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Here's the story...
It was as if the Gods of Fortune had smiled upon the Corvette! The 1956 Corvette was so well received that GM executives felt comfortable enough to indulge themselves with special "racer" versions of their new darling. Thus, the SR-2 was born. "SR" had several meanings: "Special Racing," "Sports Racing" or "Sebring Racer." These terms referred to the '56 Sebring effort that got so much attention. Three SR-2 Corvettes were built.
The first SR-1 was built for then president of GM, Harlow Curtice. This was a styling exercise over a 265, 3-speed Corvette off the assembly line. The car was never intended to be a real racer. Its distinguishing feature was the symmetrical low fin in the middle of its decklid. The extra trim made it look more like a showcar than a race car.
The second SR-2 was built for GM vice president Harley Earl's son Jerry! But this SR-2 had real teeth. Under the hood was a 265 with a 3-speed manual gearbox. The running gear and chassis featured quick ratio steering, stiff springs and shocks, a limited slip rear, oversized brakes with cooling scoops and Halibrand knock-off wheels on racing tires. Dual exhausts exited just in front of the rear wheels.
The interior had extra instruments, power windows and stock seats. There also was a fire extinguisher, a wood-trimmed steering wheel and a radio!
The body of the SR-2 had some interesting changes. The nose had been extended and louvers were added to the hood. The side coves had functioning scoops to cool the brakes. Two short windscreens replaced the stock windshield. Centered on the trunklid was a short single fin. This was later replaced with the tall "Mitchell-style" high fin and roll bar.
Bill Mitchell, GM chief of styling, had the third SR-2 built. Although the second and third cars look the same other than the fin, the Mitchell car is three inches wider! The car was also made lighter by removing nearly all frills and using racing bucket seats.
On the race track, Earl's SR-2 was the most successful of the three. While sponsored by Nickey Chevrolet, the SR-2 won the SCCA B-Production national title in 1958. Happily, all three SR-2 Corvettes have been fully restored and are accounted for.
Be sure to check out the NEW Illustrated Corvette Series Portfolio.
This portfolio of Scott Teeters' "Vette Magazine" series, covers every production Corvette from 1953 to 1996. Also included are all of the major Corvette show cars, engineering prototypes, concept cars, and several Corvette racers.
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