Ford GT Roadster Prototype, GM Styling Corvettes, more coming to Mecum Florida auction

• Image Credit: Mecum Auctions

Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell GM Design Corvettes

Being sold as a pair are these two early-’60s Chevy Corvettes. The one on the left is a 1963 Corvette convertible that was built by GM Design for design legend Harley Earl. It featured an array of special touches such as exhaust piping exiting the front fenders and leading into side pipes, and a custom interior with blue and white leather. The dashboard has a massive array of gauges including altimeter, accelerometer, oil temperature gauge, vacuum gauge, and interior and exterior thermometers. Under the hood is a carbureted 327-cubic-inch small block Chevy V8. Earl drove the car for two years and even used it as a parade car at the 1965 Daytona 500.

The car on the right is a 1964 Corvette Coupe built by GM Design for also-legendary designer Bill Mitchell. This one is more subtle, but has its own unique touches. In particular, it has triple taillights on each side of the car, plus a custom grille made to match the fender vents. The entire interior is blue leather matched to the exterior color, and under the hood is a small block V8 coupled to a three-speed Turbo Hydramatic automatic transmission. It’s controlled by a shifter designed to look like the same one in the Mitchell-designed ’60s Buick Riviera.