2023-06-16 19:00:10
ArtCurial offers the sale of a 1958 Corvette, dressed in a carbon fiber body inspired by a prototype from the 1950s.
The ArtCurial auctioneers bid for a rare Chevrolet Corvette from the 1950s. This is the 1958 Chevrolet Corvette Fiberfab Centurion roadster, a model that has the distinction of being a prototype. It is also reminiscent of the prototype XP-87 Sting Raywhich was designed in 1959.
This car more generally inspired the lines of Corvette C2 from the early 1960s. The Centurion here offered for sale did not, however, come from the General Motors factories. The prototype had inspired an American coachbuilder, a certain Warren Goodwin. He took it over to create a bodywork in carbon fiber.
A prototype Corvette transformed with carbon fiber
“The Centurion is ideal for installing on old Corvettes and rejuvenating them. If you have such a model and you have spent a lot of time and money on your engine, choose the Centurion to give your car the bodywork it deserves”indicated that bodybuilder.
Warren Goodwin had already acquired some experience in the design of carbon fiber cars before tackling this Corvette prototype. This body was specially designed to attach to the C1 and C2 models. In the end, however, he only produced between five and twelve of these bodies.
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A story that ended badly
This project fell through shortly after it began. According to ArtCurial, the coachbuilder has murdered his mechanic after catching him in his wife’s bed. Sentenced to prison, he could not continue the production of his bodies. General Motors had, in any case, prepared a lawsuit against him, his carbon fiber cars being considered too close to another model of the time.
Today, it is on sale for a handsome sum. Its value is estimated between 120,000 euros and 160,000 euros. The carbon fiber body is fixed on a 1958 Corvette, which is equipped with a 283 horsepower V8 engine with Rochester injection. It would be the only copy with two profiled headrests and the only model in circulation in Europe.
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