Remarkable 1956 Nassau Video

October 25, 2014 2 CommentsRacing, Videos

Don’t miss this remarkable home movie from 1956 Nassau Race in the Bahamas. The quality is quite good, but no sound; make race car noises while you watch. There are shots unloading the cars from the transport, driving though town to get to the track, and a lot of close-ups of drivers, cars, and pit action. There are a lot of Corvette shots, including the SR-2. At about 8:30 Duntov, Mitchell (in his white coveralls), and Harley Earl make an appearance. Mitchell can even be seen helping during a pit stop (who’s going to tell him he can’t?). The refueling procedure is a bit scary with guys dumping gasoline from metal containers into an open trough. But there are no explosions, and a good time was had by all. I wonder who shot the movie? Someone associated with GM on vacation?

2 Comments

October 26, 2014 at 12:42 pm

Roy Lonberger

Fun pics. Enjoyed seeing Mitchell standing next to Mr. Earl. Does anyone know their respective heights?
October 30, 2014 at 10:45 am

Jim Gessner

That is an excellent video. I have studied many olf these Corvettes as they are listed in the REGISTRY OF CORVETTE RACE CARS website, http://www.registryofcorvetteracecars.com which I and two friends created in 2007. I am responsible for the C-1 and C-2 generations of 1953 thru 1967 Race Corvettes.

The Bill Mitchell red #117 car is actually a 1956 SR-2 model. Three were made, A blue one for Harley Earl’s son Jerry that is the most known car as it has been vintage raced for years by Rich Mason at Monterey, This red model, owned today by Bill Tower in Florida and the small fin street version which was Harlow Curtis, GM President .

Both the blue and red cars were racers, and in the fall of 1956, were upgraded to the new 283/283 fuel injection engine and new 4 speed transmissions which were not released to the general public in numbers until April 1957. A few production cars received fuel injection in October 1956.

Ray Crawford, and Southern California grocery store owner was the driver.

The # 15 white production Corvette was driven by Dr. Dick Thompson and the production white #36 Corvette by Jim Jeffords. Two great drivers and people I knew well. We lost Jim on March 6, and Dick on September 14 this year.

There is a lot more history here, but I don’t want to take any more of space and your valuable time. Thank you
Jim Gessner

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Gary, Just received your book and read part of it, and can’t wait to finish it! EXCELLENT BOOK WOW! Thanks!

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Helen Hutchings
It brought back so many memories. The book captures some of the antics that took place. I recommend Gary’s book for anyone that has an interest to get a glimpse of an era long gone.

John Manoogian II
Very impressed with the emphasis on the “people stories.” Most people think of GM in terms of the cars, whereas you focused on the designers that created the cars. Congratulations on your excellent and personable narrative.

Roy Lonberger
Great book! It will provide many hours of interesting reading. Thank you for writing and publishing it!

Charles Pieier
All the wonderful anecdotes and photos bring laughter and smiles of recollection of the years at GM Design. The other content is equally entertaining, too! One can keep returning to its pages, finding a new topic of interest each time.

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Thank you Gary for this wonderful publication vicariously delivering the human condition nectar recalled from the good old days at GM Design.

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The book is providing lots of interesting reading along with so many great photos, illustrations and renderings.

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Reading the stories and anecdotes of designers who shared their experiences in this book allowed me to vicariously imagine what it would have actually been like to have worked in a studio. Thumbs Up Gary!!

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Great book Gary. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane!

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