Here's another of the race car projects from the USSR. Much more conventional than the gargantuan ZIS in an earlier post, this 1958 ZIL112AS still used a much-shortened limousine chassis (down to about 115 inches this time) and utilized a new 6 liter V8. This engine was rated at 200 hp and featured a Russian version of the Rochester 4 barrel carb. The 3 piece body this time was made of fibreglass molded over a wooden buck and clearly has inspiration from the Corvette.
I find it interesting how influential the scalloped-sides Corvette appears to be, even though it never sold in big numbers- less than 29,000 sold in the first 4 years- it is now again- more than 50 years later, influencing the styling of a Chinese sports car, the Dolphin SS. You be the judge...
If I saw the Dolphin driving down the street I'd say "Damn, someone built them a fake Corvette!" That's how close they look, to me, at least.
ReplyDeleteI thought the profile of the front end looked a bit goofy, so I went looking for a side view of a '58-'60. Found one here:
ReplyDeletehttps://dealeraccelerate-all.s3.amazonaws.com/ideal/images/1/6/1/161/51627131b04b_hd_1958-chevrolet-corvette.jpg
The original looks much better.
rdguy
Yea kinda missed the mark, a bit stogy to me. But hell what else you gonna buy?
ReplyDelete