The old vehicular design houses in Europe were some of the greatest resources for designers and artists during the 1960s and 1970s. If you had the financial means and a donor vehicle, the firms could transform your car into essentially any design you wished. On this week’s episode of Petrolicious, a one-of-one coachbuilt 1961 Chevrolet Corvette once again gets its time in the spotlight.
In the early 1960s, a Wisconsin-based designer by the name of Gordon Kelly took it upon himself to create his vision of the perfectly designed car. With a Corvette chassis and a bundle of sketches in hand, he traveled to Europe, petitioning various design firms to create his masterpiece. Eventually, Kelly settled on Vignale, and his sketches were brought to life.
The car, which was popularly called the Kelly Corvette, dropped the scalloped and busy lines of the C1 Corvette, and evolved into a simplistic curved shape, with a large rear window, sloping rear end, and a wide, catfish-like front grille.
The car made its official debut at the 1961 Paris Salon de l’Automobile, and immediately made its rounds through various media outlets and newspapers.
Eventually, after Kelly’s death, the car fell into the hands of collector John Breslow. Breslow owns and maintains an extremely cultured and eclectic collection, where the Kelly Corvette fits right in. “It’s one-of-a-kind, it can’t be replaced, so I’m really careful with it,” Breslow said. “It’s like a van Gogh you can drive!”
Take a look at the Kelly Corvette in the newest episode of Petrolicious below.
The post Petrolicious Examines the One-of-a-Kind 1961 Kelly Corvette appeared first on Motor Trend.
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