Let’s Help Get Corvette Designer Peter Brock into the Corvette Hall of Fame

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Let's Help Get Corvette Designer Peter Brock into the Corvette Hall of Fame

Hey, Corvette enthusiasts, it’s time for all of us to help a humble legend from the early days of our favorite car’s history roll into a much-deserved berth in the National Corvette Museum’s Hall of Fame.

Fellow Corvette enthusiast Darwin Ludi has been busy for the past three months on a campaign to get Peter Brock inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Brock, now 78, was just 19 when he began working as a designer at General Motors in late 1956. Just three years later, he worked with legendary designer Bill Mitchell to design the 1959 Stingray racer that “was ultimately refined by Larry Shinoda and became the 1963 Sting Ray that we know today,” Ludi says.

This is by no means a campaign to take anything away from Shinoda, who is already in the Hall of Fame.

“Peter does not take any of the credit from Larry,” Ludi points out. “He has the utmost respect for him.”

Let's Help Get Corvette Designer Peter Brock into the Corvette Hall of Fame

Ironically, Ludi didn’t know much about Brock when the two met at the 2014 Corvette Bloomington Gold event, where Ludi was showing one of his two split window coupes, a Daytona Blue model that earned Bloomington Gold honors.

“Brock told me that his first race was at Del Mar,” Ludi said. “At the time, I knew very little about him and his contributions to the auto industry and in particular the Shelby Daytona Coupe and the 1963 Corvette.”

That chance meeting led to more research by Ludi, who quickly decided to try and help Brock get his well-earned spot in the Hall of Fame.

No less a Corvette icon than Ed Welburn, VP GM Global Design, sang Brock’s praises in Brock’s book, “Corvette Sting Ray the Genesis of an American Icon,” saying in the forward: “I can’t thank Peter Brock enough for his contributions to the design of those initial Sting Rays that still stir the soul of automotive enthusiasts to this day.”

That’s a pretty big endorsement there.

As Ludi says, “Peter must not be overlooked for his accomplishments.”

Ludi is trying to get as many letters of recommendation as possible to send to the NCM. He’s already gotten letters from dignitaries like Jay Leno, collector Bruce Meyer (Petersen Automotive Museum), Rich MacDonald (son of 1950s-60s racer Dave MacDonald), Corvette racer Joe Freitas, Randall Richardson (president of the Los Angeles Shelby American Club), Corvette artist Scott Teeters, Jan Hyde (manager of the Registry of Corvette Race Cars) and track stars such as Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, John Morton, Bob Bondurant and Rick Voegelin. He also has letters from other members of the National Corvette Museum and the CEO of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

Count Corvette Blogger as a supporter of the campaign, too.

Ludi plans to send the 2016 nomination paperwork to the NCM in about a month. “Hopefully I will have all the letters I need by then,” he says.

If you’d like to show your support, Ludi has a form letter that can be printed, signed, and mailed to him at 953 Paseo La Cresta, Chula Vista, CA or emailed to him at [email protected]. The deadline for the nomination of 2016 inductees is June 30.

Here’s the form letter below or you can click to download a word document:


NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM HALL OF FAME

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

PETER BROCK

Dear NCM Hall of Fame Committee:

As a Corvette enthusiast over the years it has come to my attention that Peter Brock, designer of the 1959 Stingray racer should be considered for induction into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame. Peter Brock worked with Bill Mitchell to design the concept car that would eventually lead to the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.

Larry Shinoda is given full credit for the final design of the 1963 Corvette and rightfully so, however Peter Brock’s renderings of the 1959 Stingray racer show that his design concepts were included in the final design of the 1963 Corvette.

We must not forget the history of how the Corvette evolved and both Larry Shinoda and Peter Brock are very important aspects of that history. Larry Shinoda is already in the NCM Hall of Fame, it is now time to include Peter Brock into the Hall of Fame.

Peter Brock as a journalist and historian has in his books, speeches and TV appearances told the story of the evolution of the Corvette. He was a designer for GM at the age of 19. His influence on the C2 Corvette should not go unnoticed. As enthusiasts we must not forget his contributions and therefore I would like to see Peter Brock considered for induction into the National Corvette Museum Hall of Fame.

Sincerely,

Your signature

For more on Peter Brock and his contributions to the Chevrolet Corvette, we highly recommend you watch this interview he did with Jay Leno in March 2014:


Source:
utsandiego.com

Related:
[VIDEO] Corvette Sting Ray Designer Peter Brock on Jay Leno’s Garage
Corvette Museum Names Three Inductees for the 2015 Corvette Hall of Fame
Own a COPO 1966 Corvette Coupe Built for a Corvette Hall of Famer

 



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