Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

[Geoff C.]

Fifty years ago Lime Rock Park Race Track held the first of many races in 1957. John Fitch was one of those races who has been associated with this track from the beginning in 1957. Appropriately John Fitch was in attendance all weekend, and so was the 1957 Corvette SS he drove in 1957 at Sebring. A very nice display surrounded this beauty.

Geoffrey Coenen

PS The photos at the link below are branded. Gawd I hate works.




the SS Corvette

[Joseph T.]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

Geoffrey...nice work..thanks for sharing the pictures.

Joe

[Duke W.]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

Regarding the number of louvers, I recall that either during practice or the race the car was overheating, so the pit crew uncerimoniously used tin snips to cut some addition air exit holes in the beautiful bodywork.

Duke

[Joseph T.]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

Duke

You are correct. Somewhere I have a letter from the actual guy that cut the body with tin snips. What surprises me though is it appears the distance from the top of the #5 bigger louver to the point of the windbreak is the same distance as the top of the #10 louver...to the windbreak.

The #1 numeral was put on at Sebring.

Joe

[Gary Bishop]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

Good way to get us to click on the link. Great photos.

[John H.]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

I have lots of photos of the SS at Sebring, and all show the car with the original ten forward louvers on the hood; the hood was either revised or changed before it went to the Indy Museum. The current five-louver treatment wasn't achieved with tinsnips.

The louvered panels that were ripped off the car at Sebring were the ones that covered the sidepipes, below the doors; I watched the engineers rip them off while the Styling hangers-on standing on the pit roof looked on in horror; we were pitted just a few slots down from the Corvette pits.

[Joseph T.]

Re: Lime Rocks 50th included Fitch and this guest

John

I am sure you are correct. What becomes interesting..is the change in the hood. I wonder if the hood on the car today is Magnesium..as it was reported there was a shortage in sheet magnesium when they were building the car.

Makes one wonder if any spares were made before or after the race. I do recall the car was stripped of some of its racing cosmetics after the AMA ban for its tour as a showcar.

If I find that letter I have I will advise the guys name that did the cutting at Sebring.

Joe