Zora Arkus Duntov and the engineers at GM wanted to build a car that was true red, white, & blue to compete with the European cars on the track. I would tell you all about it, but instead I’ll let you read what the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has to say about it. Then watch the educational video that General Motors made in ’57. It’s well worth 12 minutes of your life, trust me.

IMSM: Harley Earl was the genius who revolutionized automobile styling as GM?s first design czar. In 1952, it was he who gave birth to the Corvette itself. Once in production, Mr. Earl thought Corvette could benefit from a separate model built for racing. Rather than simply lend his weight to this idea, already proposed by Zora Arkus-Duntov, he acquired an engine-less Jaguar D-Type and announced that he intended to drop in a Corvette engine, rebody it, and go racing.

Duntov couldn?t stomach such a notion, of course, and on his own initiative started a clandestine, start-from-scratch Corvette race project. Soon enough, he had corporate approval (Earl?s intent all along?), and the Corvette SS, whose mission was to conquer Sebring and LeMans in 1957, was hatched. Despite an eight-month time window, Duntov came up with a masterpiece. Intended for endurance races, Zora juiced its engine mildly from the stock 283 to 307-hp. WIth its diminutive size and magnesium body, that was plenty as the SS came in under 1,850 pounds.

Plans to build several cars were canceled and the SS raced only once, finishing 23 laps at Sebring in 1957. Styling its spectacular body took too long and shakedown time was too short. Mainly, its enormous potential was snuffed out by the 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association racing ban. But it established to the worldwide automobile community that General Motors, especially those responsible for Corvette, could design and build with the best. And more, much more, was on its way.