所ジョージ、半世紀以上前に誕生の愛車がピカピカ　エンジンも一発始動「60年前の車？見えない」

駐車場ターンテーブルの上にのせて鑑賞

YouTubeチャンネル「SETAGAYA BASE ユーチャンネル」が18日までに更新され、所ジョージの愛車シボレー コルベット 1964が公開された。

　こまめに手入れをしているに違いない。ボディーは銀色に輝き、ホイールも汚れひとつないほどにピカピカだ。

　エンジンをかけ、駐車場ターンテーブルの上で動かすと、それはまるで特撮の世界。いまにも出動しそうだ。映像で所は一切の声を出さなかった。エンジン音を響かせ、コルベットを眺める粋な大人の過ごし方をしていた。

　この映像に視聴者からは「芸術品ですね」「ウルトラマンに出てきそうw」「理屈抜きにかっこいい」「この年式で一発始動」「60年前のクルマなんだ」「60年前の車？見えない」「素晴らしいコンディション」「エンジン音がいいなぁ」などの声が寄せられている。

所さんの愛車コルベット　Japanese TV star's beloved car Corvette.

The Chevrolet Corvette (C2) is the second-generation Corvette sports car, produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors (GM) for the 1963 through 1967 model years.

he 1963 Sting Ray production car's lineage can be traced to two separate GM projects: the Q-Corvette, and Bill Mitchell's racing Sting Ray. The Q-Corvette exercise of 1957 envisioned a smaller, more advanced Corvette as a coupe-only model, boasting a rear transaxle, independent rear suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes, with the rear brakes mounted inboard. Exterior styling was purposeful, with peaked fenders, a long nose, and a short, bobbed tail.[11]

Meanwhile, Zora Arkus-Duntov and other GM engineers had become fascinated with mid and rear-engine designs. Duntov explored the mid/rear-engine layout with the lightweight, open-wheel, single-seat CERV I concept of 1959. A rear-engined Corvette was briefly considered during 1958–60, progressing as far as a full-scale mock-up designed around the Corvair's entire rear-mounted power package, including its air-cooled flat-six, as an alternative to the Corvette's usual water-cooled V8. By the fall of 1959, elements of the Q-Corvette and the Sting Ray Special racer would be incorporated into experimental project XP-720, which was the design program that led directly to the production 1963 Corvette Sting Ray. The XP-720 sought to deliver improved passenger accommodation, more luggage space, and superior ride and handling over previous Corvettes.

While Duntov was developing an innovative new chassis for the 1963 Corvette, designers were adapting and refining the basic look of the racing Sting Ray for the production model. A fully functional space buck (a wooden mock-up created to work out interior dimensions) was completed by early 1960, production coupe styling was locked up for the most part by April, and the interior, instrument panel included, was in place by November. Only in the fall of 1960 did the designers turn their creative attention to a new version of the traditional Corvette convertible and, still later, its detachable hardtop. For the first time in the Corvette's history, wind tunnel testing influenced the final shape, as did practical matters like interior space, windshield curvatures, and tooling limitations. Both body styles were extensively evaluated as production-ready 3/8-scale models at the Caltech wind tunnel.

The vehicle's inner structure received as much attention as the aerodynamics of its exterior. Fiberglass outer panels were retained, but the Sting Ray emerged with nearly twice as much steel support in its central structure as the 1958–62 Corvette. The resulting extra weight was balanced by a reduction in fiberglass thickness, so the finished product actually weighed a bit less than the old roadster. Passenger room was as good as before despite the tighter wheelbase, and the reinforcing steel girder made the cockpit both stronger and safer.

The first-ever production Corvette coupe sported a fastback body with a long hood and a raised windsplit that ran the length of the roof and continued down the back on a pillar that bisected the rear window into right and left halves. The split backlite is usually attributed to Mitchell, who claimed to have been inspired by the 57SC Bugatti "Atlantique" coupe. The feature actually predated both the C2 Corvette and Bob McLean's Q-Corvette, having been used by Harley Earl on both his Oldsmobile Golden Rocket show car and his own more traditional design studies for the C2 Corvette, some of which had progressed to full-scale models.

Earl's inspiration was said to have been a Scaglione-bodied Alfa Romeo coupé shown at the 1954 Turin Auto Show. A similar design would be used by the third-generation Buick Riviera that ran from 1971 to 1973.

Quad headlamps were retained but newly hidden – the first American car so equipped since the 1942 DeSoto. The lamps were mounted in rotating housings that blended with the sharp-edged front end when "closed". Hidden headlamps would be a feature of the Corvette until the C6 model debuted in 2005. Coupe doors were cut into the roof, which made entry/exit easier in such a low-slung closed car. Faux vents were located in the hood and on the coupe's rear pillars; functional ones had been intended but were cancelled due to cost considerations.

The Sting Ray's interior carried a re-interpretation of the twin-cowl Corvette dash motif used since 1958, but a more practical one incorporating a roomy glovebox, an improved heater, and the cowl-ventilation system. A full set of round gauges included a huge speedometer and tachometer. The control tower center console returned, somewhat slimmer but now containing the clock and a vertically situated radio. Luggage space was improved as well, although due to the lack of an external trunklid, cargo had to be loaded behind the seats. The spare tire was located at the rear in a drop-down fiberglass housing beneath the gas tank (which now held 20 US gal (76 L; 17 imp gal) instead of 16 US gal (61 L; 13 imp gal). The large round deck emblem was newly hinged to double as a fuel-filler flap, replacing the previous left-flank door.

Though not as obvious as the car's radical styling, the new chassis was just as important to the Sting Ray's success. Maneuverability was improved thanks to the faster recirculating ball, or "Ball-Race", steering, and a shorter wheelbase. The latter might ordinarily imply a choppier ride, but the altered weight distribution partly compensated for it. Less weight on the front wheels also meant easier steering, and with some 80 additional pounds on the rear wheels, the Sting Ray offered improved traction. Stopping power improved, too. Four-wheel cast-iron 11-inch drum brakes remained standard but were now wider, for an increase in effective braking area. Sintered-metallic linings, segmented for cooling, were again optional. So were Al-Fin brake drums, which not only provided faster heat dissipation (and thus better fade resistance) but less unsprung weight.[14] Power assist was available with both brake packages. Evolutionary engineering changes included positive crankcase ventilation, a smaller flywheel, and an aluminum clutch housing. A more efficient alternator replaced the old-fashioned generator.