A chronicle of Corvette’s success in motorsports could fill several books, but the nameplate’s first contact with the world of racing is often forgotten. It all began in 1956, when Zora Arkus-Duntov set a 150-mph speed record at Sebring driving a Corvette roadster. The experiment would soon spawn the Corvette SR-2, a modified C1 Vette that featured a lengthened front end a massive, Jaguar D-Type-like wing on its trunk. Legend has it the SR-2 was born when Jerry Earl, the son of GM Styling chief Harley Earl, announced that he wanted a Ferrari. Harley immediately commission a racing Corvette that would become the SR-2, GM’s first purpose-built track car.
Nearly 58 years old in 2015, the SR-2 returns to the spotlight after years of lurking in the shadows. Having been through a complete and thorough restoration, the SR-2 is as magnificent as it has ever been and it is looking for a new racing enthusiast to take it back to Sebring, or any other American track for that matter. The SR-2 may have been overshadowed by the Ferraris and Jaguars of the late 1950s, but it earned its place in Chevrolet’s hall of fame as the first Corvette-badged factory race car. Read all about it below.
Click past the jump to read more about the 1956 Chevrolet Corvette SR-2.
Chevrolet Corvette SR-2 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Wednesday, 31 December 2014 16:00 EST.
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