To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Miami event, 27 - 28 February 2025.

• The first purpose-built GM racecar; personal project of the legendary Zora Arkus-Duntov
• The only Chevrolet Corvette SS completed and campaigned by General Motors
• Raced at the 1957 Sebring 12 Hours by celebrated drivers John Fitch and Piero Taruffi
• Powered by a Chevrolet 283-cu.-in. V-8 with Ramjet fuel injection; backed by a four-speed manual gearbox
• A design exercise in lightweight construction and aerodynamics; the sole Corvette SS conducted with magnesium bodywork
• Featured in numerous period publications, including on the cover of Sports Cars Illustrated magazine
• A number of technological features were tested on this car, including an early fuel-injection system, many of which made their way into later production Corvettes
• One of the first Corvettes to wear the hallowed “Super Sport” moniker, alongside the 1957 Corvette SS show car

In January 1953 the first Corvette was proudly displayed at General Motors’ Motorama show, held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The marque’s first sports car, the Corvette was conceived and designed by the legendary Harley Earl, and it was initially powered by a Blue Flame straight-six backed by an automatic transmission. Just 300 examples of the fiberglass-bodied Corvette, all finished in Polo White with red bucket seats, were constructed for its first model year. Immediately recognizing the performance potential latent in this new model, Zachary "Zora" Arkus-Duntov personally wrote then Chevrolet Chief Engineer Ed Cole outlining his desire to work for Chevrolet on the Corvette program. That spring, Arkus-Duntov started his career at Chevrolet as an assistant staff engineer.

Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1909, Zora Arkus-Duntov had a passion for all things mechanical from a very young age. He graduated from the University of Charlottenburg in Berlin, Germany in 1934, where he studied mechanical engineering. He later moved to Paris and would eventually serve in the French Air Force during World War II. When the French surrendered, Zora and his family escaped France to Spain, gaining passage on a refugee ship out of Lisbon, Portugal destined for New York City in December 1940. In Manhattan, Zora and his brother Yura started a successful munitions business after the United States entered the war. Following the war, they offered the legendary Ardun overhead valve conversion kits for Ford’s successful flathead V-8 engines.

Arkus-Duntov would eventually get into racing himself when he attempted to qualify with a Talbot-Lago for the Indianapolis 500 in 1946 and 1947, sadly not making the cut either year. He would move on to a position with Allard in England, driving for the team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, first behind the wheel of a Chrysler-powered Allard J2X Le Mans along with Frank Curtis in 1952, and then a Cadillac-powered Allard J2R with Ray Merrick in 1953, unfortunately not finishing either year due to mechanical failures. Porsche took notice of Arkus-Duntov’s talents, offering him a seat in 1954 with their Porsche 550/4 RS Spyder; he and Gonzague Olivier earned a class victory and 14th overall finish. Arkus-Duntov competed in what would be his final Le Mans appearance in 1955, once again driving for Porsche, this time with Auguste Veuillet in a Porsche 550 RS Spyder with the team earning a class win and finishing 13th overall.

Arkus-Duntov would bring a different perspective to Chevrolet and the Corvette team, one focused on innovation and performance. The initial version of the Corvette looked great, but it lacked true sports car feel and capability; by 1955, after the popularity of its initial release had faded, so too had sales—despite the addition of an optional 265-cubic-inch V-8 and an optional three-speed synchromesh manual gearbox. The Corvette appeared to be on the chopping block of GM executives, and Arkus-Duntov knew that proving the model’s prowess with performance exercises and racing would be key to its salvation.

On 20 December 1955, Arkus-Duntov, behind the wheel of a 1954 Corvette test mule with a new 307-cubic-inch V-8 (a punched-out 283), exceeded 156 mph at GM’s Mesa proving ground. In January 1956, he would pilot a new 1956 Corvette featuring a V-8 with a Duntov camshaft at the NASCAR-sanctioned flying mile at Daytona Beach to a speed of 150.583, giving the Corvette and its new powertrain some great press. It was around this time that American driver John Fitch was hired to manage a factory-supported Corvette racing team.

