car design thread

Cool story.

 

PWFC
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I love that thing. It’s so wacky.

 

Peter Brock Studio Concept: The Split-Window Corvette reimagined
Image Unavailable, Please Login 1963 Chevrolet Corvette by J.A. Ackley
Jan 14, 2025


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Photography courtesy BRE and Barrett-Jackson

Yes, Peter Brock helped design the original 1963 Split-Window Corvette, but what would he do with it today, as the sole designer? That’s the premise behind the Peter Brock Studio Concept, a re-envisioned 1963 Chevrolet Corvette.

(For more on the development of the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette, read the award-winning book by Brock, “Corvette Sting Ray: Genesis of an Icon,” available here.)



Of course, Brock worked with a team of designers on the ’63 Corvette. That included penning lines with GM legends such as Bill Mitchell, who oversaw the project as Director of Design at GM Styling. Brock, then a young designer, didn’t always agree with Mitchell’s philosophy, but understood that Mitchell had a reason for his choices. Fast forward 60-plus years, and Brock can finally institute some of the design elements he wanted to see.

For the Peter Brock Studio Concept, Brock teamed with Michael Staveski, of Restomod World. Brock didn’t want to do the typical restomod, though. He liked the overall production lines of the ’63 Corvette and didn’t want to simply follow the typical restomod formula.

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First step, Brock made the faux scoops and vents real. He doesn’t care much for fake anything. If it’s a scoop or a vent or whatever, it should serve an actual function and the vents on this car do just that.

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Zora Arkus-Duntov disliked the rear visibility of ’63 Corvette. But to replace the iconic split window would make it just a C2 Corvette. So Brock enlarged the surface area of the split rear window, increasing sightlines, but somehow managing to do it ever so subtly that it’s not glaringly apparent from afar.

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No more flip-up headlights. Yes, some have a nostalgic affinity for them, but Brock wanted to eliminate them as they sometimes had issues, plus it makes for a smoother nose. This Split-Window Corvette instead has its headlights recessed.

Brock put the car on 18-inch, Forgeline wheels that he felt paid tribute to the Stingray’s classic lines.

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Now that it’s the 2020s, why not take advantage of today’s technology? This Corvette uses an Art Morrison chassis with a full C7 suspension. Under the hood is the latest LS3 Corvette V8, with Harrop fuel injection. Wilwood brakes provide the stopping power. After all, a designer with a motorsports background enjoys performance, right?

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And inside there’s a full leather interior, with a combination of Sage and Cashmere colors that offset the exterior’s Hypersonic Grey.

This is the prototype Peter Brock Studio Concept Corvette. Plans are for 20 cars in total, each with their own color combination.



Find this 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Custom Split-Window Coupe Designed by Peter Brock for auction at Barrett-Jackson.

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Hard to believe this was a “thing” back in the ‘70’s - ‘80’s.
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Ain’t AI great. It’s only beginning.

 

After a lengthy hiatus I’m back at the keyboard for Chapter 9.
https://driventowrite.com/2025/01/24/never-a-dull-moment-part-nine/

Never A Dull Moment — Part Nine


Back to school.

Olds 98 sketch

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Olds 98 sketch
ALL images courtesy of GM Design©.

With a maelstrom of changes taking place, my decision to pursue an advanced degree appeared to be a potentially successful strategy. With a new leadership team ensconced at the Design Center, I figured it was as good a time as any. A logical, rational person, given my circumstances, might have wavered at the potential for adding additional layers of stress. Not me. Bring it on. I wrote letters and met with the key decision makers at GM Design to get their advice, as well as requesting letters of recommendation to Graduate School. And to their credit, both Irv Rybicki and Chuck Jordan gave me a full endorsement along with their blessings in addition to the agreement that GM would fund the cost of my higher learning. Whoa, now the fun would begin in earnest.

The Olds 1 Studio continued its pursuit of winning designs. The Oldsmobile Division was riding high in domestic sales, and was now third behind Chevrolet and Ford. Talk about flying high. We were engaged in creating the next generation of Toronado, along with the full size cars — Olds 88’s and 98’s. The Aeroback Cutlass project was winding down and was getting ready for production. I still wasn’t convinced but I told myself that smarter people than I were making those decisions and they knew what they were doing.

