In 1964 at the United States Road Race of Champions (USRRC) at the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, GM had a show car exhibit in the infield. I remember seeing for the first time the Corvette XP-755, the Monza SS, and the Monza GT. I can’t overstate the impression the Monza GT made on me.
When I got home from the race, I wrote a letter to General Motors Design Staff about how one becomes a car designer. I was fifteen years old. A few weeks later I received a letter signed by Lee Knight and a few publicity photos of several show cars, including the Monza GT. I still have those photos. The letter suggested some books I could buy about car design. They were Automotive Design by R.H. Gurr, published in 1955 by Post Motor Books, and You Can Draw Cars by Bill Jenks, published in 1960 by Sports Car Press. I still have the books. Nine years later I was a real car designer working in Advanced Chevrolet. Ron Hill was the Studio Chief, and Gaza Loczi was his assistant.
An AC Delco ad with another page from the Monza GT brochure.
These are the photos sent to me by General Motors.
Monza GT photographed at Michigan International Speedway about 1977.
These designs are from an era when shapes were charismatic, proportions were elongated and sections sheer and thin. They may not have been rigorously or soundly aerodynamic, and they might not have allowed what today are acceptable ergonomics nor survivability in collision or overturning. Yet ultimately they are more interesting than so much of the sameness that characterizes even the concepts being done for tomorrow, They are memorable, and truly more captivating to my eyes even forty years after the fact.
This was Shinoda’s greatest design. It’s minimalistic approach is characterized by tight surfaces, that only a Porsche 911 achieves. Too bad the C8 Corvette is not anywhere as beautiful as the Monza GT.
Frank Csik,
Montreal, Quebec
You’re correct there, Frank. To bad. Gary.