The 12 Hours of Sebring in 1956 would be the first big event for Corvette in competition. Five Corvettes were entered in the race, with Raceway Enterprises #1 Corvette Special piloted by John Fitch and Walt Hansgen starting 1st, ahead of a Ferrari 375 Plus in 2nd. The four other C1 Corvettes would all start in the top seven. The race proved a challenge, but the #1 Corvette Special finished 9th overall and won its class. Ferrari dominated the event with a pair of Scuderia Ferrari 860 Monzas finishing 1-2, followed by a Jaguar D-Type in 3rd. Enthusiasts and amateur racers took notice of the Corvette’s success and sales benefited, nearly reaching the model’s record sales achieved in 1954.

There was still something missing from the equation, however: A factory-supported, purpose-built racecar. Chevrolet needed one of their own, especially if they wanted to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati, and Aston Martin.

PROJECT XP-64

Harley Earl, the legendary designer and creator of the Corvette, was one of Zora Arkus-Duntov’s supporters within the upper echelons of GM. He respected Arkus-Duntov’s aptitude for engineering and—acknowledging the public appeal of competition racing—recognized Arkus-Duntov’s vision of the Corvette as a true performance car.

In support of Arkus-Duntov’s plans, Earl purchased the Jaguar D-Type that had finished 3rd at the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring from Jack Ensley of Indianapolis. He shipped the car to GM and presented the idea of installing a Chevrolet engine in the D-Type and campaigning the car, knowing full well the suggestion would cause a stir. Naturally, when Arkus-Duntov heard this, he respectfully proposed rather than starting with another manufacturer’s car, they create a purpose-built racecar from the ground up—an all-Chevrolet product. Earl’s plan had worked, and the pair justified the project to a surprisingly willing Ed Cole, who himself wanted to compete on the biggest stages of racing.

In early October 1956, following approvals from GM’s top brass, Ed Cole, then General Manager of the Chevrolet Motor Division, assigned Zora Arkus-Duntov with the task of building a Chevrolet racecar that would be known internally as Project XP-64, later officially named the Corvette SS (Super Sport). In total, two cars were produced: one fully finished example for competition and display, and a test car/prototype with minimal bodywork affectionately referred to as “The Mule.”

Zora Arkus-Duntov hand-picked a talented team of draftsmen, stylists, mechanics, and electricians who worked around the clock to complete the new car, with the lofty goal of campaigning a finished car in 1957. The team operated in a skunkworks-type environment, in a cordoned-off section of the Chevrolet Engineering Center. The new purpose-built racecar was to be an exercise in lightweight construction and aerodynamics with a state-of-the-art powertrain, and to accomplish this, GM studied the successes of similar cars they were trying to emulate from the period. It has long been said that the tubular chassis construction of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL served as the inspiration for the design Arkus-Duntov would utilize in the SS, building a custom tubular truss-type frame made of chrome-molybdenum tubing. The finished framework weighed in at just 180 pounds, an astonishing achievement.

Independent suspension was implemented at the front of the car, with the rear featuring a de Dion setup—a relatively uncommon design that kept unsprung weight low and provided excellent road adhesion, though at the cost of increased complexity. Bringing the SS to a stop was a unique front and rear drum brake system, each with their own individual vacuum assist unit system, operated by one pedal. At the front, composite cast iron brakes with finned outer aluminum drums were mounted at the wheels, while at the rear, brakes were mounted inboard, as on the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R racecars. Steering featured a recirculating ball-type gear with linkage ahead of the front wheels, and a final steering ratio of 12:1 ensured a precise experience for the driver.

The body was built by General Motors Styling department, in an agreement by Ed Cole and Harley Earl. In a true test of modern coachbuilding, the body was constructed in lightweight magnesium. The stunning low-slung aerodynamic bodywork was hinged at the front and rear for quick trackside access to either section of the car, with Hartwell flush latches securing the panels. A toothed grille was the sole off-the-shelf nod to the model’s Corvette lineage, while a specially designed low-cut plastic windshield extended into the doors. The interior featured two sport seats, a wood-rimmed steering wheel, and a competition instrumentation layout including a tach, oil and water temp gauges, oil pressure gauge, and clock. A streamlined rollbar/headrest was beautifully integrated into the design of the bodywork. The car rode on quick-change cast magnesium