I was enjoying doing a multitude of full size airbrush renderings for several programs. These were full size drawings, over the vehicle architecture, painted/rendered in color with an airbrush and photographs for wheels. These were impressive tools for portraying a design idea full size so that management could determine which direction to take the full size clay models. These generally took 2 or 3 days to complete and in the hands of a skilled designer, they were a true art form.

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Full size Oldsmobile 98
A program that really got our creative juices flowing was the possibility of doing a 2+2 coupé destined for Olds and Buick. The chance to work on the more expressive side of car design versus the large luxury cars fascinated me. What an opportunity! The studio worked diligently, but in the end after creating Buick and Olds clay proposals, the project died. Money, or lack thereof, along with the absence of a strong business case and a number of other reasons all played a part in killing the program. It was one of the first lessons I learned to not get too attached to a program. Never get so close emotionally that you can’t walk away. It seemed a lot of effort for naught, but it taught me a valuable lesson. The corporation could be fickle at times.

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Olds L Body Mirage sketch
Three nights a week I would leave work around 5:30 PM and drive the twenty miles to the university for my higher education. My poor wife was saddled with caring for our newborn son and taking care of the home front. The entire venture took a toll on all concerned. Leaving the house at 5:30 AM and returning home at 10:30 PM wasn’t an endearing strategy but my thinking was two years shouldn’t be a problem. Thinking that was a fool’s errand.

Meanwhile I was learning how to put a car together from the masters. Doing a fancy sketch or a shiny looking rendering was one thing, but actually turning 2D artwork into a 3D object was on another level. My experience as a modeler was beneficial but now that I was on the other side of the creative process there was a great deal to take in. I believe this is where the current process of using only the computer to design has several pitfalls. One needs to experience a 3D object besides looking at a computer screen. Hands on as it were.

As previously mentioned the creative atmosphere in the studio was unlike anything I had experienced. One never knew what to expect on any given dayand within this atmosphere early one morning, I was getting ready for the day’s events when the designer that sat next to me arrived for work and placed his briefcase on his desk. With a nonchalant attitude he opened up said briefcase to expose a very large quantity of money in various currencies all neatly wrapped in rubber-bands. Additionally, to my horror, there was what appeared to be a 9mm automatic pistol.

Knowing the prank level in the studio, my first response was to ask whether ornot the weapon was real, and with a flourish, he picked up the weapon, pulled back the slide and ejected a 9mm round the size of my thumb. OK, then. There were several free spirited personalities in the studio at the time and I immediately thought someone would come up, look at the weapon and think it was a toy, pick it up and pull the trigger. Not an outcome I was enthusiastic about.

I casually made my way to the boss’s office and explained the situation. Security was summoned and the designer was escorted to HR. The amazing part is back in the late 1970’s, they didn’t fire him on the spot but reassigned him to another studio for a probation period at which time he was let go after several months. Times were indeed different then. Subsequently we learned he was involved with selling arms to third world countries on the side. Have I mentioned there Never Was a Dull Moment?

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Color Studio fire
I loved visiting the extensive Design Staff library before work every morningwhere they had every car and design publication known to man. One such morning around 7 am I was perusing a car magazine when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flame. Across the hallway, adjacent to the library was the GM Design Color/Trim/Materials Studio. Lo and behold the whole room was in flames and getting worse. I ran down the hall to tell my cohorts in the Olds Studio and was met with disbelief. We got the rest of that day off as the whole Color Studio burned to the floor.

As the end of the decade was fast approaching and my higher education was nearing completion, it seemed that all was right with the world. I believed I was making a contribution; GM was doing well after the continuous downsizing and things in general were finally settling down. However, late 1979, another energy crises would begin to rear its ugly head. Once again!

I was scheduled to receive my MBA Degree in August of 1980 and in March of that year I was informed that I would be moving to the Cadillac Exterior Studio. Whoa! The then Standard of the World. Seriously? I had to pinch myself to accept the enormity of it. Growing up in Detroit, Cadillac was the epitome of luxury. If you had a Caddy, you had ‘made it’. Now I was going to be a part of the team working on the Flagship of the Corporation. Could it get any better that that?

 

Thanks!

 

A stylized lump!