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by John Coyle
Corvette Forum

The Corvette's fiberglass skin, potent powerplants, and race-proven chassis have long made it a favorite for coachbuilders. Crafting a supercar is a tiny bit easier when you can just play Picasso—and sidestep the whole minefield of designing mechanical bits. So the question is, does this respect for the underpinnings betray a disdain for the General's "sheetmetal?" I'm not going to try to answer that question here. But the latest offering from Endora Cars made me think of a couple of recent Corvette-based designs I've seen, along with some choice examples from the past. Check them out, and let me know what you think in the Forum!

Endora SC-1: American Power With a Side of Schnitzel

Germany’s Endora Cars is the latest builder to step in the ring. The headlights almost conjure Honda’s NSX, and from the ¾ shot, we think the hindquarters resemble those of a porky new-school Camaro. And do you ever win by covering up wheels? No. You don't.

Soleil Anandi: Designed by the Real Dutch Masters?

Dutch design firm Ugur Sahin revealed its Soleil Anandi in fancy-pants Monaco in April. Overall, I like the accentuated lines, and dig the exaggerated door scallops. But the tail assembly looks so much like a Cylon that the creators of "Battlestar Galactica" could sure for copyright...

Italian Flair: Bertone Re-skins a ZR1

Jason Castriota is head of design for celebrated Italian design house, which is rightly famous for designing the iconic Lamborghini Countach. And his ZR1-based design is as busy as it is bold. From the side, it almost reminds me of a 599. The rear though? There’s so much going on there, it doesn’t remind me of anything… Except maybe an alien catfish. But in a good way.


Callaway C16 Speedster: No Windshield. No Roof. No Problem.

I saw Callaway’s Speedster at SEMA back in ‘07, and was blown away. Would I want to drive it in the rain? Nope. And I don’t want to strap on a helmet to drive a street car either. But the overall effect is as stunning as it is impractical. From this discussion, it seems Forum members were split on its merits…

Pininfarina Rondine: Nice Guess. But it's Not a Ferrari...

Pininfarina has been behind some of the most gorgeous cars ever made, and this one-off ’63 Rondine made us wonder what a protracted partnership with the General could have produced. The lines make us think this baby could have been separated from the Ferrari 330GTC at birth…

 

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