Chevrolet Rondine (Pininfarina) (1963)

European flavour for this “American” proposal, which anticipates the stylistic solution of the Fiat 124 Sport Spider rear part.

The Corvette Rondine show car was built by Pininfarina on a production 1963 Sting Ray chassis. Two rooflines were tried: an inward slanting rear window with the roof cut off at the B-pillar and a sloping rear window.

The car was designed by Tom Tjaarda, the Michigan native who had worked for Italian carrozzerie since 1959. At a time when many manufacturers switched to a unitary chassis construction, the fiberglass bodied Corvette was a popular subject for Europe’s coachbuilders. Pininfarina was one of them and at the 1963 Paris Motorshow they launched the featured Rondine Coupe. The Rondine sports a very elegant shape of which various cues were later found on the Fiat 124 Spyder.

Still owned by Pininfarina, the unique Corvette was seen at the 2005 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este where the Italian coachbuilder’s 75th anniversary was celebrated.