one in the Autoweek classified ad looks like the first one - with bumperettes and no fender vents or hood scoop. But it doesn't have the Corvette grille and the first one was in Illinois circa 01/08/77. Granted, the image is a bit diffused, and so maybe the scoop and vents are in there somewhere. Kinda curious which of the three this be ...

 

I think its the #2 car, which is currently blue. Both the #2 and #3 car were modified in the 1980s and had the hood scoops and fender vents added at that time.

The #1 car is the only unmodified car ex a color change from its original silver to red. You are right that it was in IL until the late 80s

 

Car number 1 did have the Corvette grill and it is still in Chicago, Illinois, although with a different owner.

 

Tom, is that car every brought out to show? I'm in Chicago would love to see it.

What a cool piece of history.

 

It looks exactly like a Ferrari.

No surprise Enzo wasn't pleased!

Already some people confused some SIATA for a Ferrari ...

 

He had it at the Ronald Mcdonald House concours downtown(great event with some really rare cars) and also at the Lake Forest Sportscars Concours. You will see it a few times this summer. The owner lives downtown.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/chicago-sponsored-lake-forest-sportscars/495397-upcoming-show-xj220-eb110-mclaren-f1-959-others.html

 

Recall it being silver, as well, when in LF. Though maybe was originally red ...?
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Yes, your memory is correct. It was originally silver and stayed that way until being repainted red in the late 80s

Here's a picture of the car while at the Scaglietti Factory. I think the car looks stunning in its original silver livery.
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Does look sharp - white walls pretty cool, too. Silver/red int. w/"WOW 111" plate. Not so bad in red either, though!

 

Be interesting to see a Venn diagram of Corvette guys and Ferrari guys...not too much overlap, I would imagine.

So. Who's the market for these cars? Italian car collectors or Corvette folk?

 

Most of the current and previous owners have been Italian car collectors, I think primarily because of the Scaglietti body and design of the car but the Shelby history has gone largely under appreciated so I would think it may attract that crowd as well. I don't think conventional corvette collectors would have interest but I suppose given they are evidence of Shelbys preference for a corvette engine it may appeal to them to from a historical standpoint

 

this gentleman owned it before the petersen museum

Exotic cars of Michael McCafferty - Car Nut

 

Another piece of early Shelby history, CSX2000 will be for auction in Monterey. The first Shelby Cobra, owned by Shelby personally and still owned by his family.

Even though the Scaglietti Corvette preceded CSX2000 by 2 years as Shelby's first attempt at a production vehicle and GM was his first choice as a partner, its hard to overstate the importance of the Shelby Cobra in automotive history. I'm sure GM was kicking themselves for killing the Scaglietti project after seeing the success of CSX2000 and the Ford/Shelby partnership.
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Dean Jeffries painted that car a number of times for Carroll, to help give the illusion there was more than one.

 

Never seen one in person but they are in lots of movies, awesome peace of machinery!!

 

Very cool car.

I have a question to think about. Would GM have really kicked themselves?

They did fine through the 60s. They were probably on top. They had more divisions of cars etc...

Success I supposed can be measured different ways.

How many cars did "shelby" produce?

How many did ford or GM produce?

A drop in the bucket production wise.

As far as branding. Corvette was doing pretty well and it was there own car. They probably looked at Ford like they were incapable and had to hire a guy they turned down to even be competitive at the track.

They have sold alot more Corvettes than shelbys thats for sure.

But yes... any gear head would look back and say many we could have been a part of that.

The corporation kicking themselves? Not likely. Even in hindsight

Let me leave with this. I would much rather own virtually any shelby than a corvette.

 

I would respectfully disagree with that idea. I suppose its a matter of perspective but its important to understand why GM killed this project; which was because of the AMA racing ban.

Shelby's idea of mating a American engine with a lightweight aluminum body was approved by Chevrolet, led by President Ed Cole. Cole provided Shelby with 3 chassis' to body and build with the idea that these cars would be homologated for FIA racing purposes.

GM execs heard about the project and because of the previously agreed racing ban they demanded Cole end it.Keep in mind by 1960 GM had over 50% market share in vehicles and the DOJ was circling GM to potentially break it up. Duntov likely also didn't want to have a potential Corvette competitor out there either.

After GM killed the project, Shelby was still interested in the idea of building a lightweight car with an american engine. In 1961, which was roughly a year after the Scaglietti Corvette was canceled, Ford had just come out with their new thin-wall engine design, which was a great alternative to the Chevy small block which Shelby had preferred . Since he knew GM would never back him this made all the sense in the world to try and partner with Ford which he did. In 1962 Henry Ford pulled Ford out of the AMA racing ban entirely.

So does GM regret killing the project? To have canceled for reasons tied to the racing ban (which ended shortly thereafter when Ford, etc left) and to watch Shelby's Cobras Powered by Ford dominate in racing with a concept that was originally sanctioned by Chevrolet...it seems like they might. Especially given how important racing was in the 1960s for car sales etc.

 

I believe I saw the red one in Chicago, quite the beauty.

 

The #1 car was shown at the 2018 Concorso D'Eleganza Villa D'Este this past weekend

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Was this car at the Petersen museum basement ???

 

GM engineers were quite capable of building a Cobra destroyer in house as proven by the Grand Sport project. Sadly, that idiotic ban and clueless management prevented the engineers from being turned loose. Even so, skunkwork projects like the CERVs(0-60 2.8 seconds in the 60s), the Chaparrals, the Can-Am monsters, NASCAR mystery motors, the Greenwood Super Vettes all gave a little taste of just what they could do.

 

That’s the #3 car, the Shelby Car. This is the #1 Car

 

Agree, the Grand Sports were killed for the same reason as this project. Interestingly one of Shelby’s partners on the Scaglietti project was Jim Hall who later went on to develop Chaparral.

 

The 'idiotic ban' was a gentleman's agreement among the Automobile Manufacturers Association of US car companies. It was in part a response to the deaths at the 1955 24 hours of Le Mans when 83 spectators were killed by a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR.
GM was also afraid of congress. GM sold 53 percent of all the vehicles sold in America. They were afraid the government would break up the company if they increased that number to 60 percent of all yearly sales. This was no idle threat as the government had done the same thing previously with Standard Oil.
The 1957 decision didn't stop certain people in General Motors inventing ways to circumvent the new ban. Pontiac was one of the worst offenders...